Reducing Global Load Time with AWS Global Accelerator

SAA-C03 By islever Editorial Last updated

Determine high-performing and/or scalable network architectures.

Short answer

D Create a standard accelerator in AWS Global Accelerator and configure the existing NLBs as target endpoints to leverage the AWS backbone for reduced latency.

Question

An online gaming company hosts its platform on Amazon EC2 instances behind Network Load Balancers (NLBs) across multiple AWS Regions. The NLBs can route requests to targets over the internet. The company wants to improve the customer playing experience by reducing end-to-end load time for its global customer base. Which solution will meet these requirements?
  1. Create Application Load Balancers (ALBs) in each Region to replace the existing NLBs. Register the existing EC2 instances as targets for the ALBs in each Region.
  2. Configure Amazon Route 53 to route equally weighted traffic to the NLBs in each Region.
  3. Create additional NLBs and EC2 instances in other Regions where the company has large customer bases.
  4. Create a standard accelerator in AWS Global Accelerator. Configure the existing NLBs as target endpoints. Correct Answer

Key Takeaways

The key distinction is that Global Accelerator uses static anycast IPs and the AWS global network, whereas Route 53 relies on DNS resolution which can introduce latency and caching delays.

AWS Global Accelerator improves latency for global users by directing traffic to the nearest healthy endpoint using the AWS backbone. This question tests the correct service selection for optimizing end-to-end load times across multiple regions.

Common mistake: Candidates often select Route 53 (Option B) because it also distributes traffic geographically. However, Route 53 is a DNS-based solution with inherent propagation delays, making it less suitable for real-time latency-sensitive applications like gaming compared to Global Accelerator.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

AWS Global Accelerator provides static anycast IP addresses that direct user traffic to optimal endpoints based on routing policies. It leverages the AWS global network backbone to reduce hop count and jitter, significantly improving performance for latency-sensitive applications like online gaming. By configuring the existing Network Load Balancers (NLBs) as target endpoints, the accelerator ensures that clients connect via the nearest AWS edge location, reducing end-to-end load time effectively.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option A suggests replacing NLBs with ALBs; this changes the layer-4 transport to layer-7, which may not be necessary or compatible with the existing architecture, and doesn't inherently solve global latency issues without additional geo-routing logic. Option B uses Route 53 latency-based routing, but DNS resolution introduces variability and potential delays due to TTLs and recursive resolver behavior, which is suboptimal for real-time gaming. Option C involves adding more infrastructure in other regions, which increases cost and complexity without guaranteeing lower latency for all users unless paired with a global routing service.

Community Comment Notes

Community consensus strongly supports Option D, recognizing that Global Accelerator is the standard solution for accelerating TCP/UDP traffic globally. Users noted that while CloudFront is used for content delivery, Global Accelerator is preferred for raw network acceleration of applications behind NLBs, especially in gaming contexts where low latency is critical.

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/what-is-global-accelerator.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

When optimizing for low-latency global access to non-HTTP/HTTPS services (like gaming or UDP), always consider AWS Global Accelerator over Route 53. Remember that Global Accelerator operates at the network layer using the AWS backbone, providing more consistent performance than DNS-based routing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why not use Route 53 for latency-based routing?

Route 53 relies on DNS resolution, which can suffer from caching delays and variable resolver performance. Global Accelerator uses anycast IPs and the AWS backbone for more consistent, lower latency.

Can Global Accelerator work with Application Load Balancers?

Yes, Global Accelerator can route traffic to ALBs, NLBs, EC2 instances, and Lambda functions. The choice depends on whether you need Layer 4 (NLB) or Layer 7 (ALB) termination.

More SAA-C03 FAQ →

Community Votes

D
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer D. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 4 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 4

  1. Mikado211 👍 8 Answered D
    In such situation if you had an ALB you would use Cloudfront Since you have a NLB you use AWS Global Accelerator So D.
  2. Scheldon 👍 3 Answered D
    AnswerD Usage of Global Accelerator should help here. " Acceleration for latency-sensitive applications Many applications, especially in areas such as gaming, media, mobile apps, ad-tech, and financials, require very low latency for a great user experience. To improve the user experience, Global Accelerator directs user traffic to the application endpoint that is nearest to the client, which reduces internet latency and jitter. Global Accelerator routes traffic to the closest edge location by using Anycast, and then routes it to the closest regional endpoint over the AWS global network. Global Accelerator quickly reacts to changes in network performance to improve your users’ application performance. " https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/introduction-benefits-of-migrating.html
  3. asdfcdsxdfc 👍 5 Answered D
    Should be D
  4. seetpt 👍 2 Answered D
    Agree with D

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