Previously we learned how Route 53 gets users to your application. But what if your server is in the US and your user is in Japan? The distance creates latency, which makes your website feel slow.
This is where a Content Delivery Network (CDN) comes in.
Engagement Message
What problems might users experience when accessing content from servers located far away?
Amazon CloudFront is AWS's global CDN service. It speeds up the delivery of your static and dynamic web content, such as .html, .css, .js, and image files, to your users. CloudFront delivers your content through a worldwide network of data centers called edge locations.
Engagement Message
Why would storing content closer to users make a website load faster?
Here's how it works: When a user requests content that you're serving with CloudFront, the request is routed to the edge location that provides the lowest latency. If the content is already in that edge location's cache, CloudFront delivers it immediately.
Engagement Message
What do you think "caching" means in this context?
If the content is not in the edge location's cache, CloudFront retrieves it from your defined origin, such as an Amazon S3 bucket or a web server. It then stores, or caches, the content at the edge location for the next time someone requests it.
Engagement Message
How does this process reduce the number of requests to your origin server?
