Choosing a load balancer looks straightforward until you open a few vendor datasheets and drown in acronyms. The headline throughput numbers rarely tell you what daily life with the product will feel like. If you are evaluating options, these are the criteria that separate a tool your team will thank you for from one they quietly resent. Total Cost, Not Just Sticker Price Per-server or per-throughput licensing can turn an affordable-looking product into a runaway bill as you scale. Models with predictable, flat licensing make budgeting sane. When teams compare load balancing platforms without per-server licensing, the long-term savings often...