Cloud Load Balancer (Beta) - Get Started

Akamai Cloud Load Balancer offers global, configurable, scalable, distributed compute traffic management across physical, virtual, and cloud-hosted applications. It can automatically detect load conditions and route traffic to the optimal target while maintaining custom routing policies and consistent visitor session behavior.

About Akamai Cloud Load Balancer

Nearly every production application can benefit from a load balancing solution like Akamai’s Cloud Load Balancer. This guide covers how to get started with Load Balancer, including how to configure the Load Balancer, and update the DNS.

Prepare the Application

To start using and benefiting from load balancing, your application should be available on at least two service targets. Each service target should be able to fully serve the needs of your users, including being able to respond to web requests, access all necessary files, and query any databases.

To sign up for an account and to start deploying your service targets from Compute Instances, see Compute Instances - Get Started. If your service targets are not deployed from compute instances, you will need the public IP addresses for your service targets.

To redirect web connections over port 443/HTTPS, generate TLS certificates for your domains.

Create the Akamai Cloud Load Balancer

Once your application has been deployed on at least two service targets, you are ready to create the Akamai Cloud Load Balancer which includes configuring and uploading the following components.

Label the Load Balancer and Select Regions

1. Log in to the Cloud Manager, select Cloud Load Balancers from the left menu, and click the Create Load Balancer button. This displays the Cloud Load Balancers Create form.

2. Enter a Load Balancer Label that uniquely identifies it from other load balancers. Consider using a name that indicates the load balancer’s purpose.

3. Optionally, create tags to help organize and group your load balancers.

   Note

   Tags are not available for Beta.

4. Select the Regions where this load balancer processes requests. If your client traffic and targets are limited to a particular geography, select that region. You can also select multiple regions or All for global coverage. The number of regions selected, is one of the factors that determines the Pricing for this Load Balancer.

   Note

   Select regions are automatically provisioned for Beta.

5. Click the Create Load Balancer button.

   The newly created load balancer is added.

Upload Service Target CA and TLS Termination Certificates

TLS termination certificates are required for load balancer ports using the HTTPS protocol. TLS termination certificates create an encrypted link between your clients and Cloud Load Balancer and terminate incoming requests on the load balancer. Once the load balancing policy is applied, requests are forwarded to your service targets endpoints over encrypted TLS connections. Responses from your service targets to your clients are also encrypted.

Service target CA certificates are applied to your endpoints. Cloud Load Balancer uses these certificates to verify responses from your service targets to your clients.

1. Click on the Cloud Load Balancer that you are setting up. The Cloud Load Balancer Summary tab is displayed.

2. Select the Certificates tab. Then select the TLS Certificates or Service Target Certificates tab.

3. Refer to the following table for information on uploading certificates.

4. After entering each certificate, click Upload Certificate.

   An ID is assigned to each certificate you add.

Create Service Targets

A service target is a cluster of endpoints that the load balancer directs incoming requests to. You can add different service targets and endpoints for different types of requests.

1. Select the Service Targets tab.

2. Click the Create Service Target button.

3. Refer to the following tables for information on configuring service targets.

4. Click the Create and Add Service Target button.

   The new service target is added and listed in the Service Targets table.

5. Add another service target, or if you have finished adding your service targets, continue with the next steps to add routes.

Create Routes and Rules

Routes define how the load balancer directs incoming requests to service targets. After a route is created, you add rules to set match conditions that are used for target selection.

You can reuse routes across multiple load balancer ports.

1. Select the Routes tab.

2. Click the Create Route button.

3. Enter a Route Label for this route that uniquely identifies it from other routes.

4. Select the Protocol.

   Note

   The route protocol must match the port configuration protocol and the service targets protocol. Select HTTP for the route protocol when the service target and port configuration protocol is HTTP or HTTPS.

5. Click Create Route.

   The route is assigned an ID and listed in the Routes table.

6. Once at least one route is added, add rules to the route.

   Select the specific steps for adding rules to TCP or HTTP routes;

   • Rules - TCP Load Balancer Configuration
   • Rules - HTTP and HTTPs Load Balancer Configuration

Rules - TCP Load Balancer Configuration

For TCP load balancers, rules include allocating the percentage of request that should be directed to specific service targets. You can also enable session stickiness.

1. In the Routes table, click Add Rule.

   The Add Rule drawer opens.

2. Select a service target from the Service Target pull down lists and assign the Percent of requests that you want routed to that target.

3. Continue to add more service targets and percentages by clicking Add Service Target.

   All percentages must total 100.

4. When you have added all of the service targets for this route rule, click Add Rule.

5. Create additional rules if required. Once all rules are added, go to Create Configurations.

Rules - HTTP and HTTPs Load Balancer Configuration

For HTTP and HTTPS load balancers, in addition to setting the percentage of incoming requests to each target, other match conditions such as Hostname, Path Prefix, Query String, HTTP Header, HTTP Method and Path Regex can be added to the route rules. HTTP and HTTPS load balancers also support session stickiness.

1. In the Routes table, click Add Rule.

   The Add Rule drawer opens.

2. If this match rule applies to a specific target, enter the Hostname of the target. If a hostname is not specified, the rule applies to all targets.

