What’s the difference between ALB, NLB, and CLB?

Understand the key differences between AWS ALB, NLB, and CLB. Learn how to choose the right load balancer for your application architecture.

Jul 4, 2025 - 14:28
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What’s the difference between ALB, NLB, and CLB?

In the world of?pall computing, scalability and vacuity are consummate. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers multiple types of?cargo balancers under its Elastic cargo Balancing (ELB) service to help distribute incoming?operation business automatically.

The three primary types of?cargo balancers offered by AWS are the operation cargo Balancer (ALB), Network cargo Balancer (NLB), and Classic cargo Balancer (CLB). Each type is designed for different use cases, and understanding their differences is essential when?erecting effective, scalable, and fault-tolerant?operations in the cloud.

If you are pursuing an AWS Course in Pune or exploring AWS?results professionally, this?companion will help you grasp the distinctions between ALB, NLB. Lets explore how these?cargo balancers differ in terms of functionality, performance, and use cases.

What's an operation cargo Balancer (ALB)?
An operation cargo Balancer operates at Layer 7 of the OSI model (the?operation subcaste). Its ideal for HTTP and HTTPS business and provides advanced routing features grounded on content.

Crucial Features of ALB

  • Path-grounded and host-grounded routing

  • Supports WebSocket and HTTP/2

  • Native integration with AWS services like ECS and Lambda

  • Supports URL rewrites, fixed-response, and redirects

  • Advanced?criteria?and logging via Amazon CloudWatch

Use Cases
ALB is most suitable for microservices?infrastructures and containerized?operations where you need to route requests grounded on the content of the request,?similar as hostname or URL path. It's perfect for?ultramodern web?operations that follow peaceful API designs.

What's a Network cargo Balancer (NLB)?
A Network cargo Balancer functions at Subcaste 4 of the OSI model (the transport subcaste). It's designed for handling millions of requests per second with ultra-low?quiescence.

Crucial Features of NLB

  • Handles TCP, TLS, and UDP business

  • Stationary IP support and Elastic IP address allocation

  • Offers zonal?insulation and fault forbearance

  • Ideal for high-performance?scripts and?quiescence-sensitive?operations

Use Cases
NLB is the go-to option for real-time systems like?fiscal apps, gaming backends, or services?taking high network outturn. Its also?salutary when dealing with TLS offloading and maintaining high vacuity across Vacuity Zones.

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What's a Classic cargo Balancer (CLB)?
The Classic cargo Balancer, also known as ELB, was AWSs original?cargo balancer and supports both Subcaste 4 and limited Subcaste 7 capabilities. While AWS still supports CLB, its considered?heritage and isn't recommended for new?operations.

Crucial Features of CLB

  • Supports?introductory?cargo balancing for EC2 cases

  • Limited routing capabilities compared to ALB and NLB

  • Integrates with EC2-Classic and EC2-VPC

  • No support for path-grounded routing or advanced?criteria

Use Cases
CLB is best suited for simple?operations stationed in?heritage?surroundings that dont bear advanced routing features or performance tuning.

These?opinions?frequently come up during practical labs and?script-grounded?literacy in?numerous professional AWS Training in Pune sessions, where?scholars?make and emplace distributed systems on AWS?structure.