Connection redistribution in load-balanced systems

Methods and apparatus for connection redistribution in load-balanced systems that include multiple load balancers each serving multiple nodes. In the connection redistribution method, each node estimates a connection close rate, which may be based on an estimation of the percentage of the overall client traffic received by the respective load balancer that is being handled by the node. The node generates close requests for connections between the respective load balancer and clients according to the connection close rate. The node sends the close requests to its load balancer, which forwards the close requests to the appropriate clients. Upon receiving a close request, a client may close the connection(s) indicated by the request, obtain a public IP address for a load balancer, and initiate new connection(s) to the respective load balancer via the public IP address.