Methods and apparatus for performing dynamic load balancing of processing resources

A computing system for implementing a load balancer, the computing system comprising:

• one or more interfaces for interfacing the computing system to one or more networks and to a plurality of processing resources;
• and
• a controller coupled to the one or more interfaces, the controller being configured to:
• electronically receive registration requests from at least some of the plurality of processing resources;
• register each processing resource from which a registration request was received to produce registered processing resources;
• receive, from each registered processing resource, information relating to utilization of the registered processing resource to collectively produce utilization information, the receiving comprising remotely executing a script at the registered processing resource that enables the load balancer to retrieve a data structure from the registered processing resource, wherein the data structure includes the information relating to utilization of the registered processing resource;
• update a list of received information relating to the utilization of the processing resources at the load balancer;
• receive a request to perform a server-related processing task from a client application over a network;
• and
• responsive to the request to perform the server-related processing task, allocate at least one of the registered processing resources to perform the server-related processing task based on the utilization information.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to:

• electronically receive registration requests from at least some of a plurality of processing resources;
• register each processing resource from which a registration request was received to produce registered processing resources;
• receive, from each registered processing resource, information relating to utilization of the registered processing resource to collectively produce utilization information, the receiving comprising remotely executing a script at the registered processing resource that enables the load balancer to retrieve a data structure from the registered processing resource, wherein the data structure includes the information relating to utilization of the registered processing resource;
• update a list of received information relating to the utilization of the processing resources at the load balancer;
• receive a request to perform a server-related processing task from a client application over a network to which the computing system is communicatively coupled;
• and
• responsive to the request to perform the server-related processing task, allocate at least one of the registered processing resources to perform the server-related processing task based on the utilization information.

A method for a processing resource to assist a load balancer in performing dynamic load balancing, the processing resource being one of a plurality of processing resources allocatable by the load balancer and capable of performing server-related processing tasks as requested by remotely-executing client applications, the method comprising:

• generating information relating to utilization of the processing resource to produce utilization information;
• performing a registration sequence with the load balancer;
• subsequent to the registration sequence, receiving a request for the utilization information from the load balancer;
• executing a script at the processing resource that enables the load balancer to retrieve the requested utilization information;
• and
• communicating the requested utilization information to the load balancer responsive to the request, the communication enabling the load balancer to update a list of received information relating to the utilization of the processing resources.