What is software load balancer?

A software load balancer is a program that distributes network or application traffic across multiple servers to ensure optimal resource utilization, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and prevent server overload. Unlike hardware load balancers, software load balancers are typically run on standard servers and can be more flexible and cost-effective. They often provide features such as health monitoring, SSL termination, and traffic routing based on various algorithms. Popular examples include NGINX, HAProxy, and Apache Traffic Server.