What's the difference between AWS Network Load Balancer (NLB) and Application Load Balancer (ALB)?

ALB — Layer 7 (application). Routes by URL path, hostname, headers. SSL termination at LB. Best for HTTP/HTTPS web apps and microservices. Integrates with ECS, EKS, Lambda. NLB — Layer 4 (TCP/UDP/TLS). Preserves source IP, ultra-low latency, handles millions of req/sec. Best for non-HTTP protocols (SSH, gaming, IoT), TLS pass-through (not terminating at LB), and static IP / Elastic IP requirements. NLB is harder to misconfigure but less feature-rich at app layer.

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What's the difference between AWS Network Load Balancer (NLB) and Application Load Balancer (ALB)?

How Networkers Home prepares students for this kind of question

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