What is Kubernetes Load Balancer? Configuration & Examples

Kubernetes load balancer is a component that distributes network traffic across multiple instances of an application running in a K8S cluster to optimize performance and prevent overload on any single instance. Load balancers can be implemented by using cloud provider-specific load balancers or ingress controllers, which operate at the Network Layer 4 or Application Layer 7 of the OSI model. There are two types of load balancer types in Kubernetes – internal and external. To configure a load balancer in Kubernetes, you need to create a Service manifest that links the load balancer to a deployment using labels. Load balancing strategies include Round Robin, Source IP Affinity, Session Persistence, Least Connection, and Custom Load Balancing. Best practices for handling a Kubernetes load balancer include considering requirements, utilizing cloud providers, implementing readiness and liveness probes, consulting cloud provider documentation, enabling connection draining, configuring horizontal pod autoscaling (HPA), regularly monitoring metrics, applying security best practices, and simulating failure scenarios.