Boosting Global Application Performance with AWS Global Accelerator

AMJ Cloud Technologies partnered with a SaaS company to enhance their global application performance using AWS Global Accelerator. This case study showcases how we reduced latency, improved availability, and ensured a consistent user experience across continents.

Situation

The client, a SaaS company with users in North America, Europe, and Asia, faced increasing complaints about sluggish application performance. Their platform, hosted in multiple AWS regions, delivered latency-sensitive dynamic content and API responses. Despite using Auto Scaling and regional load balancers, users in distant geographies experienced high latency and occasional timeouts due to suboptimal routing over the public internet and DNS resolution delays.

Task

Our team was tasked with designing a global performance solution to meet the following objectives:

• Reduce latency for users across Asia, Europe, and North America.
• Ensure consistent global availability during outages or deployments.
• Maintain a seamless user experience without modifying application code.
• Simplify security and compliance with existing IP policies.
• Protect against DDoS attacks without additional costs.

The project was executed by a team of cloud architects and DevOps engineers over a two-month timeline.

Action

To achieve these objectives, we implemented AWS Global Accelerator to create a latency-optimized, resilient entry point for the client’s services:

1. Anycast IP Deployment:

   • Provisioned two static Anycast IP addresses via AWS Global Accelerator.
   • Enabled a single global entry point, routing users to the nearest healthy edge location for optimal performance.

2. Improved Traffic Routing Over AWS Backbone:

   • Utilized AWS’s global backbone to route traffic, bypassing unpredictable public internet paths.
   • Reduced internet hops and improved round-trip times for global users.

3. Custom Health Checks and Failover:

   • Configured Custom HTTP Health Checks for each application endpoint.
   • Enabled automatic failover to the next closest healthy endpoint during regional outages or deployments.

4. Traffic Dials for Regional Control:

   • Implemented Traffic Dials to support blue/green deployments.
   • Gradually shifted traffic between environments, ensuring stability during feature rollouts.

5. Bring Your Own IP (BYOIP):

   • Integrated the client’s existing IP ranges into Global Accelerator.
   • Preserved compliance with customer allowlists, avoiding reconfiguration.

6. DDoS Protection with AWS Shield:

   • Leveraged AWS Shield Standard for built-in DDoS protection at no additional cost.
   • Enhanced security without requiring additional appliances.

The team conducted performance testing, simulated failover scenarios, and validated compliance with customer IP policies to ensure reliability.

Result

The Global Accelerator implementation delivered significant outcomes:

• Up to 50% Lower Latency: Users in Asia, Europe, and South America experienced faster API and workload responses.
• 99.99% Global Availability: Automatic failover ensured uninterrupted service across continents.
• Significant Reduction in Performance-Related Support Tickets: Improved customer satisfaction with consistent access.
• Simplified Security and Compliance: BYOIP and AWS Shield maintained secure, compliant access.
• Future-Proofed Architecture: Enabled scalable, resilient application delivery globally.

This solution has become a benchmark for AMJ Cloud Technologies’ global performance projects, showcasing our expertise in latency optimization.

Technologies Used

• AWS Global Accelerator: Optimized global traffic routing.
• Anycast IP Routing: Provided a single entry point.
• Custom Health Checks (HTTP/HTTPS): Monitored endpoint health.
• Traffic Dials (Traffic Splitting): Supported deployment strategies.
• Bring Your Own IP (BYOIP): Preserved IP compliance.
• AWS Shield Standard (DDoS Protection): Secured against attacks.
• Multi-Region Application Architecture: Enhanced availability.

Key Use Cases

This architecture is suitable for:

• SaaS platforms requiring low-latency global access.
• Real-time applications with dynamic content and APIs.
• Enterprises needing DDoS protection and IP compliance.

Ready to boost your global application performance? Contact us to explore how AMJ Cloud Technologies can help.

Key Takeaways

This case study demonstrates the power of AWS Global Accelerator in delivering low-latency, resilient, and secure application performance. By leveraging Anycast IPs, AWS’s backbone, and integrated security, we transformed the client’s global user experience without application changes. AMJ Cloud Technologies is committed to building innovative cloud solutions for global scalability.

Architectural Diagram