What are AWS Edge Locations?
AWS Edge Locations are strategically placed sites around the world that cache content to deliver data with lower latency. They are smaller facilities outside of standard Regions, positioned closer to end users.
Edge Location Video
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Amazon CloudFront
Edge Locations use Amazon CloudFront, a content delivery network (CDN), that stores cached copies of your content at locations closer to your users. This results in faster loading times and a better user experience.
CloudFront Use Cases
- Streaming video: Videos play smoothly without buffering, even during peak times
- Ecommerce: Product images and pages load quickly during busy shopping seasons
- Mobile apps: Map data and images delivered quickly for responsive experiences
Caching - How AWS Edge Locations Work
Caching stores copies of frequently accessed data closer to users, reducing the need to fetch data from the origin server every time.
- A user requests content (e.g., an image or video)
- If not cached, the content is fetched from the origin and stored at the Edge Location
- Future requests for the same content are served from the nearest Edge Location
Content is delivered faster because it comes from the Edge Location nearest to the user, not the origin server.
