Top 5 Best Open Source Load Balancers in 2019

To have an up-and-running website or application or an internet-based service 24/7, it is necessary to balance the load on the web infrastructure, among other things. Load balancing is the key to maintaining a flawless and free-flowing web infrastructure.

It distributes the network load between multiple network interface cards, and this dispersion of load not only improves responsiveness but also ensures maximum service availability of applications/websites. A load balancer sits between the client and the server farm. It works by accepting incoming network and application traffic and then distributing the traffic across multiple backend servers through different methods.

For users, there are various open source load balancers that they can deploy at their backend and beat the load hands down. Here are the five best load balancers that are winning rave reviews for their acts in 2019.

1. Zevenet

Founded in 2012 and based in Seville, South Spain , Zevenet is a popular open source load balancer that is used by hundreds and thousands of businesses across the world to empower their web infrastructure. It is among the top-rated choices when it comes to minimizing response time and maximizing throughput. Ever since it was launched, the load balancer has been winning hearts through its excellence as Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and as network and services optimizer. It is a well-rounded load balancing solution suited to users across the industry, be it education, health care, telecoms, cloud providers, retailers, financial and entertainment, among others. It comes with the most suitable features that help to scale the network, application, and services without any fuss.

Zevenet is known to provide their customers the automation of scalable infrastructure, due to the full interoperability of their solution through API. It comes with advanced Intrusion Prevention and Detection System at both networking and application level that permits DDoS real-time protection. 

Moving on, the most advanced high availability system eliminates disruptions from every possible source and makes sure the website/app loads like a breeze even if any technical issue crops up. The best part is that it is very easy to get along with. One can control everything from a single control panel and also manage all the load balancers in different cloud providers from the same panel.

Based on cutting-edge technology, it guarantees application growth and is perfectly scalable, no matter what the size of business. With Zevenet balancing the load at the backend, the output increases incredibly. It reduces the resources and downtime and thus enhances the performance of the website/application. Speaking of performance, it performs with the maximum resources available at one's end, and there is no limitation with regard to memory, throughput, and the like. Their solution is ready to work with 10Gb and 40Gb throughputs without concerns for any high performance technology they collect. 

The consistent support from the customer care team adds to the benefits, as one gets unlimited access to security advisories, timely updates, and quick fixes to resolve issues. 24/7 critical support worldwide and also work with different levels. There is real-time monitoring of HA services, and thus, one can throw all the worries out of the window, rest assured the website/app would be in 100 percent operational state, never failing at any juncture. 

The real time traffic statistics further increase control over cloud load balancers connections, data centers, and clients. Even if the traffic shoots up, the multiple servers take care of the pressure and handle it efficiently. The bonus is that one can rely on the bustling open-source community anytime to find solutions and also add to the knowledge pool, helping other Zevenet users in the process.

This load balancer covers the user completely and is committed to the agile development of ADC solutions. So whatever the challenge at the end of the client, it dovetails with the requirements, evolving in a cross-functional style and producing the best results, along the expected lines. Ready to get going in minutes, it integrates with the client's infrastructure effortlessly, and thus, one can deploy it in the popular hypervisors without any difficulty. Very recently, Zevenet bagged the AWS (Amazon Web Services) BYOL license and is now ready to be deployed in Amazon Cloud as well. The platforms can also provide a containerized micro-services edition. Quality and innovation are the hallmarks of Zevenet, and the team works continuously to boost the load balancer's efficiency to even greater degrees.

Powerful yet easy, Zevenet is the ultimate modern-day load balancer to supercharge one's network and sail smooth in the tough and unpredictable digital environment. Secured from end to end, it helps in detecting failures early on and manages them in time. Available in virtual, hardware, baremetal, and cloud format, Zevenet has it in itself to serve all business segments with proficiency. Try the free trial to get a hang of the software.

