Disasters or interruptions are inevitable on the web. If your business revolves heavily around internet traffic, you need to have a disaster recovery plan. Having one allows you to resume work quickly and prevent potential data loss in case something happens to your server or connection. For most companies and businesses maintaining a website, the key component to their data center disaster recovery is the GSLB.

What is GSLB?

GSLB stands for Global Server Load Balancing. It is an intelligent way of balancing the distribution of traffic across servers in several geographic locations, regardless of whether they are hosted in a private or public cloud or in the company’s data centers.

What Are the Benefits of Having GSLB?

Having a Global Server Load Balancing helps create a more reliable user experience. With its help, the client is routed to the nearest data center available, minimizing the response or waiting time for them. GSLB also protects the system from partially or completely crashing.

How Does GSLB Work?

The GSLB can assign requests to the master server through any of the following strategies: Domain Name Systems (DNS) redirection or HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) redirection. If your website uses GSLB, here’s how it will work:

1. Your website will receive an HTTPS request or data sent from your client.
2. GSLB will then inspect the IP address where this data comes from (your client).
3. GSLB will also assess the health of your servers in in all your data centers.
4. All these will happen in a matter of milli-seconds.
5. After the analysis, GSLB will choose the ideal server for your client based on the location and response time it received. 

Global Server Load Balancing Role in Disaster Recovery

As mentioned earlier, GSLB is the key component for disaster recovery of most companies. Here’s why:

1. GSLB allows quick services from multiple data centers around the world possible, compared to the normal load balancer that distributes traffic across servers in specific data centers only.
2. With GLSB, you have continuous monitoring for your data center’s availability, health, and responsiveness.
3. GLSB helps recovery possible when servers fail. It helps determine what redirection is necessary and prevents any fatal infrastructure disaster. If it notices any failure point, it will direct the traffic to an alternate site.
4. It also allows data migration and updates to happen at the same time without affecting the client’s requests or without the client noticing it.
5. GLSB allows companies the freedom to customize content for their local servers, depending on language or geographic location.

Conclusion

Global Server Load Balancing does not only act as a cloud load balancer but also as an added security, disaster recovery, and experience enhancement to your site. If you’re looking for a reliable and advanced load balancing software, we can help you!

We’re a load balancing solutions company that helps businesses distribute network traffic for the best user experience. Contact us today to learn more about our solutions!