Amazon CloudFront Reviews

My role demands me to create applications on Amazon using multiple Amazon services. This includes working on greenfield projects and migration projects. In the case of migration projects, if there are applications running on-premise, I have to design them on the cloud using compatible services like EC2, S3, CloudFront, and others.

Hosting static content or with engineering dynamic content is beneficial. CloudFront provides a common access point, manages routing to different methods, and serves as an access point plus API routing. 

With AWS, maintenance is not required as it's a service offered by AWS which maintains itself. Security concerns are manageable through AWS's security mechanisms, with additional security enhancement possible through options like WAF and NACL.

We work for a bank. We use the solution to host some public websites. The CDN hosts images and static content related to the website. We are not working in an active production environment. Currently, we are conducting User Acceptance Testing. We have only released it to a few focus development groups to check how the site is used.

I like the solution’s ease of use and configuration. Getting the certificate signed and using it in CDN was easy. It is easy to configure. The product is easy to configure compared to other AWS services. We can choose locations close to our users. It helps reduce latency and improves the time it takes to refresh the site.

Our newest AWS connection was initially in Europe and we experienced very high latency. However, bringing it to Bahrain has drastically improved performance, not just for us but for all the regional operators connected to our ISN, including entities in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The ultimate users of these services are the enterprises themselves. However, we don't sell directly to them. Instead, we sell to operators, both Bahraini and regional, who then sell the services to the enterprises.

Its main advantage is that it offers something in this region that wasn't available before; previously, you had to go outside the region to get the same level of service you can now access right here in Bahrain. It's truly incredible. Our customers are more interested in accessing CDNs and peering with each other. Moreover, building this IX has significantly changed how traffic is handled. It has enabled better regional connectivity and access to content, which was our main goal. It has saved us money and time.

If you're using AWS entirely, it's smooth sailing. But with a mixed stack, things get complicated.

With a mixed stack, things become a problem. With GCP and Azure, the DNS setup gets tricky when using CloudFront. With AWS, it's smooth and streamlined. Their GUI provides all the details and is very easy to navigate. 

The challenge starts to occur because AWS gives you only one DNS endpoint for the entire service. This single endpoint covers your CDN, AWS server, and domain migration needs.

If you use any other solution like GCP or Azure, you face additional configuration changes and account management. You need separate accounts for AWS CloudFront and your chosen platform, like GCP. This means securing and managing two separate accounts – an extra responsibility.

With Cloudflare, you just need one account and pay for it. Managing the complex DNS details isn't your burden. However, on the flip side, CloudFront might require more hands-on management on your part.

We use Amazon CloudFront for various purposes based on our needs and budget considerations. For instance, if we have live content like static images or videos that should be quickly accessible on our website, the tool is handy. It enables us to deliver content swiftly to end users. The cache features also reduce the need to access the origin server, optimizing our website speed.

Previously, we were directly fetching videos from our Amazon S3 URL, resulting in slow image loading and high latency on our landing page. To address this, we explored Amazon CloudFront features with edge locations to improve content delivery speed. We integrated Amazon S3 with Amazon CloudFront, and now all content is served through the product, leading to better optimization than our previous setup.

I utilize Amazon CloudFront for hosting and deploying customer web applications, which are connected to a database. It is used for website content delivery, video streaming, and API acceleration for dynamic content delivery.

Amazon CloudFront optimizes performance and reduces travel time for data requests, improving our system's efficiency. It has also helped us achieve a ten to fifteen percent reduction in data transfer cost.

We used the solution to host a public website.

The support team is knowledgeable.

We use Amazon CloudFront to upload our content instead of dealing with hardware. We use cloud software to arrange resources based on the situation. We provide training courses and work mainly on web applications. Most resources are arranged for the front end. During major events, we leverage its scalability features to handle traffic spikes effectively.

Amazon CloudFront allows us to concentrate more on business by reducing complexity. It enables us to manage resources without having to deal with maintenance on-premises, thus saving time and financial investment.