3. Add match conditions for each route. A match condition consists of a Match Type, and a Match Value pattern to match. Rules are evaluated in order, with the first match winning. Each rule can specify only one field/pattern pair (AND/OR logic is not supported). Match values are case sensitive and only Path Regex supports wildcards.

   Supported Match Types and examples are available in the following table.

4. Select a service target from the Service Target pull down lists and assign the Percent of requests that you want routed to that target.

5. Continue to add more service targets and percentages by clicking Add Service Target.

   All percentages must total 100.

Configure Session Stickiness

Session stickiness controls how subsequent requests from the same user are routed. When enabled, subsequent requests by the same user to the same load balancer are sent to the same service target for the duration of the cookie, and as long as the target remains healthy. If the target is unhealthy, a different target is selected. When session stickiness is disabled, no session information is saved, and requests are routed in accordance with the algorithm and rules. Cloud Load Balancer supports session stickiness using load balancer generated cookies, or cookies from the origin.

If you are not using session stickiness, click Add Rule, to add this rule to the route. Create or select additional rules. Once all rules are added, go to Configurations - Entry Point Protocol and Port.

If you are using session stickiness, complete the following steps.

6. Enable Use Session Stickiness if you want to route subsequent requests from the same client to the same service target whenever possible.

   Note

   The client must have cookies enabled. If the client has disabled cookies or deletes cookies, session stickiness is not preserved, and each new request is routed in accordance with the selected algorithm.

7. Select the Cookie Type, Load Balancer Generated or Origin.

   • If the Cookie Type is Origin, enter the Cookie Key. The Cookie Key is the cookie name used to obtain the cookie value from the downstream HTTP application.
   • If the Cookie Type is Load Balancer Generated, enter the Stickiness TTL. If the TTL is set to zero, the generated cookie is a session cookie only.

8. Click Add Rule. Create additional rules if required. Once all rules are added, continue with the next section.

Create Configurations

Configurations define the port the load balancer listens on, and the protocol used for routing requests to the service targets.

A Cloud Load Balancer can have multiple configurations. Each configuration allows the load balancer to accept traffic on a new port. For example, if you wanted to accept standard HTTP traffic, you could create a configuration listening on port 80.

Configurations use routes to direct requests to service targets. A load balancer can have a mix of TCP, HTTP and HTTPS port configurations. However, the route protocols and the port configuration protocol must match. If they do not match, the operation will be rejected. If the protocol is HTTPs, a TLS termination certificate is required.

1. Select the Configurations tab.

2. Click Add Another Configuration.

3. Enter a unique name for this entry point in the Configuration Label field.

4. Select the Protocol. The protocol can be set to either TCP, HTTP, or HTTPS. See Guides - Available Protocols.

5. Enter the Port number Cloud Load Balancer listens on. The port can have a value from 1 - 65535, though it should be set to whichever port the client software connects to. For instance, web browsers use port 80 for HTTP traffic and port 443 for HTTPS traffic, though a client can change the port by specifying it as part of the URL.

6. If the Load Balancer protocol is HTTPS, click Add Certificate.

   Note

   If the protocol used by this Load Balancer is TCP or HTTP, a TLS termination certificate is not applicable, and you can go to the next step.

   • Select Add Existing Certificates if the TLS certificate for this load balancer has been uploaded already.

     • Select the certificate from the Certificate pull down.
     • Enter the request host header sent by the client in the Server Name Indication (SNI) Hostname field. This host header tells the load balancer which certificate to use when responding back to the client.
     • Click Add to apply the TLS termination certificate.

   • Select Create New Certificate if the TLS certificate for this load balancer hasn’t been uploaded yet.

     • In the Certificate Label field, enter a unique name for the certificate.
     • In the Certificate field, paste the PEM-formatted contents of your TLS certificate. If you have linked multiple segments of a chained certificate, be sure to copy all of its contents into the text field, appearing one after another. The certificate must be signed using the RSA algorithm, which is the default in most cases.
     • In the Private Key field, paste the PEM-formatted contents of your private key. Your private key must not have a passphrase.
     • Enter the request host header sent by the client in the Server Name Indication (SNI) Hostname field. This host header tells the load balancer which certificate to use when responding back to the client.
     • Click Create And Add to apply the TLS termination certificate.

   7. Click Add Route.

      • Select Add Existing Route if the route has already been added.

        • Select the route from the Route pull down.
        • Click Add Route.

      • Select Create New TCP/HTTP Route to create a new route.

        • In the Route Label field, enter a unique name for the Route.
        • Click Create And Add to add the route.
        • After the route is added to the routes table, you can add route rules. Select the specific steps for adding rules to TCP or HTTP routes;
          • Rules - TCP Load Balancer Configuration
          • Rules - HTTP and HTTPs Load Balancer Configuration

   8. Click the Create Configuration button.

Review the Cloud Load Balancer

You can review and edit any of the load balancer components using the Summary, Configurations, Routes, Service Targets, Certificates and Settings tabs.

Update the DNS

After deploying Cloud Load Balancer and putting your application behind the load balancer, the application can now be accessed using the load balancer’s hostname. The load balancers hostname is available from the Summary tab. For help changing the DNS records, consult your DNS provider’s documentation. If you are using Linode’s DNS Manager, see Edit DNS Records. Keep in mind that DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to fully propagate, though that typically happens much faster.