PERF05-BP06 Choose your workload’s location based on network requirements

Choose the appropriate AWS Region or Regions for your deployment based on the following key elements:

For a given workload, if a component consists of a group of interdependent Amazon EC2 instances requiring low-latency, consider using cluster placement groups to influence placement of those instances to meet the requirements of the workload. Instances in the same cluster placement group enjoy a higher per-flow throughput limit for TCP/IP traffic and are placed in the same high-bisection bandwidth segment of the network. Cluster placement groups are recommended for applications that benefit from low network latency, high network throughput, or both.

For a workload that is location-sensitive, for example with low-latency or data residency requirements, review AWS Local Zones or AWS Outposts.

Applications such as high-resolution live video streaming, high-fidelity audio, and augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) require ultra-low-latency for 5G devices. For such applications, consider AWS Wavelength. AWS Wavelength embeds AWS compute and storage services within 5G networks, providing mobile edge computing infrastructure for developing, deploying, and scaling ultra-low-latency applications.

If you have geographically distributed users, a content distribution network (CDN) may be used to accelerate distribution of static and dynamic web content by delivering data through globally dispersed points of presence (PoPs). CDNs typically also provide edge computing capabilities, performing latency sensitive operations such as HTTP header manipulations and URL rewrites and redirects at large scale at the edge. Amazon CloudFront is a web service that speeds up distribution of your static and dynamic web content. Use cases for CloudFront include accelerating static website content delivery and serving video on demand or live streaming video. CloudFront can also be used to customize the content and experience for viewers, at reduced latency.

Some applications require fixed entry points or higher performance by reducing first byte latency and jitter, and increasing throughput. These applications can benefit from networking services that provide static anycast IP addresses and TCP termination at edge locations. AWS Global Accelerator can improve performance for your applications by up to 60% and provide quick failover for multi-region architectures. AWS Global Accelerator provides you with static anycast IP addresses that serve as a fixed entry point for your applications hosted in one or more AWS Regions. These IP addresses permit traffic to ingress onto the AWS global network as close to your users as possible. AWS Global Accelerator reduces the initial connection setup time by establishing a TCP connection between the client and the AWS edge location closest to the client. Review the use of AWS Global Accelerator to improve the performance of your TCP/UDP workloads and provide quick failover for multi-region architectures.

If you have applications or users on-premises, you may benefit from having a dedication network connection between your network and the cloud. A dedicated network connection can reduce the chance of encountering congestion or unexpected increases in latency. AWS Direct Connect can improve application performance by connecting your network directly to AWS and bypassing the public internet. When creating a new connection, you can choose a hosted connection provided by an AWS Direct Connect Delivery Partner, or choose a dedicated connection from AWS and deploy at over 100 AWS Direct Connect locations around the globe. You can also reduce your networking costs with low data transfer rates out of AWS, and optionally configure a Site-to-Site VPN for failover.

If you configure a Site-to-Site VPN to connect to your resources within AWS, you can optionally turn on acceleration. An accelerated Site-to-Site VPN connection uses AWS Global Accelerator to route traffic from your on-premises network to an AWS edge location that is closest to your customer gateway device.

Identify which DNS routing option would optimize your workload performance by reviewing your workload traffic and user location. Amazon Route 53 offers latency-based routing, geolocation routing, geoproximity routing, and IP-based routing options to help you improve your workload’s performance for a global audience.