> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Services LoadBalancer

> This article explores the Kubernetes Service type LoadBalancer, comparing it with NodePort and demonstrating cloud load balancer provisioning.

In this lesson, we’ll explore the Kubernetes Service type `LoadBalancer`. We begin with a quick recap of **NodePort**, then introduce **LoadBalancer** and demonstrate how to provision a cloud load balancer automatically.

## 1. Recap: Kubernetes NodePort Service

A **NodePort** exposes a Service on a static port (the *NodePort*) on every node in your cluster. For example, if you expose the voting app on port `31000` and the result app on port `32000`, external users can reach them via:

* http\://\<node-ip>:31000
* http\://\<node-ip>:32000

Even if your Pods run only on nodes with IPs 10.0.0.70 and 10.0.0.71, they remain accessible on the same port across all nodes in the cluster.

## 2. Limitations of NodePort

While NodePort is straightforward, it has some drawbacks:

* No single friendly URL for end users
* Manual management of external load balancer infrastructure
* Exposure of high-range ports (30000–32767)

<Callout icon="triangle-alert" color="#FF6B6B">
  Managing separate load balancer VMs (HAProxy, NGINX, etc.) increases operational overhead.
</Callout>

## 3. Introducing the LoadBalancer Service

On supported cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure), setting `type: LoadBalancer` in your Service manifest will:

1. Provision a native cloud load balancer
2. Configure forwarding rules to cluster nodes
3. Distribute traffic across Service endpoints

Here’s a sample `voting-service.yaml`:

```yaml theme={null}
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: voting-app
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: voting
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 80
```

Apply it with:

```bash theme={null}
kubectl apply -f voting-service.yaml
kubectl get svc voting-app
# NAME         TYPE           CLUSTER-IP     EXTERNAL-IP     PORT(S)        AGE
# voting-app   LoadBalancer   10.0.173.200   34.68.123.456   80:32000/TCP   1m
```

<Frame>
  ![The image is a diagram of an example voting app architecture on Google Cloud Platform, showing nodes, pods, and services with a load balancer. It includes URLs for the voting and result apps.](https://kodekloud.com/kk-media/image/upload/v1752874033/notes-assets/images/Docker-Certified-Associate-Exam-Course-Services-LoadBalancer/voting-app-architecture-gcp-diagram.jpg)
</Frame>

<Callout icon="lightbulb" color="#1CB2FE">
  `type: LoadBalancer` only works on supported cloud environments. In unsupported setups (e.g., VirtualBox), Kubernetes falls back to assigning a NodePort without provisioning an external load balancer.
</Callout>

## 4. Comparing Service Types

| Service Type | Use Case                                 | Behavior                                     |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| NodePort     | Expose Service on a static port on nodes | Assigns a port from the 30000–32767 range    |
| LoadBalancer | Expose Service via cloud load balancer   | Provisions native LB and assigns external IP |

## Links and References

* [Kubernetes Services](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/service/)
* [LoadBalancer Service](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/service/#loadbalancer)
* [Cloud Provider Integration](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/cloud-providers/)

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