Introduction
Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Load Balancer are two of Azure's most popular load-balancing options. Both tools offer a range of features and functionality to help you distribute network traffic and ensure application availability.
In this post, we'll compare Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Load Balancer in terms of functionality, performance, and pricing to help you decide which one is right for your cloud networking needs.
Azure Traffic Manager
Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based load balancer that distributes traffic across multiple endpoints. It operates at the DNS level, directing users to the most optimal endpoint based on traffic routing methods, endpoint health, and geo-proximity. It supports a range of traffic routing methods, including:
- Priority
- Weighting
- Performance
- Geographic
- Multivalue
Azure Traffic Manager is typically used to distribute traffic across globally-distributed endpoints, such as web applications or services, while also offering resiliency, scalability, and geo-availability.
Azure Load Balancer
Azure Load Balancer is a layer 4 load balancer that can distribute traffic between virtual machines (VMs) and network interfaces. It supports both inbound and outbound scenarios and can support both TCP and UDP protocols. Azure Load Balancer also provides high availability by distributing traffic evenly among healthy service instances.
Azure Load Balancer can be used to balance load within a particular region and to distribute traffic between services hosted within the same Azure region.
Comparison
Here's a comparison of Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Load Balancer based on performance, features, and pricing.
Performance
Azure Traffic Manager relies on DNS for its load-balancing capabilities. As a result, it's more suitable for non-session-oriented applications, such as web services or web applications, that can tolerate DNS changes. On the other hand, Azure Load Balancer is a layer 4 load balancer that provides low-latency, session-oriented load-balancing suitable for high-performance backend applications.
Features
Azure Traffic Manager supports a range of routing methods, automatic failover across data centers, and custom domain name support. These features make it ideal for global distribution, resiliency, and scalability.
Azure Load Balancer, on the other hand, provides a range of load-balancing options, including public and internal load-balancing, inbound and outbound scenarios, and cross-region load-balancing.
Pricing
Azure Traffic Manager is charged based on the number of DNS queries, while Azure Load Balancer is charged based on the number of load-balanced resources. In general, Azure Traffic Manager is a more affordable option for small-to-medium enterprises, while Azure Load Balancer is more cost-effective for larger enterprises with high-scale requirements.
Conclusion
Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Load Balancer are two powerful load-balancing options that offer unique features and functionalities to meet your cloud networking needs. While Azure Traffic Manager is more suited for globally-distributed operations, Azure Load Balancer is the best option for session-oriented applications requiring a high degree of performance.
Ultimately, when deciding which load balancer to choose, carefully consider your organization's unique requirements in terms of performance, resiliency, scalability, and pricing.