Why should I use Real Server Monitors?

Using real server monitors when defining a virtual service for load balancing your application servers is essential for maintaining high service reliability and performance. These monitors actively and continuously check the health and status of each backend server by performing various health checks, such as HTTP requests, TCP connections, or ICMP pings. By doing so, they can accurately determine if a server is capable of handling client requests.

When a server fails a health check, the load balancer is immediately informed and can stop directing traffic to that server, preventing potential service disruptions. This dynamic traffic management ensures that only healthy servers receive incoming requests, thereby avoiding overloading any single server and ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted user experience.

Additionally, real server monitors help in identifying performance bottlenecks and server failures quickly, allowing for prompt corrective actions. This proactive approach minimizes downtime, enhances fault tolerance, and maintains high availability of the application, which is critical for meeting service level agreements (SLAs) and ensuring user satisfaction.

Incorporating real server monitors in your load-balancing strategy ensures that your application remains robust, responsive, and reliable by dynamically adapting to the real-time health status of your servers.