What is Elastic Load Balancing?
Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) automatically distributes incoming application traffic across multiple targets such as EC2 instances, containers, IP addresses, or Lambda functions. ELB offers three load balancer types for different use cases and scales automatically with traffic volume.
Core Features
- Application Load Balancer: Layer 7 routing with path, host, and header-based routing
- Network Load Balancer: Layer 4 balancing with millions of requests per second at low latency
- Gateway Load Balancer: Transparent integration of firewall and security appliances
- Auto Scaling Integration: Automatic registration and de-registration of targets
- Health Checks: Continuous monitoring of target availability
Typical Use Cases
Highly Available Web Applications: ALB distributes HTTP/HTTPS traffic across web servers in multiple Availability Zones. Failed servers are automatically removed from rotation.
Microservices Routing: With path-based routing, an ALB routes /api to backend services and /static to content servers. Container services integrate via Target Groups.
Gaming and Real-time Applications: NLB provides ultra-low latency for TCP/UDP connections and is suitable for gaming servers, VoIP, or IoT backends.
Benefits
- Automatic scaling without capacity planning
- High availability through Multi-AZ distribution
- Native integration with Auto Scaling, ECS, and EKS
- Easy SSL termination with AWS Certificate Manager
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Elastic Load Balancing: architecture design, selection of the right load balancer type, SSL configuration, and performance optimization for your traffic patterns.
Available Tiers & Options
Application Load Balancer
- Layer 7
- Advanced routing
- WebSocket support
Network Load Balancer
- Layer 4
- Ultra-low latency
- Static IPs
Gateway Load Balancer
- Layer 3
- Third-party appliances
- Transparent mode
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
ALB, NLB, or GLB: Which load balancer do I need?
ALB for HTTP/HTTPS traffic with path routing. NLB for TCP/UDP with low latency and static IPs. GLB for firewall and security appliances.
How does SSL termination work?
ALB and NLB terminate SSL/TLS at the load balancer. You store certificates via AWS Certificate Manager. Backend communication can be encrypted or unencrypted.
Can I use load balancers with on-premises targets?
Yes, ALB and NLB support IP targets reachable via VPN or Direct Connect. This allows balancing traffic to on-premises servers.
What does a load balancer cost per month?
The base fee is approximately $16-20 per month. Additional costs per processed data unit (LCU/NLCU) apply. Total costs depend on traffic volume.