- Published on
CloudFront Introduction
- Authors
- Name
- Bowen Y
QUESTION:
Is it a common practice for major corporations to use an intermediary domain layer in conjunction with Amazon CloudFront, rather than directly linking their public domain to a CloudFront URL? For instance, rather than associating the domain 'dev.example.com' directly with a CloudFront distribution, a company might first link it to an alternate domain like 'dev.aws.additional.com', which then redirects to the actual CloudFront service. What are the reasons and technologies involved in setting up 'dev.example.com' to work in this manner?
ANSWER:
Large organizations often deploy an intermediate domain layer to manage web traffic through services like Amazon CloudFront for enhanced control, security, and efficiency. Here's how they do it:
DNS Configuration: They configure their DNS with Amazon Route 53 (or other DNS services) to point a subdomain (like 'dev.aws.additional.com') to their CloudFront distribution URL. This subdomain acts as the intermediary.
Redirection and Traffic Management: With this setup, they can then redirect traffic from their main domain ('dev.example.com') to the intermediary subdomain. This redirection can be handled through various methods, such as HTTP redirection, URL rewriting, or other DNS-level configurations.
Enhanced Security: The intermediary layer can host security measures like WAFs that screen incoming traffic for threats before passing legitimate requests to CloudFront, thereby safeguarding the backend infrastructure.
Operational Flexibility: By separating the public domain from the CloudFront URL, companies gain the flexibility to switch between different CDN services or configurations without altering the public-facing DNS records.
Performance Enhancements: The intermediate layer provides a location to implement additional performance optimization techniques on top of what CloudFront offers, such as custom caching rules, compression, or even pre-processing requests.
Service Integration: They can integrate additional AWS services or third-party solutions at this layer to enhance functionality. For example, they might use AWS Lambda@Edge to run custom code closer to users for personalization or to manage traffic routing logic.
Compliance and Data Processing: Some companies have specific compliance requirements that dictate how and where data is processed. An intermediary layer can help ensure that these requirements are met before data is distributed through the CDN.
Cost Management and Analytics: The intermediate layer can also be a strategic point for logging and analyzing traffic patterns, which can inform cost management strategies and help optimize resource allocation.
By employing an intermediate layer, companies can create a robust and flexible architecture that can scale with their needs, protect their resources, and provide a better experience for end-users.
Additional Feature
Creating the Intermediate Layer with Realistic Examples:
Subdomain and DNS Configuration: A company could set up a subdomain like intermediate.example.com which is pointed to their CloudFront distribution. This is done by creating a CNAME record in the DNS configuration that associates intermediate.example.com with the CloudFront distribution's domain (e.g., d1234.cloudfront.net).
Security and Operations: On intermediate.example.com, they might deploy an AWS WAF to filter traffic, ensuring that only legitimate requests are forwarded to CloudFront. They could also set up AWS Shield for DDoS protection.
Custom Logic with Lambda@Edge: They can use Lambda@Edge for executing custom code that manipulates the request/response right at the edge locations. For example, they could write functions to handle A/B testing, where some users are served different versions of the site for testing purposes.
Traffic Routing: They might use Amazon Route 53 routing policies such as geolocation or latency-based routing at the intermediate.example.com level to direct traffic to the nearest or most efficient CloudFront distribution, potentially across multiple regions.
SSL/TLS Certificate: They can apply an SSL/TLS certificate to intermediate.example.com to handle HTTPS requests, which may be different from the certificate used on the public-facing domain.
Load Balancing: If they are using multiple CDNs or have a complex infrastructure, they might set up AWS Global Accelerator or Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) to further control the flow of traffic before it hits CloudFront.