What common activity can a load balancer perform?

A load balancer primarily functions to distribute incoming network traffic across multiple servers. This process is known as server request routing. By effectively managing the distribution of requests, a load balancer ensures that no single server becomes overwhelmed with traffic, which enhances the availability and reliability of applications.

This capability is crucial for maintaining optimal performance in web applications and services, especially during high traffic periods. It also contributes to redundancy; if one server goes down, the load balancer can redirect traffic to the remaining online servers.

In contrast, the other listed activities—database management, user interface design, and file storage—do not fall within the typical responsibilities of a load balancer. Database management involves handling data storage and querying, user interface design deals with the visual elements of applications, and file storage pertains to how files are saved and retrieved. These tasks are typically performed by different systems or tools tailored for those specific functionalities, rather than by a load balancer.