Question #1261
An ecommerce company needs to ensure high availability and distribute incoming web traffic evenly across multiple Amazon EC2 instances deployed in different Availability Zones. Which AWS service or resource should be used to fulfill these requirements?
Application Load Balancer
AWS Shield
AWS CloudHSM
AWS Direct Connect
Explanation
The Application Load Balancer (ALB) is designed to distribute incoming web traffic across multiple EC2 instances deployed in different Availability Zones (AZs), ensuring high availability and even load distribution. ALB operates at the application layer (Layer 7) and routes traffic based on rules, such as URL paths or hostnames. By spreading traffic across AZs, it enhances fault tolerance and minimizes downtime.
Other options are incorrect because:
- B. AWS Shield: A managed DDoS protection service, unrelated to traffic distribution.
- C. AWS CloudHSM: A hardware security module for cryptographic key storage, unrelated to load balancing.
- D. AWS Direct Connect: Establishes a dedicated network connection to AWS but does not distribute traffic.
Key Points:
1. ALB ensures high availability by routing traffic across AZs.
2. ALB supports Layer 7 routing and integrates with Auto Scaling for dynamic scaling.
3. Other services address security (Shield, CloudHSM) or network connectivity (Direct Connect), not traffic distribution.
Answer
The correct answer is: A