Is your company’s current infrastructure management efficient? And is it adequate and sufficient to meet all the needs and activities developed in your organization?
It is likely that your company is part of the range of businesses that are trying to do more with fewer resources, and this is a major challenge in the technology industry today.
But to achieve better performance with “more for less,” it is necessary to have a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure management to ensure the quality and continuity of services provided.
That’s why we’ve brought you a strategy that can help your company a lot in this mission: load balancing.
Also known as load distribution, this strategy aims to make network data traffic better distributed.
This way, it is possible to make better use of available resources, promoting uniform performance and reducing the risks of overload during periods of high demand.
So, do you want to know in detail about infrastructure management using load balancing? Check out what we’ve brought for you:
- What is infrastructure management?
- How to optimize services for infrastructure management
- What is load balancing?
- How does load balancing work?
- In which systems is load balancing applied?
- Advantages of load balancing
- See how load balancing helps infrastructure management
- How to implement this balancing?
- Conclusion about load balancing
- Count on Monitora for your infrastructure management
Do you want to understand better how this works? Keep reading with us!
What is infrastructure management?
IT infrastructure refers to all the technological framework necessary for the operation and management of the IT environment.
In other words, this includes hardware, software, network resources, and all services required for everything to function properly.
From this perspective, IT infrastructure management is precisely the set of processes through which all the technologies and IT services of a company are managed.
This management must be done using tested and approved methods and practices, always considering what the priorities of that structure are.
As it is an area of extreme importance for the functioning of virtual environments, IT infrastructure management has several tools to ensure efficiency in the sector’s work.
In addition, infrastructure management is responsible for adapting tools and establishing a set of policies and best practices in the Information Technology sector.
Therefore, through infrastructure management, it is possible to correctly monitor IT indicators, which are fundamental metrics for verifying if the segment is working according to the organization’s objectives.
How to optimize services for infrastructure management
For infrastructure management to be efficient, it is necessary to use appropriate tools and take actions aimed at optimizing its management.
Below are the main ones for this activity:
- Use infrastructure monitoring software
If you want to have efficient infrastructure management, constant monitoring of IT is essential.
This allows you to ensure the availability, reliability, and efficiency of the department.
For this process, monitoring software is a great help, especially those that work in the cloud.
These tools require a low investment and offer a great return, as they provide the manager with a broader view of the entire infrastructure without the need to acquire new equipment.
- Have a plan
No matter what area of IT you work in or are managing, it is essential to have a good plan to avoid long downtimes.
And remember that any action that interferes with IT infrastructure management must be carried out step by step.
This way, you prevent disastrous unforeseen events that generate even more errors throughout the process.
Preferably, increase management gradually, as this allows you to act more strategically, with an increasingly automated and controlled department.
- Use Cloud Computing
For infrastructure management, cloud computing is one of the smartest ways to operate in your company.
Since cloud technology allows you to optimize all your services and offer mobility to customers and employees, with total availability and efficiency.
Even though it is a recent technology, cloud computing is quite accessible to any size of the company.
This is because service providers offer the flexibility advantage with packages that fit according to the demand of your business and with efficiency.
- Invest in a backup service
In addition to being a security strategy, a backup service is a way to maintain the availability of a company’s information.
Having information always available is a way to ensure the reliability of your information in order to improve the quality of the services provided by the company.
In this way, customers and suppliers can trust you, as the entire structure is protected with sufficient technology to keep your business always active and increasingly competitive in the market.
- Outsource your IT team
If you want to innovate in the IT sector without experiencing major budget difficulties, without a doubt, IT outsourcing is the best option for you.
For infrastructure management, it is possible to find highly qualified professionals and third-party companies in the field, offering a wide range of services and technological solutions for the management of your infrastructure.
And the most efficient solution here is to enter into a contract with a third-party company for all services at a fixed cost.
This way, you will have access to the best services without the need to hire professionals in the field, who are already offered by the consultancy.
What is load balance?
Now that you know a little more about infrastructure management, let’s talk about a technique commonly used in this area: load balance.
Load balance is a methodology that uses software or hardware to ensure that request traffic comes from applications or the web.
Through load balance, it’s possible to distribute all these requests evenly to a cluster of servers.
As a result, the individual load on each server can be reduced so that users can access applications with good performance and response time.
Load balance uses the basis of the network routing protocol and can be activated automatically or as needed by the manager.
Basically, these network routing protocols define the way the router should establish the path to be taken by the data to its destination.
And among the most commonly used protocols, we can mention:
- RIP (Routing Information Protocol);
- RIPv2;
- EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol);
- IGRP (Interior Gateway Routing Protocol);
- OSPF (Open Shortest Path First).
How does load balance work?
Load balance can operate using two configurations: static or dynamic.
Here’s how each one works:
Static Load Balance
Static load balance involves distributing traffic based on the final destination of the data. So, for example, if the network has five systems with a route for each, traffic to each of them will always follow the same paths.
In this model, the focus is on maintaining the order of packet sending and receiving. It’s important to note that static load balance does not take into account the real-time status of network devices.
