CloudFront Flashcards
How do I use Amazon CloudFront?
For static files, store the definitive versions of your files in one or more origin servers.
Register your origin servers with Amazon CloudFront through a simple API call.
Include the cloudfront.net domain name, or a CNAME alias that you create, in your web application, media player, or website.
https://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/faqs/?nc=sn&loc=5&dn=2
How does Amazon CloudFront provide higher performance?
Amazon CloudFront employs a global network of edge locations and regional edge caches that cache copies of your content close to your viewers.
How does Amazon CloudFront lower my costs to distribute content over the Internet?
Like other AWS services, Amazon CloudFront has no minimum commitments and charges you only for what you use.
Compared to self-hosting, Amazon CloudFront spares you from the expense and complexity of operating a network of cache servers in multiple sites across the internet and eliminates the need to over-provision capacity in order to serve potential spikes in traffic.
Amazon CloudFront also uses techniques such as collapsing simultaneous viewer requests at an edge location for the same file into a single request to your origin server.
This reduces the load on your origin servers reducing the need to scale your origin infrastructure, which can bring you further cost savings.
How does AWS charge for data transfer of AWS origin to CloudFront?
Effective December 1, 2014, we are no longer charging for AWS data transfer out to Amazon CloudFront. This applies to data transfer from all AWS regions to all global CloudFront edge locations.
How does Amazon CloudFront speed up my entire website?
Amazon CloudFront uses standard cache control headers you set on your files to identify static and dynamic content.
How is Amazon CloudFront different from traditional content delivery solutions?
Amazon CloudFront lets you quickly obtain the benefits of high performance content delivery without negotiated contracts or high prices.
What types of content does Amazon CloudFront support?
Amazon CloudFront supports content that can be sent using the HTTP or WebSocket protocols. This includes dynamic web pages and applications, such as HTML or PHP pages or WebSocket-based applications, and any popular static files that are a part of your web application, such as website images, audio, video, media files or software downloads. Amazon CloudFront also supports delivery of live or on-demand media streaming over HTTP.
Does Amazon CloudFront work with non-AWS origin servers?
Yes. Amazon CloudFront works with any origin server that holds the original, definitive versions of your content, both static and dynamic. There is no additional charge to use a custom origin.
How does Amazon CloudFront enable origin redundancy?
For every origin that you add to a CloudFront distribution, you can assign a backup origin that can be used to automatically serve your traffic if the primary origin is unavailable. You can choose a combination of HTTP 4xx/5xx status codes that, when returned from the primary origin, trigger the failover to the backup origin. The two origins can be any combination of AWS and non-AWS origins.
Does Amazon CloudFront offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
Yes. The Amazon CloudFront SLA provides for a service credit if a customer’s monthly uptime percentage is below our service commitment in any billing cycle.
Can I use the AWS Management Console with Amazon CloudFront?
Yes. You can use the AWS Management Console to configure and manage Amazon CloudFront though a simple, point-and-click web interface. The AWS Management Console supports most of Amazon CloudFront’s features, letting you get Amazon CloudFront’s low latency delivery without writing any code or installing any software. Access to the AWS Management Console is provided free of charge at https://console.aws.amazon.com.
What tools and libraries work with Amazon CloudFront?
There are a variety of tools for managing your Amazon CloudFront distribution and libraries for various programming languages available in our resource center.
Can I point my zone apex (example.com versus www.example.com) at my Amazon CloudFront distribution?
Yes. By using Amazon Route 53, AWS’s authoritative DNS service, you can configure an ‘Alias’ record that lets you map the apex or root (example.com) of your DNS name to your Amazon CloudFront distribution. Amazon Route 53 will then respond to each request for an Alias record with the right IP address(es) for your CloudFront distribution. Route 53 doesn’t charge for queries to Alias records that are mapped to a CloudFront distribution. These queries are listed as “Intra-AWS-DNS-Queries” on the Amazon Route 53 usage report.
What is CloudFront Regional Edge Cache?
CloudFront delivers your content through a worldwide network of data centers called edge locations. The regional edge caches are located between your origin web server and the global edge locations that serve content directly to your viewers. This helps improve performance for your viewers while lowering the operational burden and cost of scaling your origin resources.
