Step 1: Set Up Ubuntu Server

Start by provisioning an Ubuntu Server instance, either on a physical machine or a virtual machine (e.g., using VirtualBox, VMware, or a cloud provider like AWS or DigitalOcean). Ensure that the server has a stable internet connection and SSH access.

Step 2: Install Nginx

SSH into your Ubuntu Server and update the package list to ensure you have the latest package information:

sudo apt update

Next, install Nginx by running the following command:

sudo apt install nginx

Once Nginx is installed, start the Nginx service and enable it to start automatically on boot:

sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Step 3: Configure Nginx as a Load Balancer

Navigate to the Nginx configuration directory:

cd /etc/nginx/conf.d

Create a new configuration file for your load balancer:

sudo nano load-balancer.conf

In the configuration file, define your upstream servers. Replace the placeholder IP addresses and ports with the actual IP addresses and ports of your backend servers:

upstream backend_servers {
server 192.168.1.101:80;
server 192.168.1.102:80;
server 192.168.1.103:80;
}

Next, configure the load balancing strategy. For example, you can use round-robin:

server {
      listen 80;
      server_name example.com;

      location / {
            proxy_pass http://backend_servers;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
      }
}

Save and close the configuration file.

Step 4: Test and Reload Nginx

Before applying the changes, test the Nginx configuration for syntax errors:

sudo nginx -t

If the syntax is OK, reload Nginx to apply the new configuration:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 5: Verify Load Balancer Configuration

Access your domain or server IP address in a web browser. Nginx should now load balance incoming requests across your backend servers.

Step 6: Monitor and Scale

Monitor the performance of your load balancer and backend servers using tools like Nginx Amplify or Prometheus with Grafana. As your traffic grows, consider adding more backend servers to handle the load and adjusting the load balancing configuration accordingly.