Five Load Balancers That Route Around Failures as Your App Scales Horizontally
NGINX, HAProxy, Varnish, Apache, and LiteSpeed ADC can all be enabled from the dashboard without manual config-file editing. SSL encryption ends at the load balancer, so one certificate protects every app node.
NGINX, HAProxy, Varnish, Apache, and LiteSpeed ADC — all managed and pre-configured. Switch stacks without re-architecting.
Enable from the environment topology — no config files, no manual routing rules.
ModSecurity WAF with OWASP Core Rule Set on NGINX and Apache; LiteSpeed ADC includes its own Layer-7 WAF.
Automatic health monitoring routes traffic away from unhealthy backend nodes — per-stack, every few seconds.
Pick the load balancer that fits your traffic pattern
HAProxy
Best for: high-throughput TCP/HTTP load balancing with detailed monitoring. Event-driven with a low memory footprint, cookie-based session persistence, and a built-in admin panel with real-time statistics.
Varnish
Best for: caching-heavy workloads where static content acceleration matters most. HTTP reverse proxy with response caching, bundled NGINX for HTTPS termination, and HTTP/3 support.
Apache
Best for: environments that need per-module customization. Modular architecture with mod_proxy_balancer distribution methods (round robin, by traffic, by busyness).
LiteSpeed ADC
Best for: enterprise workloads that need HTTP/3 (QUIC), Layer-7 WAF with anti-DDoS filtering, built-in page caching, and session affinity. Consumption-based licensing.
NGINX
Best for: general-purpose HTTP load balancing, reverse proxying, and caching. HTTP/3, ModSecurity WAF with OWASP Core Rule Set, TCP/UDP proxying, and SSL/TLS termination.
Not sure which stack to pick?
NGINX is the best default. Pick HAProxy for monitoring, Varnish for caching, Apache for module customization, or LiteSpeed ADC for enterprise HTTP/3 + WAF. See Platform Security for firewall and SSL details.
Open only what your stack needs.
Inbound rules are managed per node role from the platform UI.
Balance databases, mail, and custom protocols at the TCP layer
Not every service speaks HTTP. Database replicas, mail servers, and message queues need direct connection routing without HTTP inspection overhead.
Connection routing model
Each incoming connection is assigned to a backend node (round robin by default, configurable per stack) and stays pinned until the connection closes. Long-running database sessions and persistent TCP streams work without interruption.
Common use cases
- Database clusters — spread read queries across replicas so no single node bottlenecks your app
- Mail servers — balance SMTP and IMAP connections for consistent delivery and inbox access
- Custom protocols — route message queues, game servers, or any other TCP-based service
Configuration
Each TCP load balancer gets a dedicated public IP, so traffic reaches your services directly and bypasses the shared HTTP layer. Map frontend ports to backend ports in the dashboard, and the platform handles the routing.
Session persistence
TCP connections stay on the assigned backend for the life of the connection. For HTTP-level persistence, LiteSpeed ADC uses session affinity by default, and other stacks are configurable. PHP and Java apps can also store sessions in Memcached, making any node eligible for requests without sticky routing.
See how load balancing fits common architectures
Stateless web/API
LB → App nodes → DB/Redis
Scale web or API nodes horizontally behind a load balancer. Store sessions and state in external stores so any backend can serve any request.
Caching tier
Varnish → App servers
Place Varnish in front of application servers to cache static objects and reduce backend load. Bundled NGINX handles HTTPS termination.
HA multi-region
LB per region → clustered backends
Deploy load balancers in each region with clustered app and database nodes for geographic redundancy and low latency.
Kubernetes ingress
Ingress controller → pods
HAProxy, NGINX, and Traefik available as K8s ingress controllers with pre-configured TLS. See managed Kubernetes for topology options.
Put TLS and traffic routing in front of the app tier.
Architecture shows SSL, NGINX, and the backend.
Model your environment costs in the pricing calculator.
Common Questions
How is a load balancer added to my environment?
A load balancer is added automatically when you scale to more than one application server node. You can also add one manually through the topology wizard, even for a single server.
Which load balancer stack should I choose?
Start with NGINX for most workloads. Choose HAProxy for detailed monitoring or pure TCP balancing, Varnish for caching acceleration, Apache for deep module customization, or LiteSpeed ADC for enterprise HTTP/3 and WAF features.
Do load balancers support HTTP/3?
NGINX, Varnish, and LiteSpeed ADC support HTTP/3 (QUIC) with the feature enabled by default. A public IP is required to bypass the shared load balancer and use HTTP/3 directly.
How do health checks work?
Each stack implements health checks differently. NGINX checks TCP before routing each request. HAProxy runs TCP checks every 2 seconds.
What security features are built in?
NGINX includes a pre-built ModSecurity WAF module with OWASP rules. LiteSpeed ADC has web application firewall protection and layer-7 anti-DDOS filtering. HAProxy provides DDOS mitigation through its event-driven architecture.
Can I load balance TCP traffic (not just HTTP)?
TCP load balancing covers databases, mail servers, and custom protocols. Configure frontend and backend port mappings and attach a public IP to the load balancer node.
How does session persistence work?
LiteSpeed ADC uses stateful mode (session affinity) by default, routing requests from one source to the same backend. Other stacks offer configurable persistence options. For best results at scale, use external session storage and keep backends stateless.
Is there an admin panel for load balancer management?
HAProxy includes a built-in admin panel with real-time statistics and backend management. LiteSpeed ADC has a full admin console accessible via the dashboard. NGINX, Varnish, and Apache are configured through the platform's file manager or SSH.
Does LiteSpeed ADC require a separate license?
LiteSpeed ADC is commercial software with pay-as-you-go licensing billed hourly per container. License management is fully automated: new licenses are issued when containers are created, updated when resources change, and decommissioned when environments stop.
Can I scale load balancers independently from application servers?
Load balancer nodes scale horizontally and vertically independent of your application server layer. Adjust cloudlet limits and node count through the topology wizard to match your traffic patterns.
Can I test health-check behavior in staging before production?
Clone the environment, tune probe thresholds and backend rules, then validate failover behavior in staging before applying the same profile to production.
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