For unpredictable workloads with extreme peaks, NLB won’t break a sweat. Path-based routing makes ALB perfect for container deployments where different services handle different API endpoints. Your clients connect directly to your backend instances through the NLB, preserving source IP addresses. This gives your applications visibility into who’s actually connecting, which can be crucial for security and analytics.
Content-Based Routing Capabilities
For PCI DSS or HIPAA compliance, document your load balancer choice as part of your security architecture. NLB supports preserving client IP addresses and works with AWS PrivateLink—crucial for regulated environments. ALB offers more granular security controls but terminates SSL connections. It can scale from zero to millions of requests per second in seconds flat.
A GLB uses routing table look-ups to determine where to route the traffic. When choosing between Network Load Balancer (NLB) and Application Load Balancer (ALB) on AWS, the stakes are higher than most realize. One handles millions of requests per second at ultra-low latency, while the other inspects application-layer traffic with sophisticated routing rules.
- NLB can process millions of requests per second with ultra-low latency (often just microseconds).
- Because it combines OSI layers 3 and 4 balancing, it can route traffic between distinct regions and networks.
- Applications that distribute traffic on the transport layer use NLBs, especially considering its reliability.
- An ALB works with IP addresses, instance, and AWS Lambda target types.
Network Load Balancer operates at layer 4 (transport layer), which means it routes traffic based on IP protocol data, TCP/UDP ports, and IP addresses. Unlike ALB, it doesn’t inspect the actual content of your packets—it just forwards them. Almost all protocols differ between ALB and NLB and are used for different use cases.
Clicking the view/edit rules link allows you to add, edit and remove routing rules. These rules can be path or header-based, and each request is directed to a defined target group. A default action ensures that requests without a match to a preceding rule are routed to a predefined target group. Each layer in the OSI model is supported by the one below it.
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NLB simply forwards packets without inspecting them deeply – making it lightning fast but less feature-rich. It’s like choosing between a sports car (NLB) and an SUV with all the fancy features (ALB). The dynamic port mapping feature is a game-changer for containerized apps. As containers spin up and down, ALB automatically detects the ports and adjusts routing accordingly. In 2016, AWS augmented its Classic ELB offering with an Application Load Balancer (ALB).
GLBs act as a transparent network gateway (a single entry and exit point for all traffic) and distribute traffic while scaling your virtual appliances with the demand. In contrast, the AWS ALB operates at Layer 7, the application layer, and redirects traffic based on the content of the request. The ALB analyzes the URL path, headers, and query strings of incoming requests and routes traffic accordingly.
NLBs are optimized for handling millions of requests per second, operating at Layer 4 (Transport Layer). This means they’re all about TCP, UDP, and TLS traffic, ideal for applications requiring quick response times. NLB is the speed demon, maintaining ultra-low latency even as connections multiply. If your future includes high-throughput streaming or real-time applications, NLB won’t become your bottleneck.
- An NLB supports TCP, UDP, and TLS protocols, which covers network-level traffic distributions.
- The answer is simple – there may be scenarios where you want to receive TCP traffic while still utilizing the advanced routing capabilities of ALB.
- NLB supports preserving client IP addresses and works with AWS PrivateLink—crucial for regulated environments.
- Its features—such SSL termination, session persistence, and content-based routing—enable it to offer assistance with complex routing scenarios.
How an application load balancer works
By choosing the right load balancer, you can optimize traffic distribution and system efficiency. With a GLB, you can deploy, manage, and scale virtual appliances, such as intrusion detection and prevention, firewalls, and deep packet inspection systems. It creates a single entry and exit point for all appliance traffic and scales your virtual appliances with demand. You can also use it to exchange traffic across virtual private cloud (VPC) boundaries. Financial services and healthcare often require end-to-end encryption or specific security compliance.
The AWS Application Load Balancer operates at the Application Layer (Layer 7) of the OSI model. It is designed to handle HTTP and HTTPS traffic, making it ideal for web applications. Remember that every single-point-of-failure in your architecture is a ticking time bomb. Your load balancer setup should survive an entire AZ going dark without customer impact.
The above example visualizes one ALB with three target groups attached, where each group represents a specific target type, such as EC2 instances, IP addresses, and Lambda functions. When implementing failover between NLB and ALB, understand their fundamental differences in handling connections. NLB preserves client IP addresses while ALB doesn’t by default – this can break applications if not properly accounted for in your DR planning. Create CloudWatch dashboards that show your load balancer health at a glance, and set up alarms for critical thresholds. The difference between a minor hiccup and a major outage often comes down to how quickly you spot problems.
Create anywhere, anytime, with any app
If your architecture requires advanced request routing, authentication features, or extensive monitoring capabilities, ALB offers the flexibility you need. Whichever you choose, following implementation best practices will ensure your load balancer becomes a reliable and optimized component of your AWS infrastructure. Authentication is only supported when using the HTTPS protocol for the load balancer listener.
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But ALB’s advanced routing capabilities are a lifesaver for complex web applications. Each generation addresses different needs in the AWS ecosystem. What started as basic traffic distribution has transformed into sophisticated services with content-based routing, TLS termination, and WebSocket support.
Ever wondered why your load balancer chokes during peak hours? Both load balancers automatically scale with your traffic needs, but they handle it differently. When you need smarter request handling, ALB is your go-to load balancer. Unlike its NLB cousin, ALB actually examines your HTTP traffic and makes routing decisions based on what’s inside. The load balancer decision seems simple until you realize it’s the linchpin of your entire application’s reliability.
If you have an existing application that was built within the EC2-Classic network, then you should use a Classic Load Balancer. Modern web apps need real-time communication, and ALB delivers with full WebSocket support. Your chat applications, live dashboards, and limefx gaming platforms can maintain persistent connections without the headaches. NLB can process millions of requests per second with ultra-low latency (often just microseconds). It maintains a direct connection between client and server using the same connection for the duration of a session.
The main difference lies in how the load balancers are built. ALB operates at the application level (OSI Layer 7), while NLB operates at the network level (OSI Layer 4). This means ALB must inspect and process the content of HTTP/HTTPS requests and additionally decrypt and re-encrypt HTTPS traffic (see TLS Termination). When comparing latency between the two load balancers, NLB is the clear winner. However, it’s important to note that for most web-based applications, the latency provided by ALB is perfectly sufficient. But if you require extremely low latency for real-time applications, such as gaming, video streaming or financial transactions, NLB is the better choice.
High availability
Instead of directing all traffic to a single pool of homogenous backend servers, ALB can forward requests to multiple target groups based on application-specific rules. Both the AWS Application Load Balancer and Network Load Balancer can handle large amounts of incoming traffic, scale accordingly, and provide high availability for your application. However, there are several important differences between these two that I will discuss in detail in this article, which will help you choose the right one for your use case.
The default load balancing algorithm used for ALB is round-robin. This algorithm routes traffic evenly across all healthy targets and is most commonly used when requests are similar in complexity. To enable session persistence for an NLB, you need to update the target group and enable the stickiness setting. The Network Load Balancer uses the client’s IP address to consistently route traffic to a specific target instance. Be aware that if multiple clients “sit” behind the same router or NAT gateway and share a single public IP address, https://limefx.biz/ traffic may not be distributed evenly.
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