Product Introduction

What is HTTP/2?

• HTTP/2 (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Version 2) is a major revision of the HTTP protocol used in web services.
• HTTP/2 is designed to address the performance issues in HTTP1.X to better use network resources and reduce network application latency.
• HTTP/2 is backward compatible with HTTP1.X.

Why should I use HTTP/2?

Compared with HTTP1.X, HTTP/2 can make the response be more fast and efficient. HTTP/2 has the following advantages:

• Multiplex: concurrent processing leads to a faster response.
• Server push: the server proactively pushes resources needed by the client, reducing the number of requests.
• More features include bandwidth limit, request priority, header compression, and binary framing.

Product Purchase

How is HTTP/2 billed?

CLB supports the HTTP/2 protocol without charging extra fees.

Product Implementation

How do I enable HTTP/2 on CLB?

1. Enable HTTP/2 on HTTPS listeners
   • CLB instance: you can enable or disable the HTTP/2 protocol in a CLB instance. To do this, see Configuring an HTTPS Listener.
   • Classic CLB instance: HTTPS listeners created for Classic CLB before April 2018 do not support the HTTP/2 protocol. HTTPS listeners created after April 2018 support but cannot disable the HTTP/2 protocol.
2. Agree on the protocol at client access
   When the client accesses an HTTP/2-enabled listener, the protocol version will be negotiated during the handshake process of HTTPS. The client uses ALPN (Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation) to inform the server of a list of supported protocols. The server selects HTTP/2 or HTTP1.X according to the protocol list. If the client does not support HTTP/2, the server will be automatically backward compatible without requiring additional configuration.

Note：

1. The HTTP listener does not support HTTP/2. Mainstream browsers and web servers only support the TLS-based HTTP/2 protocol.
2. The HTTP1.X protocol is still used between the CLB and the real server.

Which regions support HTTP/2?

Currently, all regions support HTTP/2.