Introducing the GitHub Load Balancer

Details the design and implementation of GLB (GitHub Load Balancer), a new load balancing solution. Key contributions include: a stateless director tier using Rendezvous hashing for graceful node removal without connection disruption, a L4/L7 split design with 'director' and 'proxy' hosts, and the use of ECMP routing with a focus on avoiding connection termination during rehash events. The post also discusses the challenges of 'stretching an IP' and the benefits of the L4/L7 split for maintainability and DDoS mitigation.