Solutions Architect: CloudFront & Global Accelerator

Table of Contents

ℹ️ Associate‑level extension of the Amazon CloudFront section from the AWS Cloud Practitioner series.

AWS Certifications Series »
AWS Cloud Practitioner	AWS Solution Architect

CloudFront Introduction #

CloudFront Introduction was covered in Amazon CloudFront section from the AWS Cloud Practitioner series:


Amazon CloudFront	CloudFront - Origins	CloudFront vs S3 Cross Region Replication

ALB or EC2 as an origin (VPC Origins) #

CloudFront can use private VPC resources as origins, letting you serve content from applications in private subnets without exposing them publicly - including private ALBs, NLBs, or EC2 instances.

ALB or EC2 as an origin (Public Network) #

CloudFront Geo Restriction #

CloudFront lets you control access to your distribution by applying geo‑restriction rules:

You can allow traffic only from approved countries or block traffic from specific countries, based on a third‑party Geo‑IP database - commonly used for copyright‑driven content restrictions.

CloudFront Cache Invalidations #

When your origin content changes, CloudFront won’t fetch the new version until the cached object’s TTL expires.

You can bypass the TTL by issuing a CloudFront invalidation, refreshing specific paths (e.g., /index.html, /images/*) or even all files (*).

Unicast IP vs Anycast IP #

Unicast IP: one server holds one IP address
Anycast IP: all servers hold the same IP address and the client is routed to the nearest one

AWS Global Accelerator #

AWS Global Accelerator was covered in AWS Global Infrastructure | Global Accelerator section from the AWS Cloud Practitioner series.

Works with Elastic IPs, EC2 instances, ALBs, and NLBs (public or private)
Provides consistent performance with intelligent, low‑latency routing and fast regional failover
Avoids client‑side caching issues because the IPs never change
Uses the AWS global network for optimized delivery
Continuously health‑checks your endpoints for rapid failover (typically under 1 minute)
Strong for disaster recovery scenarios
Security benefits:
- only two static IPs to whitelist
- built‑in DDoS protection via AWS Shield

ℹ️ Read More: AWS Global Accelerator vs CloudFront

CloudFront vs S3 CRR vs Global Accelerator #

Feature / Purpose	CloudFront	S3 Cross‑Region Replication (CRR)	AWS Global Accelerator
Primary Purpose	Global content delivery (CDN)	Replicate S3 objects to another region	Global network routing acceleration
Optimises	Latency for content delivery	Data durability, compliance, geo‑redundancy	Latency for TCP/UDP applications
Type of Service	CDN (caches content at edge locations)	Storage replication feature	Networking acceleration service
Traffic Direction	User → Edge → Origin	S3 bucket → S3 bucket	User → AWS edge → Application endpoint
Use Case	Speed up static/dynamic content delivery	Keep copies of objects in multiple regions	Improve performance & availability of global apps
Data Movement	No replication; caches objects temporarily	Permanent replication of objects	No replication; routes traffic over AWS backbone
Where Data Lives	Cached at edge locations (temporary)	Stored in multiple S3 buckets (permanent)	Data stays in your app; only routing changes
Supports Dynamic Content	Yes	No	Yes
Supports Static Content	Yes	Yes	Yes (via routing)
Improves Availability	Yes (edge caching + failover)	Yes (multi‑region copies)	Yes (automatic failover between endpoints)
Improves Durability	No	Yes (multi‑region storage)	No
Security Integration	WAF, Shield, OAC/OAI	Bucket policies, IAM, KMS	WAF (via CloudFront), Shield Advanced
Typical Use Cases	Websites, APIs, media streaming	Compliance, DR, multi‑region apps	Global apps needing low latency (gaming, SaaS, APIs)
Pricing Model	Data transfer + requests	Replication + storage + PUT costs	Fixed hourly + data transfer acceleration

CloudFront

Make content fast for users anywhere in the world by caching it close to them.

S3 Cross‑Region Replication

Keep permanent copies of S3 objects in another region for compliance, DR, or multi‑region apps.

AWS Global Accelerator

Speed up global user traffic by routing it over AWS’s private backbone instead of the public internet.

» Sources « #

» References « #

Cloud Practitioner:

» Disclaimer « #

This series draws heavily from Stephane Maarek’s Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate 2026 course on Udemy.

His content was instrumental in helping me pass the certification.

About the instructor
🌐 Website	📺 YouTube
💼 LinkedIn	𝕏 x.com

ℹ️Shared for educational purposes only, no rights reserved.