AWS Global Accelerator vs CloudFront: Differences vs Similarities

March 26, 2023

Youssef
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Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides two robust content delivery networks (CDNs): Global Accelerator and CloudFront.

While both services can increase the performance, availability, and security of your web apps and content, their capabilities, pricing, and use cases differ significantly. 

We will compare in this article AWS Global Accelerator vs CloudFront, highlighting their similarities and differences so you can decide which service is ideal for you.  

What is AWS Global Accelerator and how does it work?

AWA Global Accelerator is a networking solution that improves the availability and performance of your applications by routing traffic across the AWS global network infrastructure. 

It assigns your application endpoints a fixed IP address, allowing traffic to be routed to ideal AWS edge locations and instances, reducing latency and enhancing application performance.

Here's how it works:

  • An application endpoint is defined in Global Accelerator. This endpoint can be an Elastic IP address or a network interface attached to an EC2 instance or a load balancer.

  • Global Accelerator creates a set of two static Anycast IP addresses for each endpoint, which serve as the entry points for your application.

  • When a client makes a request to your application, it first connects to one of the Global Accelerator Anycast IP addresses.

  • The Anycast IP address then routes the request to the optimal AWS edge location based on factors such as the client's location, the health of the endpoint, and routing policies.

  • At the edge location, the request is forwarded to the endpoint using the private network connection between the edge location and the endpoint.

  • The response from the endpoint is sent back through the same path to the client.

In summary, Amazon Global Accelerator delivers traffic through the AWS global network to the best endpoint based on a variety of parameters, resulting in lower latency, more availability, and better performance for your applications.  

What is Amazon Cloudfront and why is it used?

Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides a global network of servers, called edge locations, that cache and deliver content to users from the nearest location.

Your content is cached at edge locations all over the world by CloudFront. Based on the user's geographic location, CloudFront directs a user's request for your content to the closest edge location.

The material is subsequently served to the user from the edge location's cache, lowering latency and enhancing the functionality of your application.

CloudFront is commonly used for the following reasons:

  • Accelerating content delivery: 

    By caching your content at edge locations, CloudFront can accelerate the delivery of your content to end-users, resulting in a faster and more responsive user experience.

  • Scaling globally: 

    With CloudFront, you can distribute your content to users around the world, improving your application's scalability and reach.

  • Enhancing security: 

    CloudFront provides features like HTTPS encryption, an origin access identity, and AWS Web Application Firewall to enhance the security of your content and protect it against attacks. 

  • Managing costs: 

    CloudFront offers pay-as-you-go pricing, enabling you to pay only for the content that is delivered to end-users, and features like origin shielding and custom SSL certificates to manage your costs effectively.

In summary, Amazon CloudFront is a CDN service that improves the performance, scalability, and security of your application by caching your content. It is commonly used for content delivery, global scaling, security enhancement, and cost management.

How does Amazon CloudFront compare with AWS Global Accelerator?

Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator are both networking services provided by AWS. While both services can improve the performance, availability, and security of your applications, they have distinct differences in their functionality, pricing, and use cases.

1. Exploring Services that Each Platform Offers  

Amazon CloudFront

AWS Global Accelerator

Traffic Routing

Uses DNS to route traffic to the nearest edge location based on the user's geographic location, resulting in lower latency and faster response times.

Routes traffic through the optimal AWS network path based on the customer's geographic location, resulting in improved availability and performance. 

Protocol Support

Supports HTTP/HTTPS, RTMP, and Smooth Streaming protocols.

Supports TCP and UDP protocols.

2. Comparing Different Features of Each Service 

While both CloudFront and Global Accelerator can improve the performance and availability of your applications, they have different features that make them suitable for different use cases. Here are some key differences:

Amazon CloudFront

AWS Global Accelerator

Availability

216 Points of Presence (PoPs) in 84 cities across 42 countries.

138 Points of Presence (PoPs) in 28 cities across 26 countries.

Latency

Provides low latency by caching frequently accessed content at edge locations.

Reduces latency by routing traffic over the AWS network infrastructure.

Scalability

Allows you to use custom SSL certificates for secure content delivery.

Allows you to use custom SSL certificates for secure TCP/UDP traffic.

Performance Monitoring

Provides real-time monitoring and analytics using Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Lambda@Edge.

Provides real-time monitoring and analytics using AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch, and AWS X-Ray.

Geo-Targeting

Supports geo-targeting to deliver customized content based on user location.

Does not support geo-targeting

3. Evaluating Use Cases for Each Service

The choice between CloudFront and Global Accelerator depends on your specific use case. Here are some scenarios where one service may be more appropriate than the other:

Amazon CloudFront

AWS Global Accelerator

Delivering web content to end-users

yes

no

Accelerating delivery of APIs and dynamic content

yes

no

Improving performance for HTTP/HTTPS traffic

yes

no

Improving performance for non-HTTP/HTTPS traffic

no

yes

Reducing latency for global traffic

yes

yes

Load balancing traffic across multiple endpoints

no

yes

4. Comparing Performance & Pricing

CloudFront and Global Accelerator can both improve the performance and availability of your apps, but their price models differ. 

Amazon CloudFront

AWS Global Accelerator

Pricing

CloudFront costs by the amount of content sent to end users

Global Accelerator charges a flat hourly rate for each accelerator created. 

