--- title: "Load balancing methods" description: "The OVHcloud Load Balancer service supports a variety of load balancing algorithms for your services. This setting determines how the OVHcloud Load Balancer dis" url: https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/network/load-balancer/create-balancing lang: en --- > For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms-full.txt. # Load balancing methods The OVHcloud Load Balancer service supports a variety of load balancing algorithms for your services. This setting determines how the OVHcloud Load Balancer distributes incoming client requests among the servers in a farm.   ## Requirements - An [OVHcloud Load Balancer](https://us.ovhcloud.com/network/load-balancer/) service in your OVHcloud account - Access to the [OVHcloud Control Panel](https://manager.us.ovhcloud.com/) - You need to have created a server cluster (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 our [Introduction to the OVHcloud Load Balancer](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/network/load-balancer/use-presentation.md) guide. | Algorithm | Features | | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | First | Directs the connection to the first available server based on its ID (smallest to largest). | | LeastConn | Selects the server that has the lowest number of active connections. This setting is recommended for long-duration sessions with light traffic. The _RoundRobin_ algorithm is used for tire-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 cluster’s load balancing method #### Via OVHcloud Control Panel Choose the `Server clusters` tab. Then click the _more options_ `...` button to the right of the cluster you wish to modify. From the drop-down menu, select `Edit`. **Scroll down** to the `Advanced settings` area, where you can modify your `Distribution mode`. Click `Update` to confirm your selection. When the **Server clusters** page reloads, click `Apply configuration` in the yellow banner. On the next screen select `☑` your **Datacenter** and click `Apply configuration` again. #### Via API #### View details of a server cluster Use this API call to view the details of a specific server cluster: [GET /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/http/farm/{farmId}](https://api.us.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/ipLoadbalancing&branch=v1#get-/ipLoadbalancing/-serviceName-/http/farm/-farmId-) | Setting | Meaning | | ------------- | ------------------------------ | | ServiceName\* | Your Load Balancer service ID | | farmId\* | The server cluster's ID number |   | Response (BackendHttp) | Meaning | | ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | farmId | The server cluster's ID number | | balance | The load balancing algorithm currently set for the farm | | zone | Name of the zone in which the cluster is configured | | port | Port used to contact the servers configured on the cluster | | probe | Type of probe currently configured on the cluster | | displayName | Name given to this cluster | | stickiness | Connection monitoring method currently set for the cluster |   #### Modify a server cluster's load balancing method With this API call, you can edit the settings of a server cluster if you know its ID. In this example, we will work on an HTTP cluster. To modify the balancing method, update the `BackendHttp.balance` field with an available algorithm: [PUT /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/http/farm/{farmId}](https://api.us.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/ipLoadbalancing&branch=v1#put-/ipLoadbalancing/-serviceName-/http/farm/-farmId-) | Setting | Meaning | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | ServiceName\* | Your Load Balancer service ID | | farmId\* | The server cluster's ID number | | BackendHttp.balance | Preferred balancing method for this cluster |   #### Apply the modifications [POST /ipLoadbalancing/{serviceName}/refresh](https://api.us.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/ipLoadbalancing&branch=v1#post-/ipLoadbalancing/-serviceName-/refresh) | Setting | Meaning | | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | ServiceName\* | Your Load Balancer service ID | | zone\* | Name of the zone in which to deploy the configuration |   ## Go further Browse all the [Load Balancer guides](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/network/load-balancer/landing-page-load-balancer.md). Browse the rest of the [OVHcloud US documentation](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/index.md) for guides on our other products and services. Learn more about [Load Balancer](https://us.ovhcloud.com/network/load-balancer/) on the OVHcloud US website.