Optimizing data transfer costs when using AWS Network Load Balancer

This article provides strategies to optimize data transfer costs when using AWS Network Load Balancers (NLBs) by managing inter-zone traffic.

• Inter-zone data transfer costs $0.01 per GB in each direction ($0.02 total per GB)
• Enable 100% zonal affinity to keep client-to-NLB traffic within same Availability Zone
• Disable cross-zone load balancing to avoid inter-zone charges between NLB and targets
• Maintain balanced client and target distribution across Availability Zones
• Implement Availability Zone Independence for cost savings and resilience
• Use EC2 Auto Scaling, ECS, EKS, or Elastic Beanstalk to manage capacity per zone
• Monitor performance and adjust strategy based on application requirements

By implementing these configuration changes and architectural patterns, organizations can significantly reduce inter-zone data transfer costs while maintaining high availability and performance.