CODEWITHSUNDEEP
web-applicationsterminologyload-balancingcluster-computing
irobson
irobson

Reputation: 865

What is the difference between Cluster Computing and Load Balancing?

I know a bit about each one, but I still confused about the difference of them. Let's think this context about a web application on an Application Server (for sample: Glassfish), so, cluster computing applications include load balancing features? When to use one or another ?

Thanks.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1547

Answers (2)

Has QUIT--Anony-Mousse
Has QUIT--Anony-Mousse

Reputation: 77454

Cluster computing is much more broad than the one specific application of load balancing.

Load balancing = serving a large number of requests (web, VPN connections, ...) by having multiple "copies" of a server

Cluster computing = any computation running on more than one computer

P.S. "clustering" usually refers to "cluster analysis", a data mining technique. Better call it "cluster computing".

Upvotes: 1

Gauthier Delacroix
Gauthier Delacroix

Reputation: 709

Load balancing is a network feature, allowing to spread a flow (not only web) over multiple servers. Best known LB algorythms are round-robin, ratio, least-connections, ...

Real cluster computing is an applicative feature (knowing that each clustered application has it's own definition of what a cluster is) allowing to spread a task on multiple computers.

Cluster nodes will often have to share and/or synchronize data with other nodes.

Cluster computing often make use of load balancing to distribute network trafic/requests over the cluster nodes, but it's not mandatory.

That said, "cluster" is often used to speak about a basic "group" of servers, that doesn't really process a ditributed task.

Upvotes: 1

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