LABEL-BASED TARGET HOST CONFIGURATION FOR A SERVER LOAD BALANCER

A method for configuring a server load balancer comprises receiving a user command defining a load balancing group capable of representing a plurality of target host servers within a network, and receiving user commands adding the target host servers to the load balancing group, wherein the user commands include configuration information for the target host servers. Upon receiving the user commands adding the target host servers to the load balancing group, the method includes updating a database of the server load balancer to include configuration information for the target host servers. After updating the database, the method includes receiving user commands assigning a label to a subset of the target host servers without creating a new load balancing group and without re-configuring information relating to the target host servers, wherein the label indicates the subset of the target host servers are capable of servicing a specific type of access request.