Amazon CloudFront Reviews

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.

I have been utilizing it for the past three years. 

Amazon is top-notch in terms of customer service, on par with the quality of their services. They've been very supportive. Though, if I had to compare, I'd rate Akamai's support slightly higher.

We utilize all products: Akamai, CloudFront, and even Cloudflare. We have many clients who work with different technologies, so we get the chance to experience diverse options as tech partners.

As tech advisors, it's our responsibility to offer informed recommendations because we're partnering with the client and ultimately responsible for ensuring which tech is suitable. 

Our task is to offer them the best XYZ stack options based on their needs. They want to avoid tech hassles, so they've outsourced everything. We provide our best recommendations through consultations and design based on those consultations. Then, there's a back-and-forth with the client regarding budget, team analysis, and deployment decisions. 

Once we have all the information, we move forward. We don't have complete control, but we have a significant influence, around 60%, on the technology chosen for migration.

CloudFront itself is relatively easy to configure, much easier than Akamai. But using it with other server platforms like GCP or Azure can be a real pain.

So, on CloudFront, the ease of use comes at the cost of managing a single endpoint for everything, while Cloudflare offers more flexibility but requires more management effort.

There is an ROI. Our organization is based in India, a lot of our clients are multinational enterprises or even non-profits.  

We've been using CloudFront to provide a good user experience and security, and we've been pretty happy with it. Especially for non-profits where cost optimization is crucial, CloudFront has kept things moving in the optimal direction.

For CloudFront, I'm quite satisfied with the pricing. Initially, it doesn't require many resources for this specific solution. 

Additionally, the pay-as-you-go model with a generous free tier makes it easy to onboard and pay for what you use. This is a big advantage for SMEs, making it very convenient.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten if it is in the AWS ecosystem. So, it's mainly great on AWS.

If you're using another ecosystem, like Azure or something else, then it might be more like five out of ten.

My primary use case for Amazon CloudFront involves utilizing it as a CDN service from AWS. It is used mainly for e-commerce websites and for clients who have critical applications that require faster loading of their mobile applications and websites. 

I've worked with clients in the e-commerce industry who seek to load pages and products faster and in an efficient manner. 

Additionally, I've supported EdTech clients who use videos on their site and conduct live classes; CloudFront aids in delivering content quickly.

CloudFront has allowed organizations to enhance their applications and websites' overall performance, significantly impacting user experience and customer retention. 

It helps regain customers by ensuring that websites load quickly, preventing potential users from switching to competitors' sites. This enhanced user experience translates to higher customer trust and retention, assisting in achieving business goals.

One of the most valuable features of CloudFront is the reduced latency due to its edge locations, which results in a very fast delivery of data. It also offers encryption capabilities and DDoS attack protection, which can be monitored and managed efficiently. 

Another highlight is its user-friendly nature, particularly for developers and DevOps teams, due to complete APIs and arrangements, which simplify integration within applications and websites.

CloudFront could improve in the areas of auto-scaling, reports, and insights. End clients desire more detailed reports to understand usage patterns better. 

There's an opportunity to modernize modules to support organizations completely on cloud with AI and ML solutions, making it more robust and flexible for contemporary technological demands.

I have been working with CloudFront for approximately one or two years.

During my experience with CloudFront, I encountered only a few instances of downtime, not exceeding one or two minutes per occurrence, and it has not been a major issue overall.

CloudFront supports scalability through its auto-scaling feature, using container services like Kubernetes, crucial for handling unpredictable traffic spikes. It is highly beneficial for content delivery and offers significant support during major events.

While there are occasional technical queries regarding latency from multiple data sources, interactions with AWS technical support have been rare due to the minimal technical issues faced.

I have experience with Azure CDN, which offers a more flexible pricing model for end clients. However, CloudFront is slightly faster than Azure CDN.

I am not involved in the initial setup or deployment directly. That said, I understand CloudFront is user-friendly.

I am not part of the deployment or implementation team. I am more involved in sales, account management, and consulting.

Clients who have used CloudFront, particularly in the e-commerce sector, have seen an increase in profitability. They have acquired new customers and experienced approximately ten to fifteen percent improvements in their ROI.

The pricing of CloudFront is generally reasonable, offering a pay-as-you-go model with a twelve-month free trial for smaller websites. There is room for improvement, especially considering competition from other providers.

I have considered Microsoft Azure CDN.

I recommend CloudFront for any business, application, or website that aims to enhance end-user experience by providing fast content delivery. It is particularly beneficial for e-commerce but can also assist any content-focused endeavor.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

My primary use case involves setting up Amazon CloudFront and then using C# code to generate a token to get files from the S3 bucket. It mainly provides an additional security layer when accessing files.

Amazon CloudFront provides valuable security by ensuring secure file access when accessing files from S3. This security layer is essential for maintaining privacy and data protection in our operations.

I recommend Amazon CloudFront for situations requiring secure file management in the cloud environment.

I haven't worked extensively with CloudFront to identify any specific areas that need improvement. However, it might benefit from multi-region support to enhance performance.

I have been using Amazon CloudFront for one year.

Amazon CloudFront has been very stable and reliable in my experience. It has performed well for our specific use cases.

I have not yet performed any large-scale performance tests, so I cannot comment on the scalability of Amazon CloudFront.

I have not contacted Amazon for any technical issues, so I cannot comment on their technical support. However, in general service interactions, they have been very helpful.

Positive

I also use Azure's cloud environment.

The initial setup of CloudFront is not straightforward and requires some research, however, it is not overly complicated. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the easiest, I would rate it a five.

I handle the deployment and implementation of Amazon CloudFront by myself.

The pricing for Amazon CloudFront is acceptable and comparable to similar solutions.

