Updated on 2025-07-25 GMT+08:00

IP as a Backend

Dedicated load balancers support hybrid load balancing. You can add servers and supplementary network interfaces in the VPC where the load balancer is created, in a different VPC, or in an on-premises data center, by using private IP addresses of the servers to the backend server group of the load balancer.

In this way, incoming traffic can be flexibly distributed to cloud servers and on-premises servers.

Constraints

  • IP as a backend cannot be disabled after it is enabled.
  • More IP addresses are required for creating a load balancer with IP as a backend enabled. There is an algorithm to determine how many IP addresses are required.

    You can also call APIs to calculate the number of required IP addresses by referring to the Elastic Load Balance API Reference.

  • Only private IPv4 addresses can be added as backend servers.
  • A maximum of 100,000 concurrent connections can be established with an IP as backend server.
  • If you add IP addresses as backend servers, the source IP addresses of the clients cannot be passed to these servers.

Adding IP as Backend Servers

After you enable IP as a Backend, you can add backend servers by using their IP addresses. You need to prepare for different scenarios as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Adding IP addresses as backend servers

Where IP Addresses Are Located

Preparations

In a different VPC from the load balancer

Set up a VPC peering connection between the VPC where the load balancer is running and the VPC where the IP addresses are located.

For details, see the Virtual Private Cloud User Guide.

In the same VPC as the load balancer

Set up a VPC peering connection to connect the resources in the VPC where the load balancer is located and, and then add routes for the VPC peering connection.

For details, see Routing Traffic to Backend Servers in the Same VPC as the Load Balancer.

In on-premises data centers

Connect the on-premises data center to the VPC where the load balancer is running through Direct Connect or VPN. For details about how to connect on-premises data centers to the cloud, see the or Direct Connect User Guide or Virtual Private Network User Guide.