If you’re running an application on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform, you’ll want to ensure that it performs optimally. One way to guarantee that is by utilising load balancers. In this blog post, we’ll explain what a load balancer is and which type of load balancers are required for extreme performance in AWS.
What is a Load Balancer?
A load balancer is a very important component of any network infrastructure. It distributes the workload across multiple servers, which improves performance, reliability, and scalability. The load balancer also acts as a single point of contact for clients; they don’t need to know where the resources are located or how they are distributed across multiple servers.
Which Load Balancers Are Required for Extreme Performance in AWS?
The two types of load balancers available in the AWS platform are an Application Load Balancer (ALB) and Network Load Balancer (NLB). An ALB is more suited for applications that require layer 7 functionality such as content-based routing. NLBs are better suited for applications that require extreme performance including real-time gaming and high-performance computing (HPC). NLBs can also be used when latency needs to be minimized or when traffic patterns fluctuate rapidly over short periods of time due to ephemeral events such as flash sales or bursty traffic from social media campaigns.
NLBs provide even higher performance than ALBs because they operate at the connection level instead of the request level like ALBs do. They also have less overhead than ALBs since they don’t have to parse requests or maintain session affinity between different services. NLBs can also scale up faster than ALBs since they don’t have to wait for new instances to spin up before processing requests. When it comes down to it, if you need extreme performance from your application in AWS, then you should consider using an NLB instead of an ALB.
Using the right type of load balancer can make all the difference when it comes to your application’s performance in AWS. While Application Load Balancers are great for most applications, Network Load Balancers offer greater performance and scalability when you need extreme levels of performance from your application such as when dealing with real-time gaming or high-performance computing tasks. If this sounds like something that you might need, then consider using an NLB instead of an ALB when setting up your infrastructure on AWS!