I have experience with Azure's cloud environment - not with other CDN services like Fastly or Azure Front Door.

I recommend Amazon CloudFront when security for files is a priority. Overall, I would rate the solution at eight out of ten.

I integrate CloudFront with my AWS S3 buckets to host my frontend app, specifically my React app, on S3 and provide access via CloudFront.

The solution makes our platform fully accessible and available globally, helping us to ensure that our customers can rely on it being up and running.

The integration with the Access service and the ability to upgrade or use our own certificate are features I find very valuable. CloudFront also provides tools like CloudFormation, which enable us to write templates and provision resources on demand.

I would like to see an increase in distribution regions in Africa. There are currently only a few regions available.

I have been working with Amazon CloudFront for the past three years.

CloudFront is highly stable. I have not had any stability issues with the product.

Amazon CloudFront is quite scalable and able to adapt to our needs.

I rate the customer service a six. I have experienced communication issues, although not specifically with CloudFront.

Neutral

Before CloudFront, my projects were deployed on EC2. Prior to my position, the company used DigitalOcean but migrated to AWS for centrality of data.

The initial setup can be challenging without knowledge of CDNs, but with the right understanding, it’s quite straightforward.

I managed the deployment myself. I have automated the process using CloudFormation templates, allowing anyone to duplicate the setup using the provided codebase.

The primary ROI comes from CloudFront's stability and reliability. It effectively solves our problem of globally and securely hosting our applications.

I rate the pricing a six. Pricing is determined by usage, so there's less cost when there is less traffic.

Amazon CloudFront is a good product for hosting applications globally and securely. It offers features like geolocation restrictions and whitelisting for added security.

I primarily use it to serve static content and to provide an additional call drive to the API Gateway.

It is very effective in enhancing our application's global reach with its distributed network across geographical locations. It has improved both the performance and reach of our applications.

The most beneficial feature is capturing the static data, which is crucial for our operations.

There is a bit of a workaround required for custom domain management on CloudFront. Mapping the domain involves some complexity with the domain provider, and it's tricky when doing it for the first time.

I have been using CloudFront for five years.

Stability is good. It does not face significant issues or break down.

Scalability is good, there are no issues observed.

Customer support is rated six out of ten due to knowledge-related aspects.

Neutral

The initial setup is not straightforward and requires some prior knowledge and experience.

CloudFront is relatively cheap and worth the money.

One needs to be aware of how data caching works, especially when trying to refresh data, as it involves cache invalidation, which requires some management.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

We use Amazon CloudFront for offloading our media libraries for WordPress. It is mostly used for our clients' websites where we need to use a CDN for speed optimization of websites.

Using Amazon CloudFront drastically increases the performance of websites. The integration process is simplified and clear, especially with the plugin we use. This has improved our speed optimization effectively.

The best feature of Amazon CloudFront is its simplified process and easy integration. The plugin we use does most of the work, making it easy for us. The speed optimization is another valuable feature.

There are some solutions needed for integration that are not free. It would be better if there was a straightforward way to configure it without additional costs.

I have been using Amazon CloudFront for two years.

I do not remember having any difficulty with stability while using Amazon CloudFront.

Amazon CloudFront is easy to scale up or down as needed.

The initial setup of Amazon CloudFront requires experience and expertise.

I haven't compared pricing with other solutions, so I can't comment on it. Usually, it depends on the number of files you are uploading and the resources you are distributing. It is a pay-as-you-go model.

I would recommend Amazon CloudFront to other people.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

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.

It normally takes over a day to get a reply from the support team. The support must be improved.

I have been using the solution for seven months.

We are still testing the tool in the UAT phase. So far, our experience with the tool’s stability has been good.

Globally, we have 60,000 to 80,000 users. We plan to deploy a full-scale production. We might have almost five million users.

The support team does not provide immediate responses.

The setup was straightforward. Most of the features are available out of the box. The learning experience was very straightforward. The answers to a lot of our questions were available in the UI. There is a link that we can click to learn more about the features. It was quite user-friendly. The tool is deployed on the cloud.

The setup time was much less when we deployed the tool on the cloud. The procurement of the services, testing, and deployment was quick and easy compared to on-premise provisioning. We have a team of eight people for deployment, including managers, developers, and testers. The setup was very smooth and easy to configure.

The product provides reduced latency and quicker site refreshes. We have seen a significant improvement over the on-premise version we used earlier. The sites appear faster to the users.

The product must enable cost optimization. We do not have many options to optimize costs. Most of the prices are fixed. It would be good if the vendor could provide different tiers or allow users to optimize prices.

We have not used the security features to the fullest extent. Initially, we had an on-premises solution. I recommend that people use the tool. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

We used the solution to host a public website.

The support team is knowledgeable.

The UI could be more user-friendly. There were a lot of technical terms on the UI page.

I have been using the solution for three to four months.

Once the product was deployed, it was stable. Other than human errors, we did not face any issues. I rate the stability an eight out of ten.

The product is quite scalable. Even high-definition images load up pretty quickly. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten. We have 20,000 users.

The response time is better than that of Microsoft.

Getting the correct documents for the setup was a little difficult. It was easier to find information on Microsoft. It took us a few weeks to deploy the tool. It is a cloud-based solution. Some configuration parameters were a little difficult to understand. I had to go through a lot of documents to understand the configurations.

The deployment was done in-house. We had five members, including managers, on our technical team.

We developed POCs using Amazon CloudFront and Windows Azure CDN. The functionalities of both products are the same. We used Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront for hosting. We also did automation using AWS Lambda.

People who want to use the solution must first go through the documentation. It is much easier than directly jumping into the service. The documentation helps us understand what we need to get the configuration done. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.