What is Amazon CloudFront and How Does It Work?

Companies used to avoid building their own Content Delivery Network due to the expensive costs and complex IT infrastructure. However, AWS CloudFront allows customers to request data, which results in low latency, little network traffic, and speedy data access at a low cost. As a result, it became an extremely popular network.

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What is CloudFront?

Amazon CloudFront is a web service that speeds up the delivery of both static and dynamic web content to those who use it, including. HTML, .css, .js, and image files. CloudFront serves your content across a global network of data centers known as the edge locations. When an individual requests content served by CloudFront, the request for it is transmitted to the edge location with the smallest latency (time delay), to make sure the content is provided as quickly as possible.

Benefits of AWS CloudFront

It will store your information in edge locations, reducing the burden and providing high application availability.
It is easy to use and increases productivity.
It offers strong security with the ‘Content Privacy’ function.
It enables GEO targeting services for content delivery to specified end users.
It makes use of the HTTP or HTTPS protocols to deliver content quickly.
It is more affordable because it simply charges for data transfers.

How Does AWS CloudFront Work?

The steps below show how CloudFront distributes the content to users.

Step 1: The user visits a website and requests to download a file (such as an image file).

Step 2: The DNS now sends the user’s request to the closest edge location, which serves the user request through CloudFront.

Step 3: CloudFront searches for the requested storage file at the edge. When the file is found, CloudFront delivers it to the user.

Step 4: However, if the file fails to be found, CloudFront examines its requirements according to the specifications and sends it to the appropriate server.

Step 5: The web server responds to the request by returning the files to the CloudFront edge location.

Step 6: As soon as CloudFront gets the file, it sends it to the user and stores it at the edge location.

What is CDN?

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of distributed computers that offer web content to users based on where they are in the world. It reduces latency and improves load times by storing content closer to consumers. CDNs increase website performance and dependability while also assisting in the effective handling of large volumes of traffic. Examples include Akamai, Cloudflare, and Amazon CloudFront.

How Does AWS CloudFront CDN Work?

Amazon CloudFront is a service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that delivers your content over networks of servers situated across the world. These servers are known as edge locations. The content could be any of the following – Videos, Images, Static and Dynamic Data.

The content provided to the edge location will be stored on the origin servers, and end users will have the opportunity to access it without experiencing latency.

End users will first request content from their web browsers, which will then issue a DNS request to resolve the website’s domain name, and the DNS server will deliver the IP address of the nearby CloudFront edge location. The saved content will then be provided to the end user, while other content will be retrieved and delivered.

The person who requires the content will use a web browser to request it; this request results in a DNS request, which resolves the domain name of your website. The DNS will then perform a search and return the most nearby CloudFront edge location. The web browser will request content from the edge location, and content stored there will be provided to the end user. To put it simply, cloud computing is the storage and access of data and programs on remote servers hosted on the internet rather than the computer’s hard drive or local server. It is also known as internet-based computing.

Cloud Front vs CDN

CloudFront	CDN
Its Service Provider is Amazon Web Services.	Various providers, such as Akamai and Cloudflare.
Closely connected with AWS services.	Compatible with a variety of hosting setups.
Provides considerable customization options.	Offers basic to advanced customization.

CloudFlare vs CloudFront

CloudFlare	CloudFront
Fixed-rate price for unlimited protection provides consistent cost control and reduces overall costs.	Unpredictable prices, including data transmission fees and extra charges for Layer 7 security, load balancing, and DNS functionality.
Simple to use, easy UI, and a seamless setup.	Complicated setup and user interface with a high learning curve.
A single dashboard for numerous Cloudflare systems decreases the chance of misconfigurations.	Multiple dashboards for multiple solutions raise the chance of misconfiguration.
Adding strong features like Load Balancing and Argo is simple.	Separate services and functions might cause duplication and slow performance.

What Are The Benefits of CDN?

CDNs reduce latency by storing content at edge sites close to users, resulting in shorter loading times and a more seamless browsing experience. This is important to keep users engaged and satisfied.
CDNs spread traffic between many servers so that others can manage the demand even if one fails. It also increases the availability and reliability of websites and online services.
CDNs protect against DDoS attacks, provide safe transmission of data through SSL/TLS, and sometimes include extra security measures such as web application firewalls (WAF) to protect content and user data.
CDNs can save infrastructure and operating expenses by offloading traffic from the origin server and reducing bandwidth consumption. They also reduce the requirement for additional server capacity during high traffic.

Conclusion

Amazon Web Services is one of the world’s largest cloud computing companies. You can start your career by doing AWS Cloudfront courses, and get ahead in the career of Cloud.