In today’s dynamic application landscape, delivering high availability, excellent performance and strong security is paramount for organizations of all sizes. Load balancers are vital for helping to deliver on these goals by distributing client network traffic across multiple servers and, if appropriate, geographic locations to minimize downtime and provide an enhanced application experience.
As we enter 2024, a shift in thinking is underway in the load balancing sector. Research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) shows that enterprise IT teams and decision-makers are increasingly open to explore and start using load balancing vendors and solutions. The market is entering a period of flux, and the EMA research shows that Progress Kemp LoadMaster solutions could become potential frontrunners during this period of change.
Webinar: The State of Load Balancing in 2024
Progress hosted a free webinar that is currently available on demand. In the event, Andy Redman, Director of Solutions, covered the following:
- Where application delivery sits today
- What is going to impact it in the future
- How critical technology is adapting along with the new architectures
- Industry trends that impact applications
Watch the webinar on the BrightTALK site.
The Changing Load Balancer Landscape
Data collected during the EMA survey shows a healthy appetite within enterprise businesses to reevaluate their current load-balancing infrastructure choices.
EMA questioned 315 enterprise organizations on their current load balancers and future plans. Within the surveyed organizations, 80% indicated a willingness to consider switching load-balancing vendors in the next two years.
Some of the factors that survey respondents highlighted as reasons to consider an alternative solution were:
- Changing demands for applications - The rise of cloud-based applications, micro-service architectures and hybrid cloud deployments have increased the complexity of load-balancing requirements. Many organizations struggle to support this evolving application landscape with their current load balancers.
- Additional features and simplified management - Enterprises seek load-balancing solutions offering advanced security, comprehensive analytics and simplified management to address the evolving application landscape.
- High costs for support and additional deployments - Ongoing support costs for their existing load balancers can be significant, as can adding additional nodes for new applications. Many organizations are seeking more cost-effective alternatives that allow them to scale their load-balancing architecture more flexibly without considerable spikes in their operational costs.
LoadMaster Ideally Placed to Meet Enterprise Needs
The willingness to change to alternative load-balancing solutions shows a significant opportunity for organizations looking to adopt a more flexible platform. Changing solutions can help respond to their technical needs in a package that’s user-friendly and lessens the load on already-stretched IT budgets.
Many experts in the load balancing sector seek to deploy LoadMaster for multiple reasons. Some of these include its exceptional application delivery, scalability across local data centers and geographic regions, high application performance and amplified security features that are adjunct to other enterprise cybersecurity measures. LoadMaster is also renowned for its customer-focused support and rich online resources, which help organizations of all sizes get the maximum benefit from their LoadMaster deployments.
LoadMaster has modernized technical and business capabilities needed to make it a top choice for organizations seeking to change their current load-balancing infrastructure.
Reasons for Enterprises to Choose LoadMaster
What makes LoadMaster an ideal replacement to address your current concerns and provide a load-balancing platform that will grow as your organizational needs change?
- Core Load Balancing - It may be obvious, but it’s worth stating—LoadMaster includes the core load-balancing functionality that modern organizations need to deploy load balancers in a flexible and optimized way. This includes deployments on-premises, in cloud and hybrid application deployments. Additionally, its Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) feature can be used across multiple data centers, cloud providers and regions.
- Citrix VDI and Storefront Compatibility - LoadMaster offers streamlined integration for existing Citrix users and is compatible with Citrix VDI and Storefront. This makes it a viable alternative to Citrix NetScaler for enterprises.
- Cybersecurity Functionality – LoadMaster includes layered cybersecurity functionality that you can deploy as required to provide additional security layers to your organization’s existing cybersecurity protections. They are:
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) - Built on the well-known ModSecurity engine, WAF deploys on top of LoadMaster load balancer instances. It is a supported component of the LoadMaster solution backed by our customer-approved consulting team, security experts and support staff.
- Edge Security Pack (ESP) - A suite of network tools designed to deliver additional security protections. ESP on LoadMaster provides Reverse Proxy, End Point Authentication, Active Directory integration, RADIUS authentication, Single Sign On (SSO) across virtual services, RSA SecurID dual factor authentication and Persistent Logging and Reporting on top of the regular LoadMaster features.
- Intrusion Prevention - LoadMaster includes an intrusion prevention system (IPS) compatible with rules created in the Smart IPS syntax. Administrators can use the engine to apply Permit/Deny IP by address rules for HTTP or HTTPS traffic with SSL offloading enabled.
- Flexible Deployment Options - LoadMaster can be deployed in multiple ways, allowing organizations to use it to fit into their current or future infrastructure deployments. The available options are dedicated hardware, bare metal installation, virtual machines or cloud platforms. There is also support for both Azure for US Government and AWS Cloud for Government, catering to the unique requirements of the government sector.
- Flexible and Competitive Pricing - LoadMaster has multiple licensing methods that allow you to choose the licensing model that fits your needs. The methods are Perpetual, Subscription, Pay-as-You-Go (PAYG), Pooled and Metered (based on monthly bandwidth usage). Service Provider Licensing is also available to MSPs to provide LoadMaster load balancers as part of their service delivery for clients. Regardless of the licensing model chosen, organizations will realize the significant cost savings for deployment and reduced ongoing support costs when they choose LoadMaster to replace other load-balancing solutions. Without losing the functionality they need to deliver an optimal application experience for their staff and clients.
- Cross-Platform Skills Sharing - LoadMaster is the same across all the available deployment options. As a result, the skills required to deploy, configure and manage LoadMaster are the same across different deployment scenarios. This simplifies the learning curve for IT teams as they only have to learn one solution.
Introducing… LoadMaster 360
LoadMaster 360 is another major incentive for enterprise businesses when considering a move to LoadMaster.
LoadMaster 360 is a cloud-based solution that provides a unified, intuitive experience for deploying, operating and troubleshooting applications. Its single-pane-of-glass view reduces downtime and enhances the user experience. Key features include:
- Intuitive, Modern Interface – Optimize your workflows through this modern UI, which offers visually stunning data modeling capabilities.
- Incident Management – Manage issues when they occur with context-rich critical alerts for a timely response.
- Certificate Lifecycle Management – Gain insights into your certificate estate and minimize outages by receiving notifications on expiring certificates.
- Application Analytics and Telemetry – Access comprehensive dashboards and custom reports to monitor application performance, health and security.
Conclusion
As the load balancer landscape evolves, LoadMaster stands out as a versatile, more secure and efficient solution for enterprise businesses and beyond. Its alignment with modern deployment needs, improved functionality, flexible licensing and lower cost of ownership, coupled with industry-leading support and online resources, positions it well for organizations looking to switch vendors or enhance their current load-balancing capabilities.
Download a free 30-day trial version today or request a live demo from our expert team. Don’t forget to check out the webinar too.