What should I do if my load balancer is not distributing traffic evenly?

If your load balancer isn’t distributing traffic evenly, here are some troubleshooting options to follow.

Check Sticky Sessions

If sticky sessions (LBCookie, AppCookie, SourceBased) are enabled, clients may consistently connect to the same backend — which is expected behavior. Solution: Disable sticky sessions if you want even traffic distribution for stateless workloads.

Verify Health Checks

If one or more backend servers are marked as unhealthy, the load balancer will stop sending traffic to them. Solution: Check health check paths, timeouts, and ensure the backend app is responding properly.

Backend Server Performance

Load balancers may avoid overloaded or slow servers. Solution: Monitor CPU, RAM, and application health on each server to ensure even capacity.

Client Behavior

Some clients (e.g., mobile apps or NATed networks) may re-use the same connection or IP, appearing as uneven traffic. Solution: Use logs and analytics to confirm whether uneven load is caused by real user patterns.