A comprehensive examination of load balancing algorithms in cloud environments: a systematic literature review, comparative analysis, taxonomy, open challenges, and future trends

Cloud computing is a robust paradigm that empowers users and organizations to procure services tailored to their needs. This model encompasses many offerings, including storage solutions, platforms for seamless deployment, and convenient access to web services. Load balancing, a fundamental pillar in cloud computing, is crucial in distributing requests across multiple servers to optimize resource utilization and reduce response times. However, load balancing presents a common challenge in the cloud environment, as it hampers the ability to maintain optimal application performance while adhering to the stringent requirements of Quality of Service (QoS) measurements and Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance mandated by cloud providers to enterprises. The equitable workload distribution across servers poses a significant challenge for cloud providers. Hence, an efficient load-balancing technique should optimize resource utilization in Virtual Machines (VMs) to ensure maximum user satisfaction and overall system efficiency. However, existing review papers on load balancing in cloud environments often exhibit limitations, lacking in-depth analyses, graphical representations, and comprehensive evaluations of performance metrics. This review paper aims to fill these gaps by providing a novel taxonomy of load balancing algorithms divided into four categories (types of algorithms, nature of problem, metrics, and simulation tools) and thoroughly examining their objectives, parameters, and operational flows. It evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these algorithms, considering their nature and type, and employs qualitative QoS parameter-based criteria for effectiveness evaluation. The paper also includes a comparative analysis of simulation tools, visual representations, and experimental results. By offering valuable insights, open issues, recommendations, and future directions, this review paper equips researchers, practitioners, and cloud service providers with the knowledge to make informed decisions in selecting and optimizing load-balancing strategies for diverse cloud environments.