SAA-C03 Question 134
Single answerYou are designing a web application that needs to support millions of users and requires seamless scaling based on traffic demand. The application consists of multiple microservices, each responsible for a specific function (e.g., authentication, payment processing, and content delivery). You want to route traffic to specific microservices based on the URL path of incoming requests (e.g., '/auth' should route to the authentication service). Which type of load balancer should you use to meet these requirements?
- A
Application Load Balancer
- B
Network Load Balancer
- C
Classic Load Balancer
- D
Gateway Load Balancer
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
In this scenario, the requirement is to route traffic to different microservices based on the URL path, which is a feature supported by the Application Load Balancer (ALB). ALB is specifically designed for HTTP/HTTPS traffic and provides advanced routing mechanisms like path-based and host-based routing, making it the most suitable choice for this architecture. The other types of load balancers either lack these features or are designed for entirely different use cases.
- A. Correct.
Application Load Balancer is designed for HTTP and HTTPS traffic and supports advanced routing features such as path-based and host-based routing, making it ideal for microservices architectures.
- B. Incorrect.
Network Load Balancer is suitable for handling TCP/UDP traffic with ultra-low latency but does not support path-based routing or HTTP-specific features.
- C. Incorrect.
Classic Load Balancer is an older option that supports basic load balancing for HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP, but lacks the advanced routing capabilities required for this scenario.
- D. Incorrect.
Gateway Load Balancer is designed for use cases involving third-party virtual appliances, such as firewalls or intrusion prevention systems, and is not suitable for routing traffic to microservices.