Edge Computing Approaches for Low-Latency Web Applications on AWS CloudFront

Abstract

The demand for low-latency web applications has risen significantly in recent years due to the rapid growth in digital services and online interactions. Users today expect seamless and real-time experiences, whether it’s in online gaming, financial trading, e-commerce, or content streaming. This shift has presented challenges for traditional cloud-based architectures that rely on centralized data processing, leading to inevitable latency as data has to travel long distances from the central server to the user.

Edge computing has emerged as a potential solution to mitigate latency by bringing computation closer to the end user. By processing data at the edge of the network, closer to where it is generated or consumed, edge computing reduces the distance between the user and the server, leading to faster data retrieval and reduced delays. AWS CloudFront, Amazon’s globally distributed Content Delivery Network (CDN), has become a critical tool in enabling edge computing for low-latency applications. CloudFront's integration with Lambda@Edge and CloudFront Functions empowers developers to perform computations directly at the edge, significantly reducing latency and improving application performance.

This manuscript aims to explore the integration of edge computing strategies within AWS CloudFront for optimizing web application performance, specifically focusing on how these approaches contribute to the reduction of latency. By examining architectural designs, best practices, and case studies, this paper provides valuable insights for developers seeking to build highly responsive, low-latency applications. Moreover, it will delve into the role of serverless computing models in this context, evaluating the impact of AWS Lambda and CloudFront Functions on operational efficiency and scalability.