Simplifying Cloud Security with AWS Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB)
- Jason k
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
As organizations scale their cloud infrastructure, securing and inspecting network traffic becomes more complex. Traditional firewalls often struggle to keep up with dynamic workloads. Enter AWS Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) — a powerful tool that simplifies the deployment, scalability, and management of third-party security appliances (PaloAlto Etc) in the cloud.
🔍 What is AWS GWLB?
AWS Gateway Load Balancer is a fully managed service that combines load balancing with transparent traffic inspection, allowing you to deploy and scale network appliances (like firewalls, IDS/IPS, and traffic analyzers) without redesigning your architecture.
At its core, GWLB acts as a single entry and exit point for all traffic that needs inspection, while distributing that traffic across your fleet of virtual appliances.
🧱 How It Works
GWLB leverages the GWLBe (Gateway Load Balancer Endpoint) to intercept traffic inside a VPC and forward it to a fleet of appliances via Geneve encapsulation (UDP port 6081). These appliances process the traffic and return it to the flow, maintaining flow symmetry and preserving source/destination IP addresses.
Example Traffic Flow:
Traffic from a workload is routed to a GWLB Endpoint.
The endpoint forwards the encapsulated packet to GWLB.
GWLB distributes it to one of the registered appliance EC2 instances.
The appliance inspects or modifies the traffic.
The processed packet is returned to the originating destination.
🛡️ Key Benefits
Transparent Traffic Handling – Appliances see original IPs, allowing for true firewall behavior.
Elastic Scalability – Automatically scales with traffic load.
Flow Stickiness – Maintains stateful inspection across sessions.
Easy Integration – Works with leading partners like Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Check Point.
Cost-Efficient – Pay-as-you-go pricing and simplified traffic routing reduce operational overhead.
⚙️ Common Use Cases
North-South Inspection: Secure incoming/outgoing traffic between the internet and your cloud.
East-West Traffic Inspection: Monitor lateral movement between VPCs or within an environment.
Service Chaining: Chain multiple appliances (e.g., firewall → IDS → packet capture).
Custom Security Stack: Deploy Suricata, Snort, or other open-source tools as virtual appliances.
🧰 Architecture Best Practices
Use a centralized inspection VPC with GWLB + appliances.
Route application VPC traffic to GWLB via GWLBe and VPC Ingress Routing.
Ensure security groups and NACLs allow Geneve traffic (UDP 6081).
Pair GWLB with Transit Gateway for broader inter-VPC coverage.
Monitor appliance health via GWLB’s built-in target health checks.
💡 Final Thoughts
As cloud environments grow more distributed, security must evolve to match. AWS Gateway Load Balancer offers a streamlined, scalable approach to deploying security appliances inline with your traffic — without disrupting existing architecture. Whether you're protecting east-west traffic, inspecting internet flows, or deploying a custom firewall stack, GWLB is the modern solution for enterprise-grade cloud security.
Need help integrating GWLB into your AWS architecture?Contact BearNet Consulting — your trusted partner for cloud networking and security architecture.
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