Lesson 099 · AWS Learning Path

AWS 099: ALB, NLB, GWLB and Classic Load Balancer

Anil Jalela · Published Oct 2, 2025 · 8 min read

The real problem

A team recognizes the name ALB, NLB, GWLB and Classic Load Balancer but has not connected the feature to a real requirement, identity boundary, network or data path, failure mode, price dimension, and cleanup owner. A plausible configuration could still fail the workload.

Final outcome

The learner will produce a requirement-led artifact for ALB, NLB, GWLB and Classic Load Balancer, inspect the matching AWS control plane in the Management Console, run a matching CloudShell or AWS CLI query, interpret the output, diagnose one failure, defend one architecture choice, and prove cleanup or approved retained state.

The practical outcome is not a command transcript. It must show what was expected, what happened, what the result proves, what it does not prove, and which evidence would change the decision.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, the learner can:

• explain application load balancer;
• explain network load balancer;
• explain gateway load balancer;
• explain classic load balancer;
• explain zonal design;
• connect control-plane state to the real data, network, identity, or application behavior;
• identify cost and cleanup ownership before any optional mutation;
• troubleshoot from evidence without opening broad access or adding broad permissions.

Relationship model

Requirement
   |
   v
Identity and policy -> AWS configuration -> network or data path -> workload behavior
        |                    |                      |                    |
        +--------------------+----------------------+--------------------+
                                      |
                                      v
                         monitoring, cost, recovery, cleanup

Use this model to separate an AWS object that exists from a result that actually works. Every arrow is a verification boundary.

Prerequisites, permissions, Region, and safety

• Learning baseline: This sequence assumes practical Linux knowledge but no prior cloud-computing or AWS knowledge. Cloud, networking, security, data, automation, and architecture concepts must come from completed earlier lessons. If a prerequisite checkpoint is incomplete, return to its linked lesson before continuing.
• Confirm a non-root caller with aws sts get-caller-identity and keep the account number private.
• Use ap-south-1 unless this lesson explicitly names a second Region.
• Confirm the intended profile and Region with aws configure list before interpreting an empty result.
• Use read-only List, Get, and Describe permissions for the named services. Design exercises run locally and require no resource-creation permission.
• This is a no-create lesson. Console and CLI work is read-only, and every design artifact is created locally.
• Never publish account IDs, public addresses, ARNs containing private account data, session IDs, presigned URLs, object data, credentials, or KMS material.
• Do not use root, world-open SSH or RDP, disabled TLS verification, unowned resources, or irreversible retention controls in a training exercise.

Core model

How it works

Choose from protocol semantics inward. Start with client protocol, TLS ownership, routing intelligence, static address or source-IP requirement, appliance insertion, target types, health model, zonal behavior, security controls, and cost.

Read the result in layers:

1. Scope: account, Region, VPC, bucket, AZ, endpoint, principal, object version, or resource ARN.
2. Control plane: the requested configuration exists and reached an expected state.
3. Behavior: the request, connection, health check, replication, restore, or application result meets the requirement.
4. Operations: monitoring, failure owner, cost, retention, rollback, and cleanup are known.

Control-plane success is necessary but not sufficient. A resource can be available while policy, routing, DNS, health, data, or application behavior remains wrong.

Architecture decision table

Professional questions normally contain several valid services. State the requirement that selects one option, why the nearest alternative fails it, and what changed requirement would reverse the choice.

AWS Management Console guided practice

Before opening a service page, write the expected account, Region, starting state, and evidence. Do not choose Create, Save, Purchase, Lock, or Delete unless the lesson explicitly authorizes the live track.

1. Open EC2 Load Balancers and add Type, Scheme, IP address type, VPC, Availability Zones, and State columns.
2. Select one supplied ALB, NLB, GWLB, and CLB example or architecture card and inspect listeners, network mappings, security controls, and target association.
3. Complete the protocol-to-load-balancer decision matrix before any P05 load balancer is created.

For each step, capture the field name and value in text. A screenshot may support the record but does not replace the explanation. Console labels can evolve, so use the service search and current documentation if a navigation label differs.

