172. AWS Global Accelerator - Hands On

Introduction to AWS Global Accelerator

AWS Global Accelerator is a networking service that improves the availability and performance of applications by using static IP addresses that route traffic to the optimal AWS region based on network health, geography, and user proximity. Unlike CloudFront, which is designed for content caching, Global Accelerator is intended for dynamic applications with low latency needs.

⚠ Important Note: This hands-on lab incurs charges. If you don’t want to spend money, do not proceed with the setup.

Setting Up AWS Global Accelerator

Since Global Accelerator is a global service, its configuration is managed in one central region (e.g., us-west-2 (Oregon)), regardless of where your resources are located.

Step 1: Create EC2 Instances in Multiple Regions

We will deploy two EC2 instances to simulate a globally distributed application.

1.1 Launch an EC2 Instance in US East (N. Virginia)

Go to the AWS EC2 Console and choose US East (N. Virginia) (us-east-1) as the region.
Click "Launch Instance" and configure:
- AMI: Amazon Linux 2
- Instance Type: t2.micro
- User Data Script:
```
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello World from US East 1" > /var/www/html/index.html
sudo yum install -y httpd
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd
```
- Security Group: Allow HTTP (port 80) from 0.0.0.0/0.
- Key Pair: No need to create one if you don’t plan to SSH.
Launch the instance and note down the Public IP/DNS.

1.2 Launch an EC2 Instance in Asia Pacific (Mumbai)

Switch to the Mumbai (ap-south-1) region.

Repeat the steps above, but modify the User Data:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello World from AP South 1" > /var/www/html/index.html
sudo yum install -y httpd
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd

Launch the instance and note its Public IP/DNS.

Verify the Instances

Open a web browser and check:
```
http://<PUBLIC_IP>
```
The response should confirm that the web server is running in the respective region.