Load balancers are essential for delivering the web application experience that staff, business partners and customers expect. The workloads that deliver business applications vary across on-premises and cloud deployments using virtual machines, containers and more. Regardless of the delivery method, organizations expect high performance, reliability and scalability from their modern workloads.
As application deployment methods change due to IT teams embracing next-generation technologies, there is a critical need for enhanced visibility into the load-balancing infrastructure. This load-balancing visibility in the context of next-gen workloads is vital to organizations so that they can get insights into any challenges faced by running the applications. While addressing these issues, system admins can build a portfolio of best practices that they can use for future deployments and upgrades.
Next-gen workloads for web applications include various technologies and infrastructure architectures, such as virtual machines, containers, microservices, serverless computing and hybrid deployments spread across on-premises server rooms, data centers and cloud platforms. A prominent feature of these modern workloads is their dynamic nature, rapid scalability and distributed architecture. Traditional load-balancing approaches often struggle to keep pace with the demands of these next-gen workloads and architectures. As a result, this necessitates a shift towards more advanced and flexible load-balancing approaches.
Providing in-depth visibility into a modern next-gen load-balancing environment presents challenges in addition to those encountered in more traditional deployment models. The distributed nature of modern workloads, coupled with the ephemeral nature of containers and the complexity of multi-cloud deployments, can hinder the ability to gain real-time insights into traffic patterns, resource utilization and performance metrics.
The granularity and adaptability required to effectively monitor and manage the load-balancing infrastructure associated with these next-gen workloads go beyond the capabilities of traditional load-balancing approaches. For example:
Traditional load-balancing approaches lack the agility and intelligence needed to address these challenges, necessitating the adoption of enhanced load-balancing solutions.
Visibility into the load-balancing infrastructure that supports next-gen applications is more than just a nice feature to have. It is an essential part of delivering optimal performance, security and scalability for next-gen workloads. Having a deep insight into traffic flows, resource utilization and application behavior of workloads spread across modern infrastructure enables IT Systems Admins to make informed decisions that optimize their load-balancing strategies. This, in turn, helps them identify bottlenecks, anomalies and potential security threats, allowing for timely remediation and improved operational efficiency and resilience.
Now that we’ve outlined the importance and challenges posed by next-gen workloads, let’s examine what organizations need to look for in their load-balancing solutions to offset these challenges and deliver the required load balancing and visibility.
IT teams choosing load balancers for the modern application landscape must select and deploy load balancers that include advanced monitoring and analytics capabilities, such as real-time metrics, application-level insights and intelligent automation. By doing so, they can adapt their load-balancing strategies to the dynamic nature of modern workloads, providing optimal performance and scalability across diverse deployment models. To deliver load-balancing visibility for next-gen workloads, system admins should consider the following, as they enable them to adapt to the demands of next-gen workloads, maintaining continuous and efficient load balancing:
Many modern load balancer suppliers now offer a range of advanced tools and technologies designed to provide visibility for next-gen workloads. These tools deliver real-time insights and advanced analytics, in addition to core load-balancing functionality, to enhance application performance and resilience. They also offer actionable intelligence for improving application performance through configuration or deployment environment changes.
You won’t be surprised to read that the Progress Kemp LoadMaster load balancer fully supports the next-generation workloads discussed here. The LoadMaster solution supports on-premises and cloud deployment, as well as hybrid deployment models using the same core load balancer technology that enables system admins to operate the same UI and configuration methods across different environments.
You may not be aware that the LoadMaster solution also has an Ingress Controller for Kubernetes to help automate and manage containerized applications. You can also use LoadMaster as an API Gateway that enables the consolidation of multiple APIs and the selective publishing of API functions.
When using LoadMaster or any other modern load balancer to optimize the delivery of next-gen workloads, it is essential to follow best practices prioritizing visibility and adaptability. These best practices include implementing detailed monitoring and logging, using automation and continuously improving load-balancing strategies. Organizations can smoothly integrate their next-gen workload deployment strategies with evolving business requirements by staying proactive and keeping up with emerging technologies and trends in the load-balancing space.
