Load balancing methods

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Discover the various load balancing algorithms available with the OVHcloud Load Balancer

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KB0068731

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24.10.2025

Cloud / OVHcloud Load Balancer

Objective

The OVHcloud Load Balancer service supports a variety of load balancing algorithms for your services. This setting dictates how the Load Balancer distributes incoming client requests among the servers in a farm.

This guide introduces the various load balancing methods and explains how to modify them.

Requirements

An OVHcloud Load Balancer service in your OVHcloud account.
Access to the OVHcloud Control Panel.
You need to have created a server farm.

Instructions

Available Load Balancing Algorithms

The load balancing setting is applied at the server farm level and defines the method by which client requests are distributed among the servers within that farm.

For an overview of the OVHcloud Load Balancer service components, please refer to the Load Balancer Introduction guide.

Algorithm	Features
First	Directs the connection to the first available server based on its ID (smallest to largest).
LeastConn	Selects the server with the lowest number of active connections. This is recommended for long-duration sessions with light traffic. The RoundRobin algorithm is used for tie-breaking among equally loaded servers.
RoundRobin	Distributes connections sequentially, one after the other, for each new request. This is the default algorithm.
Source	Uses a hash of the source IP address to consistently redirect the same client IP to the same server, provided the server remains operational.
URI	Uses a hash of part or all of the URI path to consistently redirect identical URIs to the same server, provided the server remains operational. (Applicable to HTTP/HTTPS farms only.)

Modify a server farm’s load balancing method via the OVHcloud Control Panel

In the Server farms section (1), locate the desired farm. You can edit it by clicking the three dots on the right-hand side (2), then on Change.

In Advanced settings, modify the Load balancing method.

Once your preferred method is selected, click Update, then click Apply configuration in the yellow banner that appears.

Modify a server farm’s load balancing method via the OVHcloud API

The load balancing method is changed by updating the corresponding field within the server farm configuration.

View details on a server farm

Use this api call to view the details of a server farm given its ID. In this example, we work with an HTTP farm:

GET /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/http/farm/{farmId}

Setting	Meaning
serviceName*	Your Load Balancer service ID
farmId*	The farm’s ID number

Response (BackendHttp)	Meaning
farmId	The farm’s ID number
balance	The load balancing algorithm currently set for the farm
zone	Name of the zone in which the farm is configured
port	Port used to contact the servers configured on the farm
probe	Type of probe currently configured on the farm
displayName	Name given to this farm
stickiness	Connection monitoring method currently set for the farm

Modify a server farm’s load balancing method

Use this api call to edit the settings of a server farm given its ID. In this example, we work with an HTTP farm. To modify the balancing method, update the BackendHttp.balance field with an available algorithm:

PUT /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/http/farm/{id}