What is the primary function of Alibaba Cloud's Server Load Balancer (SLB)?

The primary function of Alibaba Cloud's Server Load Balancer (SLB) is to distribute incoming traffic across multiple servers. This capability ensures that no single server becomes overwhelmed with requests, leading to improved performance, reliability, and availability of applications hosted on Alibaba Cloud. By balancing the load, SLB helps optimize resource use, minimize response times, and increase fault tolerance.

Furthermore, this load distribution mechanism supports scaling by allowing organizations to seamlessly add or remove servers based on current traffic demands. This not only enhances user experience but also ensures that applications remain resilient under varying levels of demand. Other functions, such as data encryption or data storage, are not the primary roles of SLB, as it focuses on traffic management rather than data security or storage solutions.