Azure Load Balancer

Azure Load Balancer is a high-performance, highly available network load balancing solution that distributes inbound and outbound traffic across virtual machines and services in an Azure Virtual Network. It operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) of the OSI model.

Tip: Azure Load Balancer provides a resilient and scalable foundation for your cloud applications, ensuring high availability and optimal performance.

Key Features

Azure Load Balancer offers a robust set of features to manage your network traffic effectively:

  • High Availability: Automatically redirects traffic away from unhealthy instances, ensuring your application remains accessible.
  • Scalability: Handles varying amounts of network traffic by distributing it across multiple resources.
  • Layer 4 Load Balancing: Distributes TCP and UDP traffic based on load balancing rules.
  • Health Probes: Continuously monitors the health of backend instances to detect and respond to failures.
  • Outbound Connectivity: Manages outbound traffic from your virtual network to the internet.
  • Port Forwarding: Maps inbound ports to specific backend instances.

Use Cases

Azure Load Balancer is ideal for various scenarios, including:

  • Web Applications: Distributing traffic to web servers for improved performance and availability.
  • Database Clusters: Load balancing requests to database instances in a high-availability configuration.
  • Backend Services: Ensuring reliable access to microservices and other backend components.
  • Disaster Recovery: Providing a resilient entry point for applications deployed across multiple regions.
Important: Azure Load Balancer is a regional service. For global load balancing, consider Azure Traffic Manager or Azure Front Door.

Types of Load Balancers

Azure offers two types of Load Balancer:

  • Public Load Balancer: Distributes traffic from the internet to your Azure resources.
  • Internal Load Balancer: Distributes traffic from within your Azure Virtual Network to your resources.

Getting Started

To create and configure an Azure Load Balancer:

  1. Navigate to the Azure portal.
  2. Search for "Load Balancers" and click "Create".
  3. Configure the frontend IP configuration, backend pool, health probes, and load balancing rules.
  4. Apply the configuration to your virtual machines or service instances.

You can also use Azure CLI, PowerShell, or ARM templates for automation.

Additional Resources

Quickstart Guide

Learn how to set up your first Azure Load Balancer quickly.

Tutorials

Step-by-step guides for advanced configurations.

Pricing Details

Understand the cost implications of using Azure Load Balancer.

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions for Azure Load Balancer.