This topic describes how to create an Internet-facing Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instance. After you create an Internet-facing CLB instance, the system allocates a public IP address to the CLB instance. Then, you can resolve your domain names to the public IP address.

Background information

You can add multiple listeners and backend servers to a CLB instance.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the CLB console.
  2. In the top navigation bar, select the region where you want to create the CLB instance.
  3. On the Instances page, click Create CLB.
  4. Set the following parameters and click Buy Now.
    Parameter Description
    SLB region no

    Select the region where you want to create the CLB instance.

    In this example, China (Qingdao) is selected.

    Note Make sure that the CLB instance and the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances that you want to add to the CLB instance belong to the same region.
    Zone Type This parameter specifies whether the CLB instance is deployed in one zone or across multiple zones. A zone represents an Alibaba Cloud data center that contains a set of independent infrastructure resources. The infrastructure resources such as networks, power supply, and air-conditioning in different zones are independent of each other. Therefore, when the infrastructure resources in one zone are down, the other zones can still serve your workloads. Each zone belongs to a specific region. A region may contain one or more zones.
    • Single zone: The CLB instance is deployed in only one zone.
    • Multi-zone: The CLB instance is deployed across two zones. The primary zone is used to distribute network traffic by default. When the primary zone is down, the system automatically switches network traffic to the secondary zone and continues to provide load balancing services. This ensures high service availability.
    Primary Zone Select the primary zone for the CLB instance to distribute network traffic.
    Backup Zone Select the secondary zone for the CLB instance. The secondary zone distributes network traffic only when the primary zone is down.
    Instance Name Enter a name for the CLB instance.
    SLB instance You can create an Internet-facing CLB instance or an internal-facing CLB instance based on your business requirements. The system allocates a public or private IP address to the CLB instance based on the specified instance type. Internet is selected in this example.
    • Internet: If you select this option, only a public IP address is allocated to the CLB instance. In this case, the CLB instance can provide services over the Internet.
    • Intranet: If you select this option, only a private IP address is allocated from the IP address pool of Alibaba Cloud to the CLB instance. In this case, the CLB instance can be accessed only from the internal network of Alibaba Cloud.

    For more information, see Instance types.

    Instance Billing Method Valid values: Pay-By-CLCU and Pay-By-Specification. In this example, Pay-By-CLCU is selected, which specifies the pay-by-LCU metering method for CLB.
    Specification

    Select a specification for the CLB instance.

    The performance of the CLB instance varies based on the specification. For more information, see Instance specifications.

    This parameter is available only for pay-by-specification CLB instances.

    IP Version Select the protocol that is used by the CLB instance. Valid values: IPv4 and IPv6.

    In this example, IPv4 is selected.

    Internet Metering Method Select a metering method for data transmission over the Internet. Internet-facing CLB instances support the following metering methods:
    • By traffic: specifies the pay-by-data-transfer metering method.
    • By bandwidth: specifies the pay-by-bandwidth metering method.

    If the CLB instance is billed on a pay-by-LCU basis, you must set the metering method for data transmission over the Internet to pay-by-data-transfer.

    Note For an internal-facing CLB instance, only By traffic is displayed. However, you are not charged for the data transfer.
    Resource Group Select the resource group to which the CLB instance belongs.
    Quantity Specify the number of CLB instances that you want to purchase.
  5. On the Confirm Order page, confirm the configurations of the CLB instance, select Terms of Service, and then complete the payment as prompted.

    You can resolve your domain names to the public IP address of the CLB instance. This way, your CLB instance can provide services over the Internet. For more information, see Use an A record to resolve a domain name to an IP address.