<aside> 💡 Generated by BigBrain. Repeated material was merged while distinct trade-offs, caveats, examples, and operational details were retained.

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Load Balancing, Gateways, and Rate Limiting

Overview

This reference page explores the critical components of modern distributed systems: load balancers, API gateways, backends for frontends (BFFs), and rate limiters. These components are essential for managing traffic, ensuring scalability, and maintaining system reliability. The discussion spans definitions, mechanisms, algorithms, design considerations, trade-offs, and operational best practices.

Load Balancers

Load balancers distribute incoming requests across multiple servers to optimize resource utilization, ensure high availability, and prevent server overload. They can operate at different layers of the OSI model, each with distinct capabilities.

Types of Load Balancers

Layer 3 (L3) Load Balancers

• Operation: Routes traffic based on IP addresses using protocols like BGP and ECMP.
• Advantages:
• High speed due to lack of packet inspection.
• Enables geographic redundancy and horizontal scaling.
• Challenges:
• Complex configuration in hybrid or multi-cloud setups.
• Dependent on stable network infrastructure.
• Use Cases:
• Content delivery networks (CDNs) for distributing static files.
• Disaster recovery setups with automatic failover.

Layer 4 (L4) Load Balancers