Networking and Content Delivery
Building blocks for private networks, connecting to on-premises, and delivering content globally.
| Service | Role | Choose when | Key distinction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon VPC | Isolated virtual network | Always — the network everything runs in | Subnets, gateways, security groups, network ACLs |
| Amazon Route 53 | DNS + routing | Domain registration, health-based routing | Routes users between Regions/endpoints |
| Amazon CloudFront | CDN | Cache content close to users | Caches HTTP; offloads the origin |
| AWS Global Accelerator | Network path + static IPs | Consistent latency, TCP/UDP, fast failover | Routes over AWS backbone; caches nothing |
| Amazon API Gateway | Managed API front door | REST/HTTP/WebSocket APIs with auth + throttling | Manages the API contract, not just traffic |
| AWS Direct Connect | Dedicated private circuit | Consistent bandwidth to on-premises | Private, weeks to provision |
| AWS VPN | Encrypted tunnel over internet | Quick, cheap hybrid link | Minutes to set up, variable performance |
| AWS PrivateLink | Private service access | Reach a service without the public internet | Exposes one service, one-directional |
- CloudFront vs Global Accelerator: content caching vs network-path optimization + static IPs.
- Direct Connect vs VPN: dedicated/consistent vs internet/encrypted; often DC primary, VPN backup.
- Route 53 vs load balancers: DNS across Regions vs traffic distribution within a Region.