What is the term for a method that distributes workload across multiple computing resources?

The term for a method that distributes workload across multiple computing resources is load balancing. This process ensures that no single resource is overwhelmed with too much work while others remain underutilized. By spreading the workload evenly, load balancing enhances the overall performance, responsiveness, and availability of applications, enabling them to handle increased demand without significant degradation of service.

Load balancing can be applied in various contexts, including web servers, networking, and cloud computing. It typically utilizes algorithms or specific configurations to direct requests and tasks to the most suitable resources based on current loads, ensuring efficient use of available computing power.

The other options relate to different functions: data synchronization involves keeping data consistent across multiple locations, resource allocation pertains to assigning available resources to tasks based on demand, and traffic shaping manages network traffic to ensure optimal performance but does not inherently involve distributing workload across computing resources.