Introduction to CloudFront CDN
CloudFront CDN is a content delivery network offered by Amazon web services. Delivery Networks provides distributed networks of proxy servers and cache such as data, videos. A CDN delivers data and applications and API’s to customers globally with fast speed. CloudFront is integrated with AWS. The Beta version of CloudFront was launched in the year 2008 and amazon cloud front streaming was launched in the year 2009 year’s end. As its name suggests, CloudFront is based on the “pay as you go” model. Cloud Service as of 2019, operates over 127 edge locations and 11 regional edge caches and near about 63 countries.
Features of CloudFront CDN
CloudFront CDN has several features listed below:
- The CloudFront CDN is globally spread and has around 216 points of presence globally. The network provides high performance and vastly available for end-users.
- Amazon CloudFront Content delivery network is highly secure as it means it has both network and application-level protection. It provides AWS Shield, AWS WAF, and Amazon Route 53 which helps in protecting against most attacks like DDoS attacks. AWS CloudFront is highly scalable, reliable, and provides high-performance security to your content and applications.
- It is easier to deliver content and API’s with Amazon CloudFront through SSL/TLS. Here CloudFront provides various features like SSL optimization and HTTPS connections.
- Amazon CloudFront helps you to restrict your content to limited users. Using the OAI feature, we can restrict access to the Amazon S3 bucket.
- Users can cache the content on CloudFront edge locations globally, which in turn reduces the workload and increases the availability of your application.
- CloudFront helps to set multiple origins and enables redundancy.
- It allows transmission of requests between cloud front edge locations and other AWS services.
- It provides full-featured API to create, configure and maintain cloud front distributions and DevOps tools.
- CloudFront is cost-effective where the users pay for the services that they use. It provides free data transfer between CloudFront and cloud services.
- Amazon Cloud front is highly programmable. All features in the CDN can be programmatically configured by using API.
Advantages of CloudFront CDN
Given below are the advantages mentioned:
- Amazon CloudFront CDN is time-saving. It has a web service interface that reduces workload and ensures high productivity.
- It provides a special feature of content privacy where users, if not interested, can make it private.
- CloudFront helps you to detect the geographical location where the users are accessing which helps in promoting products and services.
- Amazon CloudFront is less expensive as money is paid only for data transfer that we use.
Applications of CloudFront CDN
Given below are the applications of CloudFront CDN:
- Amazon CloudFront CDN is mostly used in Media and Entertainment such as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, Prime News, Jio Saavn, Discovery Communications, etc. Saavn App uses AWS to stream audio and video to millions of subscribers around the globe. Spotify uses Amazon Cloud Front to deliver the Spotify applications and software updates to end-users.
- CloudFront is used in e-commerce applications like True Car, InstaCart, Amazon Fresh, Vivino, and ArtFinder. ArtFinder a UK based startup company used a cloud front to deliver high bandwidth images from different locations to end-users. TrueCar uses a cloud front for faster delivery of automobiles images to users.
- Nowadays CloudFront is used in Social Media Platforms such as Slack, Share Chat and Kik, etc. Oasis.Com is an online dating site that used amazon S3 and amazon cloud front to streamline millions of user images. Slack is a messaging platform that integrates with communication services such as Twitter, GitHub, etc and uses cloud front to secure API acceleration.
- Applications of CloudFront are seen in Digital Advertising. Vtex is a software as a service platform that contains technologies needed for retailers to sell online products.
- Amazon CloudFront is also used in financial services companies. Intuit and intuit mint is a financial management service that uses Amazon Cloud Front for its content delivery.
- CloudFront is used in health care and enterprises too.
- Amazon CloudFront in the public sector plays an important role as it serves as the key point in the growth of the organizations. NOAA (National Oceanic and atmospheric administration) a public sector organization that predicts changes in climate, oceans, weather and reports knowledge to others.
- Few other applications of CloudFront are used by few companies Aerobotics which uses Amazon CloudFront to help promote healthier farming.
- The infield of gaming, Amazon CloudFront is been used by companies like Pretty Simple (A gaming studio in France) which is used to deliver new series to players every week on tablets, phones, etc. It mostly lowers the cost of expenditure due to global infrastructure.
- Some of its applications in Educational Sectors, Amazon CloudFront is used to make the learning experience better and smoother. It delivers content from edge locations to users to reduce the workload on end-users.
Conclusion
Amazon CloudFront plays a vital role in building organizational growth and improving performance speed as like data transfer between different AWS services and networks. Being familiar with most top-notch organizations, it has gained popularity to serve services starting from Digital advertising, product selling, image content delivery, and several applications transfer. Being the perfect content delivery network service helps in the reliability and availability of spam-free content to its end users.
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