Introduction

AWS Global Accelerator is a service designed to optimize network performance for globally distributed applications. It addresses challenges related to latency, reliability, and failover by leveraging AWS’s global network infrastructure.

The Problem: High Latency Over Public Internet

When an application is deployed in a single AWS region but serves users worldwide, traffic must traverse multiple public internet hops, increasing latency and potential packet loss.

For example:

• A user in America accessing an application hosted in India may experience multiple router hops, causing slower response times.
• Similar issues occur for users in Europe and Australia.

Solution: AWS Global Accelerator

AWS Global Accelerator helps reduce latency by routing traffic through AWS’s private global network instead of the public internet. This ensures:

✅ Lower latency

✅ Improved reliability

✅ Faster failover

Key Concept: Unicast vs. Anycast IP

Unicast IP (Traditional Approach)

• Each server has a unique IP address.
• Clients connect to one specific server based on its IP.
• Example:
  • Server 1 → IP: 12.x.x.x
  • Server 2 → IP: 98.x.x.x
  • A client requesting 12.x.x.x connects to Server 1 only.

Anycast IP (Used by Global Accelerator)

• Multiple servers share the same IP address.