AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – AssociateNetworking and Content DeliveryEasy
A company is deploying a new web application that requires high availability across multiple Availability Zones and wants to distribute incoming HTTP/HTTPS traffic to targets based on URL paths. Which type of load balancer should the SysOps administrator choose?
- ANetwork Load Balancer (NLB)
- BClassic Load Balancer (CLB)
- CApplication Load Balancer (ALB)
- DGateway Load Balancer (GWLB)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Application Load Balancer (ALB)
An Application Load Balancer (ALB) operates at the application layer (Layer 7) and supports path-based routing, allowing it to route requests to different target groups based on the URL path. It also provides high availability and fault tolerance across multiple Availability Zones.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. NLBs operate at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and do not support path-based routing.
- B. CLBs are a legacy option and lack the advanced features and performance of ALBs.
- D. GWLBs are used for deploying and scaling third-party virtual appliances, not for application traffic distribution.
Application Load Balancer (ALB)
An Application Load Balancer (ALB) distributes incoming application traffic across multiple targets, such as EC2 instances, in multiple Availability Zones.
- Operates at Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS).
- Supports path-based, host-based, and query string-based routing.
- Provides high availability and scalability.
Memory trick: Layer 7 'Applications' need the 'Application' Load Balancer for smart routing.