Load balancing using server and client collaboration

Load balancing has traditionally been limited to techniques that only the server can implement and a client cannot understand. While there are a few methods which do allow a client to interact with the server in a manner that allows the client to change servers when needed, they are generally work-arounds that rely on existing specifications not meant for the task. This thesis work presents a proof of concept of a collaborative approach between client and server to perform load balancing named Next-Server. Next-Server is an approach to load balancing that allows the client to respond to a server's instruction to move to a new server without requiring a redirection. While the results of the current work indicate that Next-Server is not as efficient as passive load balancing techniques, it does improve upon HTTP Redirection performance, an existing active load balancing technique that requires multiple requests from the client in the event the server needs to move the client to another server. Additional research might identify other scenarios in which Next-Server could be made more efficient or combined with other methods to improve upon current results.