AWS Global Accelerator

TCP performance.

Overview

AWS Global Accelerator pulls TCP and UDP traffic onto the AWS backbone at the nearest edge POP and routes it to healthy regional endpoints. Compared to internet routing, the user sees lower latency (the backbone beats the public internet for inter-region hops), faster regional failover (sub-30-second when a region degrades), and two static anycast IPs that work across regions. CDN handles HTTP at the edge; Global Accelerator handles non-HTTP TCP and UDP where CDN does not apply.

• Anycast static IPs. Two static IPs route to the nearest AWS edge; client connection points stay stable across region changes.
• Backbone-first routing. Traffic enters the AWS backbone at the edge POP; lower latency than the internet path for the same destination.
• Fast regional failover. Sub-30-second failover when a region is unhealthy; the user sees recovery rather than the outage.
• TCP and UDP support plus health checks. Layer 4 protocol support matches non-HTTP workloads; health check integration drives automatic routing.

The approach

The practical approach is to use Global Accelerator for non-HTTP TCP and UDP workloads where CDN does not apply (CDN handles HTTP, GA handles the rest), use the traffic dial for per-region blue-green cutovers, define endpoint groups per region with health checks, monitor GA flow logs for traffic-pattern visibility, and document per-accelerator routing topology committed to the network repo.

• GA for non-HTTP. CDN handles HTTP; GA handles TCP and UDP; match the right edge service to the protocol.
• Traffic dial for blue-green. Per-region traffic percentage; supports gradual cutover between regions.
• Endpoint groups. Per-region target groups with health checks; failover happens automatically when a region degrades.
• Monitor flow logs plus documented routing. GA flow logs reveal traffic patterns; per-accelerator topology committed for operational review.

Why this compounds

Global Accelerator investment compounds across services. Each correctly-applied accelerator produces ongoing latency and resilience value; the team builds intuition for when CDN is not enough; new global services inherit the failover patterns rather than re-deriving them.

• Global latency. Backbone routing reduces RTT; the user-facing latency drops because traffic stays on AWS backbone for inter-region hops.
• Resilience. Fast failover removes regional outages from user view; the user does not see the failover happen.
• Static IPs. Allowlist-friendly endpoints; enterprise integration partners can pin to two stable IPs.
• Institutional knowledge. Each accelerator teaches AWS networking patterns; the team learns when GA earns its premium.

Global Accelerator is an infrastructure investment that pays off across years. Nova AI Ops integrates with AWS networking telemetry, surfaces edge patterns, and supports the team’s traffic-distribution discipline.