What is Amazon CloudFront?
Amazon CloudFront is AWS's global content delivery network (CDN) that accelerates delivery of websites, APIs, video content, and other web assets to users worldwide. With 410+ edge locations across 90+ cities in 47 countries, CloudFront brings content closer to users, dramatically reducing latency and improving user experience.
CloudFront integrates seamlessly with other AWS services like S3, EC2, and Lambda@Edge, enabling sophisticated content delivery strategies. It's trusted by Netflix for global video streaming, Spotify for music delivery, and NASA for mission-critical content distribution.
CloudFront Performance Calculator
Edge Locations: 410 worldwide
Origin Requests: 150,000/month
Default TTL: 24h
CloudFront Distribution Types
Web Distribution
Static and dynamic content delivery with HTTP/HTTPS support.
• Images and media files
• API acceleration
• Custom SSL certificates
• Lambda@Edge integration
RTMP Distribution
Real-time streaming for live video and audio content.
• Real-time audio delivery
• Adobe Flash Media Server
• Low-latency streaming
• Adaptive bitrate support
API Acceleration
Optimized delivery for REST APIs and dynamic content.
• Dynamic content caching
• WebSocket support
• Intelligent routing
• Edge computing with Lambda
CloudFront Caching Architecture
Edge Locations (Tier 1)
410+ points of presence worldwide, serving content with ultra-low latency (typically <50ms).
User Request → Nearest Edge Location
if (content_cached) {
return cached_content; // Fast delivery
} else {
fetch_from_regional_cache();
}Regional Edge Caches (Tier 2)
13 regional caches serve multiple edge locations, reducing origin load and improving cache efficiency.
• Larger cache capacity than edge locations
• Serves multiple edge locations in region
• Reduces origin server load by 70-90%
Origin Shield
Additional caching layer that minimizes load on origin servers and improves cache hit ratios.
• Collapsed forwarding to origin
• Better cache hit ratios
• Reduced origin server costs
• Improved failover resilience
Real-World CloudFront Implementations
Netflix
Serves 15+ petabytes daily through CloudFront for global 4K streaming to 230+ million subscribers.
- • 15+ PB daily data transfer
- • 4K Ultra HD streaming quality
- • 190+ countries coverage
- • Custom origin infrastructure
Spotify
Delivers music content and web assets globally with sub-50ms latency for streaming experience.
- • Audio content acceleration
- • Web app asset delivery
- • Regional content optimization
- • Mobile API acceleration
Airbnb
Optimizes image delivery and web performance for millions of property listings worldwide.
- • Image optimization and resizing
- • Dynamic content caching
- • API response acceleration
- • Mobile app performance
NASA
Handles traffic spikes during major space events, serving millions of concurrent users.
- • Mission-critical content delivery
- • Massive traffic spike handling
- • High-resolution media distribution
- • Global accessibility requirements
CloudFront Security Features
Built-in Protection
- • AWS Shield Standard (DDoS protection)
- • SSL/TLS encryption with ACM certificates
- • Origin Access Control (OAC)
- • Signed URLs and cookies for private content
- • Geographic restrictions (geo-blocking)
- • Field-level encryption for sensitive data
Advanced Security
- • AWS WAF integration (Web Application Firewall)
- • Real-time threat intelligence
- • Custom security rules and rate limiting
- • Bot detection and mitigation
- • OWASP Top 10 protection
- • HTTP security headers injection
Edge Computing Options
Lambda@Edge
Full Node.js/Python runtime for complex logic at edge locations.
- • Request/response manipulation
- • A/B testing and personalization
- • Authentication and authorization
- • Image resizing and optimization
- • SEO-friendly URL rewriting
- • Real-time content generation
exports.handler = async (event) => {
const request = event.Records[0].cf.request;
// Device detection
const isMobile = request.headers[
'cloudfront-is-mobile-viewer'
]?.[0]?.value === 'true';
if (isMobile) {
request.uri = '/mobile' + request.uri;
}
return request;
};CloudFront Functions
Lightweight JavaScript functions for simple transformations.
- • HTTP header manipulation
- • URL redirects and rewrites
- • Request/response validation
- • Cache key normalization
- • Simple authorization checks
- • Sub-millisecond execution
function handler(event) {
var request = event.request;
var uri = request.uri;
// Append index.html to requests that end with '/'
if (uri.endsWith('/')) {
request.uri += 'index.html';
}
return request;
}CloudFront Configuration Best Practices
✅ Do
- • Enable compression for text content (HTML, CSS, JS)
- • Use appropriate TTL values per content type
- • Implement Origin Access Control (OAC) for S3
- • Enable HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 support
- • Monitor cache hit ratios (aim for 85%+)
- • Use CloudFront real-time logs
- • Configure custom error pages
- • Enable security headers injection
❌ Don't
- • Set high TTL for dynamic/personalized content
- • Forward unnecessary headers or cookies
- • Use wildcards in cache invalidations
- • Ignore viewer protocol policies
- • Mix HTTP and HTTPS without redirects
- • Forget to configure health checks
- • Cache private or sensitive data
- • Use default cache behaviors for everything