tls termination in ingress controller vs application load balancer
Copilot, 8:00 AM
TLS termination can be configured either at the Ingress controller or at the Application Load Balancer (ALB), and each has its own advantages.
Ingress Controller TLS Termination:
• Flexibility: Ingress controllers are highly configurable and can provide more complex routing rules based on the content of the HTTP requestshttps://www.baeldung.com/ops/kubernetes-ingress-vs-load-balancer.
• Cost: Depending on your cloud provider and architecture, using an Ingress controller for TLS termination might be more cost-effectivehttps://www.baeldung.com/ops/kubernetes-ingress-vs-load-balancer.
• Centralized Certificate Management: Certificates can be managed centrally for multiple services, which simplifies operationshttps://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/ingress/.
Application Load Balancer TLS Termination:
• Performance: ALBs are optimized for high throughput and low latency, and offloading TLS termination to them can improve overall performancehttps://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/aws-load-balancer-controller/v2.7/guide/use_cases/nlb_tls_termination/.
• Simplicity: For those using cloud providers, ALBs offer a straightforward setup for TLS termination with less configuration overheadhttps://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/aws-load-balancer-controller/v2.7/guide/use_cases/nlb_tls_termination/.
• Security: ALBs can provide additional security features, such as AWS WAF integration, which can protect your applications from common web exploitshttps://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/aws-load-balancer-controller/v2.7/guide/use_cases/nlb_tls_termination/.
In summary, if you need advanced routing capabilities and are managing a complex set of services, an Ingress controller might be the better choice. However, if you prioritize performance, simplicity, and security features provided by cloud providers, then an ALB would be more suitablehttps://www.baeldung.com/ops/kubernetes-ingress-vs-load-balancerhttps://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/ingress/https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/aws-load-balancer-controller/v2.7/guide/use_cases/nlb_tls_termination/. The decision should be based on your specific use case, performance requirements, and the architecture of your Kubernetes environment.
