Amazon Elastic Load Balancing
A managed service that automatically distributes incoming application traffic across multiple targets, such as EC2 instances, containers, and IP addresses.
Description
Amazon Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) is a core component of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure designed to enhance the availability and scalability of applications. It automatically manages the load distribution of incoming network traffic across multiple targets, ensuring that no single resource is overwhelmed. ELB supports several types of load balancers, including Application Load Balancers (ALB) for HTTP/HTTPS traffic, Network Load Balancers (NLB) for ultra-high performance and TCP traffic, and Classic Load Balancers for legacy applications. The integration with AWS services allows for seamless deployment and scaling, adjusting to varying levels of traffic without manual intervention. This capability is crucial for maintaining application performance and reliability, particularly during peak usage times. Additionally, ELB offers features such as health checks, SSL termination, and access logs, which further enhance operational efficiency and security for cloud applications.
Examples
- Amazon.com uses Application Load Balancers to manage millions of concurrent users during high-traffic events like Black Friday.
- Netflix utilizes Network Load Balancers to handle large volumes of streaming data with minimal latency.
Additional Information
- ELB automatically scales to handle the varying load of your application traffic, making it suitable for dynamic workloads.
- It integrates with AWS Certificate Manager to simplify SSL certificate management for secure applications.