Loadbalancer.org glossary
Persistence
What is persistence?
Persistence (aka affinity or sticky connections) ensures that once a user has interacted with a particular real server then all of the user’s subsequent requests are sent to the same server, thus persisting to that particular server.
Persistence is normally required when the session state is stored locally on the real server rather than in a separate database. Common persistence methods include using source IP addresses and HTTP cookies.