# Network Load Balancer A Network Load Balancer (NLB) is a hardware or software component that routes network traffic to a group of servers or other network resources. Its purpose is to balance the load across these resources and ensure service availability. NLBs are a crucial part of network infrastructure models, distributing traffic and guaranteeing the availability, performance, and security of applications and services for end-users. Thanks to their unique features, Network Load Balancers play a vital role in improving the performance, scalability, and readiness of online applications. #### Key Features * **Network-Level Load Balancing:** NLBs distribute network traffic evenly across servers in a pool, ensuring that no single server is overwhelmed while others are idle. * **Health Checks:** NLBs are typically configured to perform health checks on servers and automatically remove unhealthy servers from the load balancing pool, ensuring service availability. * **Port-Based Routing:** NLBs can be configured to route traffic based on the destination port, allowing multiple services to run on the same set of servers and ports. * **Target-Based Routing:** NLBs can perform routing based on the characteristics of the target server, such as its IP address, creating a flexible distribution architecture. * **Security:** NLBs provide security by controlling traffic and restricting access to servers. * **Traffic Control:** NLBs allow for controlling traffic to servers and managing the load in real-time. * **Authentication and Authorization:** Integrates with GreenNode IAM, providing full support for authentication and authorization features. * **Load Balancer Monitoring:** Easily monitor health, client access history, and Load Balancer edit history. * **Terraform:** Supports quick and efficient initialization and management of Load Balancers using Terraform. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.vngcloud.vn/vng-cloud-document/load-balancer/network-load-balancer.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.