Exam AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03 topic 1 question 142 discussion

Correct Answer: C AWS Global Accelerator and Amazon CloudFront are separate services that use the AWS global network and its edge locations around the world. CloudFront improves performance for both cacheable content (such as images and videos) and dynamic content (such as API acceleration and dynamic site delivery). Global Accelerator improves performance for a wide range of applications over TCP or UDP by proxying packets at the edge to applications running in one or more AWS Regions. Global Accelerator is a good fit for non-HTTP use cases, such as gaming (UDP), IoT (MQTT), or Voice over IP, as well as for HTTP use cases that specifically require static IP addresses or deterministic, fast regional failover. Both services integrate with AWS Shield for DDoS protection.

The correct answer is Option C. To meet the requirements; * AWS Global Accelerator is a service that routes traffic to the nearest edge location, providing low latency and static IP addresses for the front-end tier. It supports UDP-based traffic, which is required by the application. * A Network Load Balancer is a layer 4 load balancer that can handle UDP traffic and provide static IP addresses for the application endpoints. * An EC2 Auto Scaling group ensures that the required number of Amazon EC2 instances is available to meet the demand of the application. This will help the front-end tier to provide the best possible user experience. Option A is not a valid solution because Amazon Route 53 does not support UDP traffic. Option B is not a valid solution because Amazon CloudFront does not support UDP traffic. Option D is not a valid solution because Amazon API Gateway does not support UDP traffic.

Ans C - hint: "That tier must have low latency, route traffic to the nearest edge location, and provide static IP addresses for entry into the application endpoints." "AWS Global Accelerator... provides static IP addresses that provide a fixed entry point to your applications and eliminate the complexity of managing specific IP addresses for different AWS Regions and Availability Zones... [to] always routes user traffic to the optimal endpoint based on performance, reacting instantly to changes in application health, your user’s location, and policies that you configure." https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/faqs/

Non HTTP/S, the answer is always Global Accelerator without doubts. GA serves like Cloudfront on providing low latency through edge locations, with the exception of handling different protocols.

Whenever I see this line : "and provide static IP addresses for entry into the application endpoints." - my brain automatically thinks Global Accelerator.

If the situation demands for UDP or some protocols that are not at application level then it would be better to use Global Accelerator and here they need top notch perfromance hence using it with NLB would be the best answer. Cloud Front does not support UDP nor does it support use of NLB

UDP: NLB. Static IP: Global Accelerator.

UDP, static IP = Global Accelerator and Network Load Balancer

AWS Global Accelerator provides static IP addresses that serve as a fixed entry point to application endpoints. This allows optimal routing to the nearest edge location. Using a Network Load Balancer (NLB) allows support for UDP traffic, as NLBs can handle TCP and UDP protocols. The application runs on a modified Linux kernel, so using Amazon EC2 instances directly will provide the needed customization and low latency. The EC2 instances can be auto scaled based on demand to provide high availability. API Gateway and Application Load Balancer are more suited for HTTP/HTTPS and REST API type workloads. For a UDP gaming workload, Global Accelerator + NLB + EC2 is a better architectural fit.

AWS Global Accelerator is designed to improve the availability and performance of applications by routing traffic through the AWS global network to the nearest edge locations, reducing latency. By configuring AWS Global Accelerator to forward requests to a Network Load Balancer, UDP-based traffic can be efficiently distributed across multiple EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. Using Amazon EC2 instances for the application allows for customization of the Linux kernel and support for UDP-based traffic. This solution provides static IP addresses for entry into the application endpoints, ensuring consistent access for users. Option A suggests using AWS Lambda for the application, but Lambda is not suitable for long-running UDP-based applications and may not provide the required low latency. Option B suggests using CloudFront, which is primarily designed for HTTP/HTTPS traffic and does not have native support for UDP-based traffic. Option D suggests using API Gateway, which is primarily used for RESTful APIs and does not support UDP-based traffic.

aws global accelarator provides static IP addresses.

My choice is option C, due to the followings: Amazon Global accelator route the traffic to nearest edge locations, it supports UDP-based traffic, and it provides static ip addresses as well, hence C is right answer.

Answer : C CloudFront : Doesn't support static IP addresses ALB : Doesn't support UDP

C - https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/

To meet the requirements of providing low latency, routing traffic to the nearest edge location, and providing static IP addresses for entry into the application endpoints, the best solution would be to use AWS Global Accelerator. This service routes traffic to the nearest edge location and provides static IP addresses for the application endpoints. The front-end tier should be configured with a Network Load Balancer, which can handle UDP-based traffic and provide high availability. Option C, "Configure AWS Global Accelerator to forward requests to a Network Load Balancer. Use Amazon EC2 instances for the application in an EC2 Auto Scaling group," is the correct answer.

C is obvious choice here.

C as Global Accelerator is the best choice for UDP based traffic needing static IP address.