How CloudFront Delivers Traffic to AWS Workloads

CloudFront, as a global content delivery network, sits outside your VPC, acting as the entry point for traffic. It receives user requests at edge locations and forwards them to a designated origin, which can be storage, a load balancer, or another AWS service. CloudFront's separation from the VPC is intentional, focusing on edge delivery, caching, and security, leaving networking to the VPC. Common origin types include object storage, ideal for static assets, and load balancers, directing traffic to backend services. Regardless of the origin, CloudFront always connects to an intermediary endpoint within the VPC, never directly to private instances. Traffic enters the VPC through these origin endpoints over AWS-managed networking. Security groups and application routing control inbound access to the origin. This separation simplifies scaling and security by allowing CloudFront to handle traffic spikes and apply protections. CloudFront VPC Origins provide private connectivity to resources within private subnets, enhancing access control. VPC origins, while still external, forward traffic privately to resources, offering more flexibility for backend connectivity. CloudFront's role centers on edge delivery, relying on defined origin paths into the VPC, ensuring controlled entry points. This approach prioritizes simplified scaling, improved security and consistent VPC design, offering a more efficient architecture.