Amazon Cloudfront

Amazon CloudFront

Content Delivery Challenges
- Network performance affects user experience
- Web requests routed through many networks to reach origin server
- Number of network hops and distance impact website responsiveness
- Network latency varies by geographic location
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Globally distributed system of caching servers
- Caches copies of commonly requested files (static content)
  - HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images
- Delivers content from nearby cache edge or Point of Presence
- Accelerates dynamic content delivery
- Improves application performance and scaling
Amazon CloudFront
- Fast, global, secure CDN service
- Global network of edge locations and Regional edge caches
- Self-service model
- Pay-as-you-go pricing
- No negotiated contracts, high prices, or minimum fees
CloudFront Infrastructure
- Edge locations
  - Network of data centers that serve popular content quickly
  - Provide lowest latency to users
- Regional edge caches
  - Located between origin server and global edge locations
  - Cache less popular content
  - Larger cache than individual edge locations
  - Content remains closer to viewers longer
  - Reduces origin server requests
CloudFront Benefits
- Fast and global
  - Massively scaled and globally distributed
  - Low latency content delivery
- Security at the edge
  - Network and application-level protection
  - Built-in AWS Shield Standard at no cost
  - Custom SSL certificates via AWS Certificate Manager
- Highly programmable
  - Customizable for specific application requirements
  - Integrates with Lambda@Edge for custom code execution
  - DevOps tool integration
- Deeply integrated with AWS
  - Physical locations connected to AWS Global Infrastructure
  - Integration with other AWS services
  - Programmable via API or AWS Management Console
- Cost-effective
  - No minimum commitments
  - Pay only for what you use
  - Avoids expense of self-hosting cache servers
  - Eliminates need to overprovision for traffic spikes
  - Reduces origin server load
  - No data transfer charges between AWS origins and CloudFront
CloudFront Pricing
- Data transfer out
  - Volume of data transferred from edge locations to internet/origin
- HTTP(S) requests
  - Number of HTTP(S) requests made to CloudFront
- Invalidation requests
  - First 1,000 paths per month free
  - $0.005 per path thereafter
- Dedicated IP custom SSL
  - $600 per month for each custom SSL certificate
  - Prorated by hour

Amazon CloudFront delivers content globally with low latency through its extensive network of edge locations, while providing security, programmability, and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional content delivery solutions.