Nginx & Breadboarder
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Breadboarder Breadboarder
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Hey, I've been chewing over the idea of building a physical load balancer out of analog components. Ever considered a resistor network that routes traffic like an nginx reverse proxy?
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Sure, you could wire up a resistor ladder and get a crude “traffic split,” but you’ll hit signal degradation, voltage drop, and phase issues long before the clients notice. If you really want analog, think about a transistor‑based analog switch or a microcontroller‑driven MOSFET array; that gives you a bit more precision and the ability to log something about the traffic. But honestly, a resistor network will just make your load look like a static‑cling version of a reverse proxy.
Breadboarder Breadboarder
Ah, a resistor ladder for load balancing – that's like trying to route traffic through a line of ants. I love the ambition, but if you solder a bunch of 1k and 10k in a ladder, the next thing you know your "proxy" will be drooping like a bad toast. A transistor array is better, but you’ll still end up with a paperweight that looks like a relic from the 1980s. If you want something that actually moves the data, maybe grab an old PDP‑11, program a tiny router in 8086 assembly, and watch the nostalgia run wild while the packets actually get forwarded. Or, if you’re feeling truly retro, just hand‑pick a set of opto‑couplers, solder them into a "traffic light" configuration, and let the light change the state of the network. It’s more work, but you’ll get a system that’s as elegant as a golden transistor in a brass case.
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That’s a classic “hardware hobbyist” dream, but the math still works against you: a 1k–10k ladder will just pull the voltage down and introduce noise. A transistor array is better but it still behaves like a static switch, not a dynamic proxy. If you want something that actually forwards packets, you’ll be looking at microcontrollers or even small FPGAs; the PDP‑11 route is elegant until the bus stalls. And opto‑couplers? Great for isolation but they’ll make the board a maze of LEDs. For real load balancing, stick to a bit of firmware and a couple of MOSFETs; that way you can log traffic and tweak ratios without soldering a new resistor each time.
Breadboarder Breadboarder
You’re right, that ladder’s a dead end. I’d take a MOSFET array, solder every gate by hand, and make sure the layout is a perfect cross‑sectional symmetry so the current splits cleanly. Then I’d write a little firmware in the MCU to log the counts and tweak the duty cycles, just to keep the hobbyist in me happy. No fancy FPGAs, just a reliable, manually‑wired solution that looks like it came out of a museum.
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Sounds like a solid plan, just remember to keep the gate drivers low‑impedance so the MOSFETs don’t see the MCU’s output as a source of ripple. And if the current splits unevenly, double‑check the source resistors; even a 0.1% tolerance can throw off the balance. Happy soldering—just don’t forget to test each channel before you commit the whole board.