Understanding Load Balancer Attributes

In the realm of load balancing, it's essential to grasp the various attributes that govern its behavior. Let's explore key attributes and their use cases, shedding light on how these settings can optimize the performance and security of your load balancer.

Key Attributes and their Meanings:

  1. deletion_protection.enabled:

    • Determines if deletion protection is enabled.
    • Default: false.

  2. load_balancing.cross_zone.enabled:

    • Manages cross-zone load balancing.
    • Default: Network and Gateway Load Balancers - false, Application Load Balancers - true (unchangeable).

  3. access_logs.s3.enabled:

    • Activates access logs for tracking requests.
    • Default: false.

  4. access_logs.s3.bucket:

    • Specifies the S3 bucket for access logs (required if enabled).

  5. access_logs.s3.prefix:

    • Defines the prefix for access log location.

  6. ipv6.deny_all_igw_traffic:

    • Blocks internet gateway access for security.
    • Default: Internet-facing - false, Internal - true.

Attributes for Application Load Balancers:

  1. idle_timeout.timeout_seconds:

    • Sets the idle timeout value in seconds.
    • Default: 60 seconds.

  2. connection_logs.s3.enabled:

    • Enables connection logs.
    • Default: false.

  3. connection_logs.s3.bucket:

    • Specifies S3 bucket for connection logs (required if enabled).

  4. connection_logs.s3.prefix:

  • Defines the prefix for connection log location.
  1. routing.http.desync_mitigation_mode:
  • Manages handling of potentially risky requests.
  • Default: defensive.
  1. routing.http.drop_invalid_header_fields.enabled:
  • Removes or routes headers with invalid fields.
  • Default: false.
  1. routing.http.preserve_host_header.enabled:
  • Preserves the Host header in HTTP requests.
  • Default: false.
  1. routing.http.x_amzn_tls_version_and_cipher_suite.enabled:
  • Adds headers with TLS version and cipher suite info.
  • Default: false.
  1. routing.http.xff_client_port.enabled:
  • Determines if X-Forwarded-For should preserve client source port.
  • Default: false.
  1. routing.http.xff_header_processing.mode:
  • Modifies, preserves, or removes X-Forwarded-For header.
  • Default: append.
  1. routing.http2.enabled:
  • Enables or disables HTTP/2.
  • Default: true.
  1. waf.fail_open.enabled:
  • Decides whether a WAF-enabled load balancer should route requests if unable to forward to AWS WAF.
  • Default: false.

Attributes for Network Load Balancers:

  1. dns_record.client_routing_policy:
  • Dictates traffic distribution among Availability Zones.
  • Possible values: availability_zone_affinity, partial_availability_zone_affinity, any_availability_zone.
  1. Type (String):
  • Specifies the type with length constraints (max 256 characters).
  • Pattern: ^[a-zA-Z0-9._]+$

These attributes empower you to tailor your load balancer configuration, ensuring it aligns with the specific requirements of your applications. Whether it's enhancing security, optimizing performance, or distributing traffic strategically, understanding and utilizing these attributes is key to harnessing the full potential of your load balancer.

Nginx Configuration to get client IP address in logs

log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                  '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                  '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';