Layer 4 Load Balancing

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Load balancing at the transport layer (TCP/UDP) based on IP addresses and port numbers. Very fast since it does not inspect packet contents. Routes entire connections to a backend. Examples include HAProxy (L4 mode) and AWS Network Load Balancer (NLB). Cannot make content-based routing decisions.

Key Properties

• TCP UDP Level Routing
• Connection-Based Forwarding
• High Performance L4

Related

• Layer 7 Load Balancing (content-aware alternative)
• Transport Layer (the layer at which L4 LBs operate)

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networking load-balancing