For this I am specifically referring to running websites on Windows, but it's not specific to IIS. We sometimes run Tomcat as well. Now obviously there are many hardware and software options to go with here and there are many points to consider in the windows world like sticky sessions and state that is sometimes inherent in a web app.
So what I'm looking for is any good experiences with effective load balancing strategies be they hardware or software based and reasons to justify the business costs related to this.
Thanks
Update:
In response to some deeper probing questions from Paul, I personally would be looking for least-loaded load balancing and definitely with session fail over. Now this kind of thing could also be handled by something like Memcached or something similar. SSL termination is very much dependent on whether you're going the hardware or software route, but then I may as well answer my own question.
The volumes could be anything from a start-up with the plan towards hopefully growing exponentially without presenting users with the infamous Fail Whale…
The question specifically asks what load balancing strategies have been effective for you in the past for running websites on windows. If the strategy you propose is hardware load balancing where SSL Termination occurs at the load balancer for instance, and you elaborate on why that turned out to be a good strategy for you, then that will have helped answer my question. Right now, I just don't have enough experience with different methods and alternatives, hence my question.
Best Answer
I'm a big fan of Windows Load Balancing Service (WLBS). I realize that some might say it's not up to the task of handling a large site, but somehow Microsoft is able to make it work for Microsoft.com, so I tend to disagree with those statements.