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Network load balancing

Network load balancing is a technology that can be used to increase the maximum capacity and efficiency of the Web role.

A typical network load balancing deployment is a network load balancer over a cluster of identical nodes. The network load balancer is like a proxy to the nodes. The clients only see the balancer and are not aware of each of the specific nodes. This is also the main reason that the nodes have to be identical.

When a network load balancer receives a request it will forward the request to one of the nodes. There are several algorithms to drive the balancing act between the nodes. Some algorithms are restrictive e.g. affinity and some are not.SDL LiveContent Architect does not have any special requirements with regards to the algorithm and any node is as good as any other at the moment it joins the cluster.