Can Rocky 8 Be Load Balanced?

Rocky 8 — which is also commonly known as Rocky Linux — is an open-source downstream and binary-compatible Linux distribution. Rocky 8 is quite popular since it can be used in conjunction with operating system source code for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (also known as RHEL). 

Developed by The Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, Rocky 8 Linux is widely viewed as an unofficial CentOS successor of sorts. Its stability and user-friendly interface has prompted Rocky Linux to rise in popularity amongst individuals, small business IT divisions and even larger enterprises. Notably, CentOS was discontinued by RHEL in 2021, prompting many IT professionals to seek an alternative solution. Rocky Linux 8 has emerged as a popular alternative to CentOS, with many opting to migrate to Rocky 8 technology. 

As a free, open source platform, Rocky Linux 8 is supported by a community of developers and IT professionals, who offer advice and recommendations and troubleshooting support. This makes load balancing implementations a bit more challenging since you do not have a dedicated customer support team available to assist if problems or questions arise. This has prompted many to wonder, “Can Rocky 8 be load balanced?” and if so, “What is the best option for load balancing Rocky Linux 8?”

Load Balancing Rocky 8 Linux

Available on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace (among other locations), the Rocky Linux 8 system is described as a “free, open, community enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with the top upstream enterprise Linux distribution. Built by the community, for the community.” But to optimize performance, a load balancer is really essential. 

Load balancers are now regarded as a critical and indispensable technology for virtually every server-reliant website, platform, network, application or other technology. Load balancing serves to improve performance, enhance reliability and it affords IT professionals with a great deal of scalability — a great feature for those who see regular fluctuation in demand (or anticipate future changes in demand level.) 

Load balancers work by positioning a server hub that intercepts incoming server requests. These requests — also called client requests — can originate from websites, applications, networks and other server-reliant technologies. High-traffic websites and popular applications can submit thousands and even millions of incoming client requests in very short order. As you can imagine, this holds the potential to overload a server pool, resulting in issues such as poor performance, slowdowns and even complete server crashes that can cause major problems in terms of user perception, user experience and productivity.

The load balancing hub server intercepts those incoming requests, performing an evaluation using a predetermined load balancer algorithm as a guide. The algorithm determines exactly how the server request is evaluated and how it is distributed in the server pool. In addition, the hub server performs routine health checks on the servers to verify that they have high availability levels and are in good overall condition. If a problem is detected, the server is flagged for maintenance and taken offline — a practice that dramatically improves performance and reduces the chances that you may encounter a server error. 

Rocky 8 Linux operating systems can benefit significantly from load balancing, but what is the best load balancing option for this platform? 

HAProxy is regarded as a top pick for Rocky Linux 8 and many other platforms, such as CentOS. This is good news for those who are familiar with CentOS and are migrating their systems to utilize Rocky 8. 

What is HAProxy Load Balancer for Rocky 8? 

HAProxy is one of the most popular open source load balancers. Known for its high availability and great performance, HAProxy is a reverse proxy and load balancer that works for TCP and HTTP-based applications. With proxy protocol, gRPC support and API support (amongst other features),  HAProxy works at TCP layer 4 and TCP layer 7 for its load balancing operations. It also performs SSL and TLS termination, in addition to multi-threading and GZip compression. 

HAProxy is widely favored for its ability to work in conjunction with a variety of different load balancing algorithms, making it a versatile choice for Rocky Linux 8. Some of the most commonly-used HAProxy load balancing algorithms include round robin, least connection and source IP address. This provides IT professionals with a fair amount of flexibility in terms of their configuration and performance. 

One of the most common HAProxy load balancer configurations with Rocky 8 involves the usage of a minimum of three virtual machines. These servers work by having one server working as the load balancing hub, while the other two (or more) servers act as the server pool, serving up content in response to those incoming requests. 

HAProxy can be configured with relative ease on Rocky 8 Linux systems. This is true whether you are migrating from another platform such as CentOS or establishing a platform anew. 

Finding the Best Rocky 8 Load Balancer

While HAProxy load balancer and reverse proxy technology is clearly one of the most popular picks for load balancing Rocky 8 Linux operating system platforms, there are other options available. Finding the right load balancer solution can be challenging because there are many options to consider and many find it difficult to pinpoint the best option.

Fortunately, some load balancing service providers offer consultations to help you identify the best Rocky 8 load balancer. That’s the case here at Resonate, where we are happy to provide a recommendation for a technology that can bring maximum benefit in terms of performance, profitability and ROI. 

If you are in search of a high-performance load balancer for Rocky 8 Linux or another server-reliant operating system platform, do not hesitate to reach out to the Resonate team. At Resonate, we have extensive experience dealing in high-performance and cost-effective load balancers that bring tremendous scalability, great reliability and a potential for significant profitability and ROI. Resonate provides load balancing solutions for an array of platforms. This includes Rocky 8 and many other platforms. Reach out to the Resonate team to begin the consultation process for Rocky 8 load balancing solutions.