Application Load Balancer (ALB)

What it is: A Layer 7 load balancer for HTTP/HTTPS traffic.

What it’s for:

• Route requests based on content: URL path, host, headers.
• Support microservices routing (path-based routing).

Key ideas:

• Works with target groups.
• Supports TLS termination (HTTPS).
• Great for web apps and APIs.

Exam cues:

• “route /api to service A and /admin to service B” → ALB path-based routing.

Hard words:

• *layer 7* /ˈleɪər ˈsevən/: tầng ứng dụng (HTTP)
• *terminate* /ˈtɝːrmɪneɪt/: kết thúc (TLS termination)
• *header* /ˈhedər/: header HTTP