Load balancing is a technique used in computer networks to distribute workloads across multiple servers or resources. This ensures that no single server becomes overwhelmed with too much traffic, which can lead to slow performance or downtime. By evenly distributing requests, load balancing helps maintain optimal performance and reliability for users. There are various methods of load balancing, including round-robin, least connections, and IP hash. These methods determine how incoming requests are assigned to servers. Load balancers can be hardware devices or software applications, and they play a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency of web applications and services.