a computerized method for load balancing in a geographically distributed or clustered system is disclosed . an arbiter assigns clients to nodes . the arbiter partitions clients into groups based on their request load . each group is dynamically scheduled among nodes , thus avoiding high load groups from being allocated to the same node and overloading the system . if one of the nodes becomes overload , an alarm is generated , so that fewer or no new clients are allocated to the overloaded node .