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AWS CloudFront with Application Load Balancer or EC2 as Origin
In this article, I will show you how to configure AWS CloudFront with EC2 instances and Application Load Balancers (ALB) as origins. We will walk through the key considerations for setting up these services, including the need for public/private accessibility, managing edge locations, and security configurations to ensure a smooth and secure content delivery process.
Introduction to AWS CloudFront
AWS CloudFront is a global Content Delivery Network (CDN) that caches content closer to users by using 216+ Points of Presence (PoPs) worldwide. It accelerates the delivery of dynamic and static content, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images, reducing latency and improving user experience.
When using CloudFront with EC2 instances or Application Load Balancers as origins, proper configurations are essential to ensure that requests from CloudFront’s edge locations can reach your backend securely.
CloudFront Origins
CloudFront supports various origins, including Amazon S3, EC2, and ALB. For dynamic applications, using EC2 instances or an ALB as an origin allows you to serve custom content while leveraging CloudFront’s edge caching capabilities.
Configuring EC2 as a CloudFront Origin
When using EC2 as the origin for CloudFront, the following setup considerations apply:
1. Public EC2 Instances
- For CloudFront to access EC2 instances, the instances must be publicly accessible. This means they should be hosted in a public subnet with an associated Elastic IP (EIP) or a public IP.
- You’ll need to allow the public IP ranges of CloudFront’s edge locations to access the EC2 instance. AWS publishes these ranges as part of the AWS IP ranges JSON file, which is regularly updated.
- To manage this, you can create a security group that allows inbound traffic from CloudFront’s public IPs. This ensures that only CloudFront edge locations can directly access your EC2 instance, adding a layer of security.
