Network load balancer types
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Updated at May 5, 2025
Note
You can only set the load balancer type (internal or external) when creating it and cannot change it later.
Here are the options for deploying a network load balancer in Yandex Cloud:
- An external load balancer (
EXTERNAL) is created by default. It is used to handle Internet traffic. - An internal load balancer (
INTERNAL) is used for handling traffic within Virtual Private Cloud.
These load balancers operate similarly, but you should keep the following distinctions in mind:
| Load balancer property | External | Internal |
|---|---|---|
| Listener IP address | Public IP addresses only | IP addresses from RFC-1918 only |
| Blocking the listener target port for traffic on target VMs | active (*) | blocked |
| Blocking the listener target port for health checks on target VMs | active | blocked |
| Locality in traffic processing | - | specifics apply |
| Use of static routes | - | specifics apply |
Explanation of the table:
- The VM ports (Target-Port) used to receive traffic from the internal load balancer and health checks become unavailable for connecting.
The VMs will only receive traffic from the internal load balancer. The same restriction will not allow a VM from the load balancer's target group to access it through the port being used. - (*) A VM from the load balancer's target group cannot access itself through the target port.