Performance

Low latency due to caching frequently accessed content at edge locations. Supports multiple protocols, resulting in fast and efficient content delivery.

Improved performance by routing traffic over the AWS network infrastructure. Supports TCP and UDP protocols for low-latency content delivery.

5. Examining Pros & Cons of Each Service

Here are some pros and cons of each service:

Amazon CloudFront

AWS Global Accelerator

pros

  • Improves content delivery speed and availability

  • Enhances the security of your content

  • Provides pay-as-you-go pricing

  • Improves application availability and performance

  • Offers advanced traffic routing features

  • Provides a private network connection between edge locations and endpoints

cons

  • Does not offer advanced traffic routing features

  • Caching can lead to stale content if not managed properly

  • Fixed hourly fee for each accelerator created

  • Does not offer to cache

Overall, both Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator offer unique features and benefits that can enhance the performance and availability of your applications. The choice between the two depends on your specific use case and requirements. 

What are the key similarities between AWS Global Accelerator and CloudFront?

While AWS Global Accelerator and CloudFront have substantial functional, pricing, and use case differences, they also share several key similarities:

  • Increased performance

    These services are meant to improve application performance by routing traffic across the AWS global network infrastructure, lowering latency, and enhancing responsiveness.

  • Scalability

    Both services are extremely scalable, allowing them to handle traffic surges or sudden increases in demand without affecting performance.

  • Security

    Both services include security measures to help safeguard your applications and content. CloudFront provides SSL/TLS encryption and DDoS protection, whilst Global Accelerator connects edge sites and endpoints via a private network.

  • Integration with other AWS services

    These services integrate with other AWS services, including Amazon S3, AWS Elastic Load Balancing, and AWS Route 53, allowing you to create scalable, secure, and fast applications.

  • Global reach

    Both services have a global reach, allowing you to distribute content and applications to end users with low latency and high availability thanks to their edge locations all over the world.

How to Implement Amazon CloudFront vs AWS Global Accelerator: A step-by-step guide

Implementing Amazon CloudFront: 

  1. 1

    Log in to your AWS Management Console.

  2. 2

    Navigate to the Amazon CloudFront service.

  3. 3

    Choose the Create Distribution option.

  4. 4

    Choose whether you want to construct a Web or RTMP distribution.

  5. 5

    Set your distribution parameters, including the origin server(s) and caching behavior.

  6. 6

    Set up any extra features you want, such as SSL certificates or bespoke error pages.

  7. 7

    After you have reviewed and confirmed your options, click Create Distribution to create your CloudFront distribution.

Implementing AWS Global Accelerator:

  1. 1

    Access your AWS Management Console.

  2. 2

    Go to the Amazon Web Services Global Accelerator service.

  3. 3

    Choose the Create accelerator option.

  4. 4

    Set your accelerator's parameters, such as the IP address type, routing algorithm, and endpoint groups.

  5. 5

    Build endpoint groups for your accelerator and populate them with the IP addresses or Amazon EC2 instances you want to utilize as endpoints.

  6. 6

    Set up any extra features, such as SSL certificates or health checks.

  7. 7

    After reviewing and confirming your selections, click Build accelerator to start building your Global Accelerator.

How to choose the right service for your business needs?

When choosing between Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator, consider your specific business needs, such as the type of content or application you need to deliver, your target audience's location, and your budget.

Use case scenarios where one service is better suited than the other

  • If you need to deliver static content with caching capabilities and pay-as-you-go pricing, CloudFront is the better choice.

  • If you need to improve the availability and performance of your applications with advanced traffic routing and a private network connection, Global Accelerator is the better choice. 

  • If you need to route traffic to multiple regions or AWS accounts, Global Accelerator is the better choice. It allows you to create endpoint groups in different regions.

  • If you need to improve the performance of TCP or UDP traffic, such as gaming or video conferencing traffic, Global Accelerator is the better choice.

  • CloudFront is the preferable option if you need to offer video and audio content with adaptive bitrate streaming. 

  • CloudFront is the superior option if you need to deliver content internationally with low latency. It has a massive network of geographically scattered edge locations around the world, allowing it to provide content to users with little latency.

Best practices for setting up AWS Global Accelerator vs CloudFront

The following are some best practices for configuring Amazon Global Accelerator and CloudFront:

Amazon Web Services Global Accelerator

  • Set up health checks to monitor the health of your endpoints and immediately reroute traffic in the event of a failure.

  • To improve the availability and performance of your applications, use various endpoints in different Amazon regions.

  • Enabling client affinity allows traffic to be routed to the same endpoint for the same client, decreasing latency and enhancing performance.

  • Employ advanced routing tools, such as traffic dials and traffic weighing, to fine-tune traffic routing to your destinations.

Amazon Web Services CloudFront

  • To optimize content delivery and reduce latency, configure caching behavior.

  • Use Origin Access Identity (OAI) to limit access to your origin and enhance security.

  • To improve security, use HTTPS to encrypt traffic between CloudFront and your users.

  • Use CloudFront logging to keep track of the performance and usage of your CloudFront distribution.

Conclusion

Two potent services that can assist boost the performance and availability of your applications are Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator.

Your particular needs will determine whatever service you choose, as each has its own distinctive features and advantages. 

You can set up and optimize these services to improve the functionality and user experience of your applications by following best practices and doing careful planning.

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About the author

Youssef

Youssef is a Senior Cloud Consultant & Founder of ITCertificate.org

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