At the very least, organizations should adopt the following best practices:
Each organization has a unique load balancer deployment model tailored to its needs. This will be especially true when using next-gen workload deployment modes that are highly dynamic and that have many “moving parts.” As a result, each organization will have a different way of delivering success with their load balancer projects. Typical examples of next-gen workload deployment from LoadMaster deployments cover the following:
Managing hybrid and multi-cloud application delivery - Deploying LoadMaster instances across on-premises and cloud platforms provides a unified load-balancing infrastructure with a standard interface for configuration and management.
Licensing and capacity management - Deploying LoadMaster and our LoadMaster 360 makes it much easier to manage license use and costs. Next-gen workloads can rapidly spin out of control (dare we say VM or container sprawl?) The tools in LoadMaster allow organizations to optimize license use as they scale their application delivery infrastructure on demand by controlling and monitoring current licenses.
In Germany, Rödl IT Operation GmbH and ACP IT Solutions GmbH used LoadMaster to modernize and streamline their on-premises infrastructure deployment with additional Microsoft Azure hosted workloads for a client who is a ceramics manufacturing company. The resulting hybrid architecture gave the company the necessary flexibility to manage more sensitive applications in-house and to run others cost-efficiently in the cloud. Read the details at Kemp provides High Availability for multisite Hybrid Cloud Deployment.
In addition to the case study highlighted above, you can read multiple LoadMaster success stories across many industry sectors on our case studies page.
The use of next-gen workloads and deployment models to deliver web-based applications will only accelerate in the future. As a result, the need for load balancers to deliver uptime and performance will also increase for this deployment method. This means that the load-balancing infrastructure will become more complex and challenging. Fear not, as LoadMaster and LoadMaster 360 can address the growing complexity and make it manageable. However, we must work smarter rather than harder in the load balancer space regarding next-gen workloads. The technology changes outlined below will likely play an essential part in making sure we can deliver the best possible web application experience to staff, clients and customers.
One key trend that is now ubiquitous across the IT landscape is the use of AL and ML, especially GenAI solutions based on large language models. Load balancing will also benefit from AI technologies. It’ll likely be other machine learning (ML) techniques rather than GenAI that’s important. By analyzing large amounts of data on application performance, user behavior and infrastructure health in next-gen workloads, load balancers and supporting management solutions will be able to optimize traffic distribution proactively, predict potential issues and provide actionable insights to administrators.
Application security will also see advancements. As cyberthreats evolve and become more sophisticated, load balancers will gain additional security features to provide robust protection against emerging threats. This may include enhancements to Web Application Firewalls with enhanced capabilities, advanced bot management and deeper integration with leading security information and event management (SIEM) solutions.
Further advances in multi-cloud, hybrid, edge and on-premises load balancing will occur as technologies evolve and organizational needs adapt. Progress operates at the forefront of these changing landscapes so that the LoadMaster family of products delivers what our customers need for their next-gen workloads.
Lastly, the future of load balancing and its management will likely see a growth in the importance of automation and DevSecOps workflow integration. The evolution of more robust APIs and integrations with popular infrastructure-as-code tools will enable organizations to embed load-balancing configurations into their continuous integration and deployment pipelines. This will allow for faster, more reliable application deployments and updates while minimizing the risk of human error. This is essential for keeping pace with the dynamic nature of rapidly changing next-gen workloads.
LoadMaster and LoadMaster 360 solutions are well-positioned to embrace future trends and advancements in load balancing and management across all deployment models. By leveraging emerging technologies, enhancing security features, adapting to multi-cloud and edge computing environments and supporting automation and DevSecOps practices, LoadMaster will continue to empower organizations with optimal application experiences.
Enhancing visibility into next-generation workloads and the load balancers that support them is essential to meeting organizations’ demands for performance and productivity. By embracing advanced tools, adopting best practices and staying ahead of emerging trends, businesses can unlock the full potential of their modern applications and maintain optimal performance, security and scalability.
Visit the LoadMaster Overview page for details of the current LoadMaster release and the LoadMaster 360 page for more information on our industry-leading load balancer management solution. If you’d like to speak with an expert about how the LoadMaster family of products can help improve your application experience, don’t hesitate to contact us.
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