If cost were not an issue, would there be any benefit in deploying a software load balancer for web traffic compared to a hardware one?
Load Balancing – Hardware vs Software Load Balancers: Cost Comparison
load balancing
load balancing
If cost were not an issue, would there be any benefit in deploying a software load balancer for web traffic compared to a hardware one?
Best Answer
The distinction between "hardware" and "software" load balancers is no longer meaningful. A so-called "hardware" load balancer is a PC class CPU, network interfaces with packet processing capabilities, and some software to bind it all together. A "software" load balancer realized on a good server with modern NICs is ... the same.
What you get with high-end commercial offerings like F5 or Citrix Netscaler is:
With (open source) software load balancers is you don't get the opposite, what you get depends on the software you choose and how you go about it. That said, typically you'll see:
The differentiation isn't really on "hardware" versus "software". It is on "buy a proven technology stack as an appliance" versus "build it yourself". There are of course many variables to consider when making the final decision (costs, inhouse skill sets, tolerance for downtime, future growth etc).