IPVS (IP Virtual Server) implements transport-layer load balancing, usually called Layer 4 LAN switching, as part of the Linux kernel. It's configured via the user-space utility tool.
IPVS is incorporated into the Linux Virtual Server (LVS), where it runs on a host and acts as a load balancer in front of a cluster of real servers. IPVS can direct requests for TCP- and UDP-based services to the real servers, and make services of the real servers appear as virtual services on a single IP address. IPVS is built on top of Netfilter.
IPVS is merged into versions 2.4.x and newer of the Linux kernel mainline.
See also
Netfilter and nftables Network scheduler
References
External links Source archive Virtual Server Configuration Wiki