I'm building a SaaS application targeted exclusively at users in the UK. I'm wondering if using a CDN like Cloudfront or Cloudflare makes sense for my situation, considering that there's no need to serve users outside of the UK. Are there benefits to using a CDN for my specific use case, or should I skip it?
5 Answers
Even if your users are only in the UK, using a CDN can still be beneficial. It can help reduce the load on your origin server by caching static assets like CSS and JavaScript. Plus, a CDN will likely have edge locations within the UK, which can cut down on latency. Of course, you'll want to weigh these benefits against the setup costs and whether they suit your needs. Also, many CDNs include added protections like DDoS mitigation, which could be useful for your application.
A CDN like Cloudfront is definitely good for ensuring fast delivery of your assets, even with a localized audience.
If your web traffic is served through S3 as a static site, using Cloudfront is worthwhile. It provides security through WAF and helps with caching, which can reduce excessive read requests to your S3. Plus, you can use the same WAF for multiple Cloudfront distributions, which could save you some costs.
While a CDN isn't strictly necessary, it is a good idea to use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with your load balancer to enhance security. This can help protect your application from various threats.
Yes, using Cloudfront can actually save you on egress traffic costs compared to running everything through a VPC. By setting up a private VPC origin, you also get access to more regional edge locations within the UK.
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