Alb

Alb can refer to several distinct concepts across religion, medicine, and technology, each with its own proper usage and history.

In liturgical contexts, an alb is a long, white garment worn by clergy and certain lay servers in many Christian traditions. Typically made of linen or cotton, it reaches the ankles and is worn underneath other vestments such as the chasuble or dalmatic, often secured with a belt or cincture. The alb symbolizes purity and baptismal illumination. While its form is relatively plain, regional variations exist, and it may be accented with embroidery or symbolic trims in some traditions.

In medical terminology, Alb is a common abbreviation for albumin, a major protein produced by the liver and present in blood plasma. Albumin helps maintain oncotic pressure, which keeps fluid within the circulatory system, and serves as a carrier for various substances, including hormones and fatty acids. Normal serum albumin levels are approximately 3.5 to 5.0 grams per deciliter. Low albumin can indicate liver disease, kidney disorders such as nephrotic syndrome, malnutrition, or inflammatory states; high levels are rare and typically reflect dehydration or high protein intake.

In computing, ALB stands for Application Load Balancer, a service used in cloud infrastructure, notably by Amazon Web Services. An ALB operates at layer 7 (the application layer) and routes traffic using HTTP-specific features such as host headers and URL paths. It supports TLS termination, WebSocket, and integration with container deployments, offering advanced routing and monitoring capabilities compared with simpler load balancers. The term is part of broader load-balancing ecosystems that manage traffic distribution across servers to improve availability and scalability.