Therefore, cache techniques need to be applied to optimize the flow of data. However, a downside of this model is that if the service experiences an increase in demand, the bandwidth reserved for other links may be underutilized.
Static load balance can be done using algorithms such as Least Connections, Weighted Least Connections, Weighted Response Time, and Resource-based.
Dynamic Load Balance
Dynamic load balance has a better distribution of accesses. In this model, during each data transfer, data packets are evenly distributed among available links.
This is because there is continuous analysis of the network infrastructure and computation of user requests. So, based on data collection, the most efficient way to meet demands can be identified, and traffic can be automatically distributed.
Dynamic load balance can be done using algorithms such as Round Robin, Weighted Round Robin, and IP Hash, for example.
In which systems is load balance applied?
Any system that needs to distribute traffic can use the load balance strategy.
This model allows traffic to be efficiently distributed across multiple servers for better maintenance of active and future connections.
This way, you don’t have to worry about situations like server downtime or increased service load.
Among applications, load balance is widely used in website hosting systems, cloud-based applications such as social networks and online stores, and in fully allocated Cloud Virtual Networks.
Load balance allows specific software to be optimized by creating an instance.
Thus, you can have software that installs a server and configures it to be a load balancer.
These configurations can be easily made through OpenStack.
That’s why if you want to apply the load balance strategy to your systems, you need the support of specialized professionals and partnerships to perform the correct adaptation.
In addition, it is important to carry out adequate planning based on the data storage and processing model that you already have available.
This way, you can save money without having to change your entire infrastructure to achieve the best results.
Advantages of load balance
You have already seen briefly some of the main advantages of having load balance operating in your infrastructure, now, check out more details about these benefits:
Increased availability of your services
As mentioned before, servers are physical machines or cloud-based structures that aim to store files and execute requests from internet users.
Whenever your browser requests a website, the server receives this request, analyzes the website code, and serves the corresponding page back to the browser.
If your infrastructure has load balance, the application can divide these requests into data blocks that will be transferred between the application and one or more servers.
Through this distribution by means of dynamic or static load balance algorithms, an experience is guaranteed to users.
This optimization occurs with no waiting time, even with multiple concurrent users.
With this, you have the power to efficiently scale your servers according to demand, thus avoiding overloads.
Reduction of high traffic volume effects
In an unplanned infrastructure, high traffic volume can cause slowness for users and, in extreme cases, disconnect them from your services.
That’s why when the load balance technique is applied, the effects of this high volume are significantly reduced. Load balance helps your system by offering a better experience to end-users.
One of the main purposes of load balance is to ensure a perfect system functioning for servers and users, making it imperceptible to notice any difference in the network, even with a large volume of traffic.
See how load balance helps infrastructure management
If implemented correctly, load balance can efficiently expand the availability of the entire network infrastructure. As a result, you can enjoy optimized performance of the devices connected to this network. Consequently, there can be a significant reduction in workload and an increase in performance.
In a time when people are increasingly connected and the market is suffocated with competition, maintaining availability and performance can be your differentiator. For example, if your company sells a product X that is sold by company Y at similar prices and payment options, the user will choose to buy from the company that offers the best user experience.
Therefore, investing in strategies that allow you to provide a top-notch service that does not become unavailable during periods of high demand is key to improving customer satisfaction. Stable systems offer credibility to the company because the user knows they are using a quality resource that will always be available when needed.
How to implement load balance?
You now know what load balance is, how it works, and what its advantages are. You may be wondering how to implement this solution in your company. Well, there are basically two main ways to implement this technique: via hardware or via software, depending on your company’s infrastructure profile.
Here’s how it can be done in each of these ways:
Via hardware
Load balance can be implemented in your company using tools integrated into the network infrastructure.
In most cases, routers, switches, or specific devices with dedicated software for this purpose are included.
In the hardware way, these tools are installed between the accessed network and the servers that will receive the requests.
Via software
On the other hand, the software way of implementation uses your current network to direct traffic.
For this implementation, the server itself or the expansion with the hiring of a cloud service is commonly used.
Even if you don’t purchase new devices to add to the network, with dedicated software in place, load balance can handle large demands.
Among the most commonly used software, we can mention AWS or NGINX, which are specially developed to better distribute this traffic.
Conclusion on load balance and infrastructure management
Increasingly present in corporate systems, load balance is a technology that brings various benefits to entrepreneurs and their systems.
Load balance is an excellent tool to increase availability and reduce the effects of high traffic volume on your infrastructure without spending a fortune on hardware.
Moreover, load balance allows for better and secure reception of requests for processing.
As a result, it is possible to ensure a better experience for your users with low risk of disconnection or unavailability and ensure the best infrastructure management for your business!
Count on Monitora for your infrastructure management!
Monitora is a software company specializing in helping businesses become digital through methodology, processes, and software.
The company takes care of the entire technology development process to help clients focus on their business strategies.
With qualified professionals, it is possible to achieve the best infrastructure management for your company, regardless of your business segment!
Want more information about Monitora’s services or other topics?
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Text automatically translated from Portuguese to English
