Description: Target Health is the state of a target instance that indicates whether it is healthy and capable of receiving traffic. In the context of an Elastic Load Balancer (ELB), Target Health plays a crucial role in managing network traffic and service availability. Each target instance, which can be a server or a container, is continuously monitored to determine its ability to handle requests. If an instance is deemed ‘healthy’, the ELB will include it in its list of available targets to receive traffic. Conversely, if an instance is in a ‘unhealthy’ state, the ELB will stop sending traffic to it until it recovers. This health-checking mechanism allows applications to maintain a high level of availability and performance, ensuring that end-users do not experience interruptions or slowdowns in service. Target Health is determined through configurable health checks, which can include HTTP, TCP, or other application-specific checks. These tests allow administrators to define clear criteria for what constitutes a healthy instance, adapting to the specific needs of each application and network environment.