2. LoadMaster

Developed by Kemp Technologies, which began its journey in 2000 and is based in New York, LoadMaster is a high-end load balancing solution that is trusted by millions of users, which include brands such as Hyundai, Siemens, BBC, Apple, Sony, etc. It offers top-notch always-on experience (AX) to users and has been optimized for private and multi-cloud environments. It comes with a robust set of tools that ensure security and powerful performance on the cloud applications.

Easy-to-use, it offers an intuitive interface, centralized management and application templates that let one administer the network infrastructure in the simplest manner while delivering the strongest results. One can scale up or down as per one's requirements and also detect app issues while remedying them in time. The analytics boost the assessment, and one can ensure even better app availability and security.

The deployment is quite easy, and one can modify it depending on one's needs. Fast, efficient, and flexible, LoadMaster comes bundled with 24/7 support and integrates with third-party tools to enhance performance like never before. It reduces cost, improves productivity, and most importantly, keeps one at the forefront, beating competition hands down. The 30-day free trial offers the best test drive and is a must-try.

3. Incapsula

Developed by Imperva, which was founded in 2009 and is based in Redwood Shores, California, Incapsula is a robust and reliable load balancing solution that is trusted by more than 3 million websites including the likes of Siemens, Hitachi, Garmin, and more. It comes armed with the most relevant features that support an array of load-balancing algorithms, bring down server load, and optimize application performance. Its real-time server monitoring and health check spots outages and weeds out downtime in no time.

For monitoring, one can opt for active or passive monitoring as per one's requirements. In case of server failure, Incapsula stops routing till resumption of server operation. It also supports automatic failover between primary and secondary sites by pushing in a standby data center as soon as primary site outage is detected. Created for faster and smoother network administration, it lets one control everything from a simple dashboard. It allows real-time traffic monitoring and ensures even load distribution for best responsiveness and flawless availability.

Timely threat detection and resolution reduce cyberthreats, helping to save time and money by automating security tasks. So if one is looking for a secure, speedy, and smart load balancer for enhanced results, then Incapsula is the right choice.

4. NGINX

Founded in 2004 and based in San Francisco, California, NGINX is a popular load balancing solution that is trusted by over 400 million websites across the globe for high performance and powerful network administration. It can serve millions of requests per second and comes armed with the capability to and also offers content caching, web server, WAF, monitoring, among other services.

A comprehensive and competent solution suited to businesses across the spectrum, it is a pro at securing and solidifying the website/app presence. Its session persistence, active health checks, API-configuration, layer 7 request routing, and service discovery via DNS set it apart and make it an excellent performer that detects errors in time and controls damage early on.

A cost-effective solution, it brings down the operational costs by a considerable margin and enhances throughput in a short span of time. Portable to the core, it can be deployed on public cloud, private cloud, bare metal, virtual machines, and containers with equal ease.

Being flexible, it gives one free hand to innovate, and the automation saves precious time by performing tasks through the in-built NGINX Plus API. One must check out the free version to find out the efficiency of this exclusive load balancer that exudes brilliance in all respects.

5. HAProxy

World's leading open source load balancer, HAProxy was launched in 2013 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts with offices in Croatia and France. It is used extensively across the globe with the client list boasting of names such as Instagram, Tumblr, Vimeo, GitHub, Reddit, and many more.

It gives users the flexibility and ability to deliver applications and websites with high availability, performance, and security at any scale, in any environment. It can handle any amount of traffic and any nature of requests efficiently, offering the best user experience across platforms. It utilizes comprehensive load balancing methods such as round robin, URI, IP address, and others for routing requests and makes advanced routing decisions.

It also maintains the database of sessions of users, and its in-built statistics reporting makes things even more efficient by offering useful insights about the traffic. It is well-armed to spot dangers and nips them in the bud, ensuring error-free operation and delivery of the site/app. HAProxy is an advanced and easy-to-use load balancer that suits the currents needs of websites and applications to the fullest.

The always-available customer support coupled with regular updates and ever-expanding user base makes it even more desirable, and if one is looking for a rich and robust load balancer, one can trust HAProxy with closed eyes.