Cloud load balancers distribute traffic across multiple targets. They provide high availability, scaling, and health checking.
Load balancer types:
- Application (ALB): Layer , HTTP/HTTPS
- Network (NLB): Layer , TCP/UDP
- Gateway (GWLB): Layer , for appliances
Components:
- Listeners: Accept connections
- Target groups: Backend resources
- Health checks: Verify targets
- Rules: Determine routing
Placement:
- Internet-facing: Public IP, receives internet traffic
- Internal: Private IP, internal traffic only
Load balancers handle SSL termination and provide access logging.