While preparing for the AWS SAA exam, many candidates get confused by choosing the right content delivery architecture. In practice, this is fundamentally a decision balancing performance (latency and throughput) vs. cost and operational simplicity. Let’s drill into a simulated scenario.
The Scenario #
CloudLine Retail, a fast-growing global e-commerce brand, hosts its web application backend on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The app manages both dynamic user-generated content and static assets such as images and scripts, with static assets stored in an Amazon S3 bucket. CloudLine’s web presence uses a custom domain registered through Amazon Route 53.
They face increasing user latency complaints globally and wish to improve performance for both static and dynamic content without increasing operational complexity or costs significantly.
Key Requirements #
Improve static and dynamic content delivery performance and reduce end-user latency while continuing to use the existing custom domain managed in Route 53.
The Options #
- A) Create a single Amazon CloudFront distribution sourcing static content from the S3 bucket and dynamic content from the ALB. Configure Route 53 to route traffic to this CloudFront distribution.
- B) Create a CloudFront distribution sourcing content from the ALB, and simultaneously create an AWS Global Accelerator standard accelerator with the S3 bucket as an endpoint. Configure Route 53 to route traffic to the CloudFront distribution only.
- C) Create a CloudFront distribution sourcing static content from the S3 bucket, and create an AWS Global Accelerator standard accelerator with the ALB and CloudFront distribution as endpoints. Create a custom domain pointing to the Global Accelerator endpoint, and use this as the web app endpoint.
- D) Create a CloudFront distribution sourcing dynamic content from the ALB and create an AWS Global Accelerator standard accelerator sourcing static content from the S3 bucket. Create two custom domains: one pointing to the CloudFront distribution (dynamic content) and another pointing to the Global Accelerator (static content). Use both domains as the web app endpoints.
Correct Answer #
A.
The Architect’s Analysis #
Correct Answer #
Option A
Step-by-Step Winning Logic #
Option A represents the best trade-off between performance, cost, and operational simplicity. Using a single CloudFront distribution sourcing static content from S3 and dynamic content from the ALB streamlines DNS management with Route 53 and leverages CloudFront’s global edge caching and TLS termination capabilities to reduce latency for both content types.
In terms of FinOps, consolidating into one distribution reduces monthly charges (fewer CloudFront distributions, no additional Global Accelerator costs) and lowers operational complexity by minimizing disparate endpoints. This reduces the risk of misconfiguration and avoids unnecessary service overlap.
The Traps (Distractor Analysis) #
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Why not Option B?
Routing traffic only to CloudFront while separately accelerating S3 through Global Accelerator is inconsistent. Global Accelerator does not natively support S3 as an endpoint; this architecture adds cost and complexity without performance improvement. Also, Route 53 pointing only to CloudFront ignores the accelerator entirely. -
Why not Option C?
Creating Global Accelerator with both ALB and CloudFront endpoints and pointing all traffic through the accelerator adds significant monthly cost and complexity. CloudFront already provides global edge acceleration for static content and dynamic proxying for ALB. This solution is over-engineered for the stated requirements. -
Why not Option D?
Splitting static and dynamic content across two separate domains, pointing one to CloudFront and the other to Global Accelerator-backed S3, complicates DNS, SSL management, and user experience. It adds operational overhead and may confuse clients and SEO. Global Accelerator also doesn’t natively support S3 endpoints, making this solution impractical and costly.
The Architect Blueprint #
Mermaid Diagram illustrating Option A — Single CloudFront distribution with mixed ALB and S3 origins
Diagram Note: End users access a single CloudFront distribution via the custom domain registered in Route 53, which routes requests to S3 for static assets and to ALB for dynamic content, achieving low latency globally with minimal operational overhead.
Real-World Practitioner Insight #
Exam Rule #
For the AWS SAA exam, choose a single CloudFront distribution sourcing both static and dynamic content via S3 and ALB when you need to improve global performance with minimal configuration.
Real World #
In complex production environments, you might add Global Accelerator for TCP-level acceleration or multi-region active-active load balancing; however, these add significant cost and operational overhead, which contradicts FinOps principles if not strictly necessary.