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Version: v0.15

Load Balancing

Load Balancing​

Goma Gateway includes built-in support for round-robin and weighted load balancing to efficiently distribute traffic across multiple backend services.

This ensures high availability, scalability, and optimal resource utilization in distributed environments.

Key Features​

  • Round-Robin: Evenly distributes incoming requests across available backends.
  • Weighted: Allocates traffic proportionally based on assigned weights.
  • Health Checks: Ensures only healthy backends receive traffic.
  • Scalable Architecture: Supports seamless addition/removal of backend servers.
  • Smart Fallback: Automatically removes failing backends from the rotation.

Configuration Examples​

Round-Robin Load Balancing​

This example defines three backend servers. Traffic is evenly distributed in a round-robin fashion (default behavior when no weights are specified):

version: 2
gateway:
  routes:
    - name: example-route
      path: /
      rewrite: /
      hosts:
        - example.com
        - example.localhost
      methods: []
      healthCheck:
        path: "/"
        interval: 30s
        timeout: 10s
        healthyStatuses: [200, 404]
      backends:
        - endpoint: https://api.example.com
        - endpoint: https://api-2.example.com
        - endpoint: https://api-3.example.com

Weighted Load Balancing​

In this setup, traffic is distributed based on weight values. Higher weights receive a greater share of requests:

version: 2
gateway:
  routes:
    - name: weighted-example
      path: /
      rewrite: /
      hosts:
        - example.com
      methods: []
      healthCheck:
        path: "/"
        interval: 30s
        timeout: 10s
        healthyStatuses: [200, 404]
      backends:
        - endpoint: https://api.example.com
          weight: 5
        - endpoint: https://api-2.example.com
          weight: 2
        - endpoint: https://api-3.example.com
          weight: 1

How It Works​

  • Round-Robin Goma cycles through available backend endpoints in order, ensuring each receives a similar number of requests.

  • Weighted Distribution Each backend receives traffic proportionally to its configured weight. For example, a backend with weight 5 receives 5× more traffic than one with weight 1.

  • Health Monitoring Health checks prevent unhealthy backends from receiving requests. Use the healthCheck block to define check paths, intervals, timeouts, and valid status codes.

  • Dynamic Scaling Backends can be added or removed at runtime without requiring a restart, supporting seamless horizontal scaling.

Notes​

  • The target field is ignored when backends are defined; it acts as a fallback.
  • Always ensure the healthCheck.path exists on all backend services to avoid false negatives.
  • Common healthy statuses include 200 OK and optionally 404 Not Found if used as an intentional empty state.
  • Load balancing is performed per route, giving you granular control over traffic distribution.