Transport Layer Operation
A TCP load balancer works at the transport layer (Layer 4) of the OSI model. Unlike higher-layer load balancers, such as HTTP/HTTPS-focused Application Load Balancers (ALBs), TCP load balancers do not inspect the content of the application layer protocols. Instead, they focus on the network-level information provided by the TCP header.
What is a TCP load balancer?
A TCP load balancer, also known as a Layer 4 load balancer, operates at the transport layer of the OSI model and is designed to distribute network traffic based on information available in the TCP/IP protocol. This type of load balancer is commonly used to enhance the performance, scalability, and reliability of applications by efficiently distributing incoming TCP traffic across multiple servers or resources.
Here’s an in-depth explanation of a TCP load balancer: