Drive application performance with Application Load Balancer Target Optimizer

This article introduces ALB Target Optimizer, a new Application Load Balancer feature that controls concurrent requests per target for optimized performance.

• Enables precise control of concurrent requests delivered to each target
• Ideal for low-concurrency workloads like LLMs processing 1-2 requests simultaneously
• Uses a pull model where targets signal readiness instead of ALB push model
• Reduces errors and latency by eliminating hot spots and uneven utilization
• Requires deploying AWS-provided agent as proxy on each target
• Setup involves installing agent, creating target group with control port, shifting traffic
• Supports instance and IP target types; Lambda not supported
• Available in all commercial AWS regions and GovCloud

Target Optimizer improves load balancing efficiency for compute-intensive applications by matching request distribution to target capacity, reducing errors and maximizing utilization.