CloudShell and AWS CLI practice

CloudShell is the default browser-based command environment taught in AWS 028. AWS 029 and AWS 030 cover local CLI installation and authentication. This lesson therefore does not assume that an unconfigured local shell is ready.

Start every session with:

export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="ap-south-1"
aws sts get-caller-identity --query Arn --output text
aws configure list

Redact the account portion of the ARN before sharing. Then perform the topic query:

Inventory load balancer type, scheme, IP address type, state, VPC, and enabled zones.

aws elbv2 describe-load-balancers --query 'LoadBalancers[].{Name:LoadBalancerName,Type:Type,Scheme:Scheme,IP:IpAddressType,State:State.Code,Vpc:VpcId,DNS:DNSName}' --output table
aws elb describe-load-balancers --query 'LoadBalancerDescriptions[].LoadBalancerName' --output table

Expected interpretation:

The first command covers ALB, NLB, and GWLB. The second inventories Classic Load Balancers. Existence and active state do not prove listener correctness or target health.

Replace every replace-with-... sample value before running its command, and use only an explicitly owned resource. Explain each option first. These queries are read-only; a successful response does not authorize a later create or delete operation.

Practical work

Create p05-load-balancer-selection.md. Evaluate public HTTP, private gRPC, static-IP TCP, UDP, TLS pass-through, TLS termination, source-IP, host/path routing, Lambda targets, IP targets, appliance insertion, cross-zone behavior, and cost. Select an internet-facing ALB for the AWS 106 HTTP sample and state why the production version should add HTTPS in AWS 102 terms.

The evidence package must contain:

• the problem and final requirement in the learner's own words;
• caller type and Region with private identifiers redacted;
• exact planned values, ownership, and cost class;
• one Console observation and matching CLI or API evidence;
• one behavior result or supplied data-plane record;
• one denied, failed, or counterexample result and evidence-led diagnosis;
• one architecture choice plus the rejected alternative;
• cleanup proof or explicit retained-state owner, expiry, and next lesson.

Verification standard

Use expected state before observed state. Record timestamps in UTC and preserve the original failure before changing anything. A passing submission answers all four questions:

1. What exact requirement was tested?
2. Which evidence proves the AWS configuration?
3. Which evidence proves the workload behavior?
4. What remains unproven or requires later monitoring?

If AWS returns no rows, verify account, Region, permission, filters, pagination, resource type, and deletion state before concluding that nothing exists.

Common failures and troubleshooting

Do not troubleshoot by attaching administrator access, opening administration ports to the internet, disabling encryption, retrying uncontrolled creation, deleting unknown resources, or weakening retention.

Cost, cleanup, and retained state

No AWS resource is created. Close CloudShell and remove or redact downloaded evidence.

Cleanup evidence requires terminal state and an after-inventory. Search related ENIs, public IPv4 addresses, EBS volumes and snapshots, load balancers, target groups, Auto Scaling instances, endpoints, logs, S3 versions and delete markers, backup recovery points, and global IAM roles when they apply. Billing data can lag, so schedule a later review.

Architecture and certification decisions

• Certification coverage: SAA-C03; SOA-C03; SAP-C02; DOP-C02.
• Exam mapping: SAA D2-D4.
• Explain service scope, failure boundary, consistency, recovery, security, operations, and price rather than matching a keyword.
• Treat availability and durability, encryption and authorization, routing and filtering, health and lifecycle, backup and replication, and discount and capacity as separate concepts.
• Do not reproduce protected certification questions.

Knowledge check

1. Which type supports HTTP path routing?

Expected direction: ALB.

1. Which type is designed for transparent appliance fleets?

Expected direction: GWLB.

1. Does an active ALB prove its targets are healthy?

Expected direction: No. Inspect target health.

1. Should a new workload select CLB by default?

Expected direction: No. Choose ALB or NLB from current requirements.

Completion gate and assessment

Pass at 80 out of 100 with no critical safety failure. A missing practical artifact, unexplained output, unsafe access, destructive action outside the owned scope, unplanned billed resource, or false cleanup claim requires remediation and a changed retest.

Official sources

• Elastic Load Balancing features
• Application Load Balancers
• Network Load Balancers
• Gateway Load Balancers