--- title: "Get started with Load Balancer" description: "Put your first E2E Application Load Balancer in front of a node in MyAccount, and open your website through the load balancer's public IP." content_type: "get-started" product: "load-balancer" platform: "MyAccount" url: "/myaccount/load-balancer/get-started/" --- # Get started with Load Balancer Put an external Application Load Balancer (ALB) in front of a website on one of your nodes, then open the website through the load balancer's own public IP. Once this works, adding more servers or HTTPS is a change to the same load balancer. You need: - A node in Delhi or Chennai that reads **Running**, in the region where you will create the load balancer. See [Get started with Node](/myaccount/node/get-started/). - A website on the node that listens on its private IP, on a port you know, such as 80, and answers a `HEAD` request for `/` with a success or redirect status, such as 200 OK or 301. A website that listens only on `localhost` is out of the load balancer's reach. The load balancer checks the node this way and sends traffic only while the check passes. - A security group on the node that allows inbound TCP on the website's port. See [Add or edit rules](/myaccount/security-group/how-to/add-or-edit-rules/). - Enough balance or infra credits for the plan you choose. See [Your balance cannot cover the plan](/myaccount/load-balancer/troubleshooting/load-balancer/#your-balance-cannot-cover-the-plan). - Create permission for **Load Balancers** in the project. To check the website the way the load balancer will, sign in to the node and run this command. `` is the node's private IP, shown in the nodes list, and `` is the website's port: ```bash curl -I -H "Host: localhost" http://:/ ``` The first line shows the status. A status in the 200s or 300s means the node will pass the check: ```text HTTP/1.1 200 OK ``` ## Choose a plan 1. In MyAccount, under **Compute**, click **Load Balancers**. Click **+**, or **Get Started** if you have no load balancer yet. 2. On **Plan**, click a plan. The table lists each plan's **vCPU**, **RAM**, **Max Concurrent Connections**, and **Price** per hour and per month. Start with the smallest plan, **E2E-LB-2**, with 4 vCPU and 6 GB RAM. On hourly billing, you can move to a larger plan later, after you power off the load balancer. If every plan shows **Request** in place of **Select**, see [Every plan shows Request in place of Select](/myaccount/load-balancer/troubleshooting/load-balancer/#every-plan-shows-request-in-place-of-select). 3. Under **---Choose Hourly / Committed LB---**, choose **Hourly Billed**, and click **Next**. ## Choose the type and the details 1. On **Type**, click **Application Load Balancer (ALB)**. The next step opens. 2. On **Details**, keep the suggested **Name**, or enter your own. 3. Keep **Scheme** on **External (with public IP) - Distributes traffic from external sources**. 4. Set **Frontend Protocol** to **HTTP**. The load balancer then listens on port 80, and needs no certificate. Click **Next**. ## Add your node as a backend server On **Target Mapping**, keep the starting values: **Backend Protocol** on **HTTP**, **Health Check** ticked, **Routing Policy** on **Source IP Hash**, and **Backend Type** on **Node**. 1. Beside **Backend Servers**, click **Add Server**. 2. In **Server Name**, start typing the node's name, and pick the node. **Server IP** fills in. Check that it is the node's private IP, the address the load balancer reaches the node on. 3. In **Server Port**, enter the website's port, and click **Submit**. The node joins **Backend Servers**. 4. Click **Next**. ## Launch the load balancer 1. On **Peak Performance Features**, keep the defaults. Under **Security Group**, your project's default security group is chosen. Check that its rules allow inbound TCP on port 80 from your users, or choose another group that does; see [Add or edit rules](/myaccount/security-group/how-to/add-or-edit-rules/). Click **Next**. 2. On **Summary**, check your choices, and click **Launch Load Balancer**. MyAccount returns you to the **Load Balancers** list, where your load balancer reads **Creating**. With **Frontend Protocol** on **HTTP**, as here, it reads **Running** about four to seven minutes after you launch it. If it reads **Backend Connection Failure** instead, check the node with the steps in [The load balancer shows Backend Connection Failure](/myaccount/load-balancer/troubleshooting/load-balancer/#the-load-balancer-shows-backend-connection-failure). ## Open your website through the load balancer In the **Load Balancers** list, copy the load balancer's **Public IP**. Open this address in a browser, where `` is that IP: ```text http:/// ``` Your website opens, served by your node through the load balancer. To see the server's health, click the load balancer in the list and open its **Backend Mapping** tab, which lists your server with its IP and port. ## (Optional) Point your domain at the load balancer To reach the website by name, add an A record for your domain at your DNS provider, with the load balancer's **Public IP** as its value. Once the record is live, open your domain over `http://`. ## Clean up A load balancer is billed by the minute from when you create it until you delete it, and also while it is powered off. When you have finished trying it, delete it; see [Delete a load balancer](/myaccount/load-balancer/how-to/delete-a-load-balancer/). Your node is a separate product with its own charges. ## What to do next - [Manage backend groups and servers](/myaccount/load-balancer/how-to/manage-backend-groups/): add more nodes, and choose the health check and the routing policy. - [Add an SSL certificate](/myaccount/load-balancer/how-to/add-an-ssl-certificate/): serve your website over HTTPS. - [Route requests with ACL rules](/myaccount/load-balancer/how-to/route-requests-with-acl-rules/): send different paths or domains to different servers. - [Create an Application Load Balancer](/myaccount/load-balancer/how-to/create-an-application-load-balancer/): every choice in the create flow, including a VPC, encryption, and timeouts. - [Troubleshooting Load Balancer](/myaccount/load-balancer/troubleshooting/load-balancer/) and [Load Balancer FAQ](/myaccount/load-balancer/faq/): fixes for common problems, and short answers.