AWS CloudFront

AWS CloudFront Summary

What is AWS CloudFront?

• AWS CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN).
• It uses a globally distributed network of edge locations (servers) to deliver content to users with low latency and high availability.
• By caching content closer to users, CloudFront improves performance and reduces the load on origin servers.

Content Delivery Process

1. A user requests content from a website or application.
2. The user’s DNS request is resolved, potentially directing them to a CloudFront edge location.
3. CloudFront checks its cache at the edge location for the requested content.
4. Cache Hit: If the content is cached (a “cache hit”), CloudFront delivers it directly to the user. This results in faster delivery.
5. Cache Miss: If the content is not cached (a “cache miss”), CloudFront retrieves it from the origin server (e.g., an S3 bucket or a web server).
6. The content is delivered to the user and also stored in the CloudFront cache for future requests.

Key Features

• Global Edge Locations: CloudFront has 200+ edge locations worldwide, enabling it to serve content from locations close to users.
• Content Delivery: Supports various types of content including:
  • Static content (e.g., HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images)
  • Dynamic content (e.g., content generated by server-side applications)
  • Streaming media (e.g., videos, audio)
• Security: Offers security features such as:
  • HTTPS support
  • SSL/TLS encryption
  • Integration with AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) for protecting against web attacks
• Performance: CloudFront enhances performance through features like:
  • Optimized routing to direct requests to the best edge location
  • Content caching for faster delivery
  • Compression to reduce file sizes
• Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other AWS services like Amazon S3, AWS Lambda, and EC2.

Benefits

• Improved Performance: Lower latency, faster content delivery, and enhanced user experience.
• Increased Scalability: Ability to handle large traffic volumes without affecting performance.
• Enhanced Security: Integrated security features to protect content and users.
• Reduced Costs: Lower bandwidth and infrastructure costs compared to self-hosting content.

Use Cases

• Static Website Hosting: Hosting static websites on S3 and using CloudFront to deliver the content globally with high performance.
• Dynamic Web Applications: Using CloudFront to cache static content and speed up the delivery of dynamic content generated by web applications.
• Streaming Media: Delivering streaming video and audio content to users worldwide with low latency and high quality.
• Content Delivery Networks: Building high-performance content delivery networks to distribute software, games, and other large files to users quickly and efficiently.

Example Use Case:

The sources provide an example of a media company, “VideoStream,” that uses CloudFront to distribute videos hosted on Amazon S3. This showcases how CloudFront can be leveraged for secure, low-latency, global content delivery.