Route 53 for Global Traffic Management
Bit the Chipmunk, AWS Expert published on
3 min,
508 words
Hey squeak-mates! đżď¸ Bit here, digging into one of my favorite topics â how Route 53 helps manage global user traffic. But beware â not every âglobalâ problem in AWS is solved with Route 53. Letâs learn where it shines⌠and where you should scurry away to another service!
đ§ What Route 53 Global Traffic Management Really Means
When we say global traffic management, weâre talking about making intelligent routing decisions at the DNS layer to direct users to the best AWS endpoint (or on-prem) based on performance, location, or availability.
Route 53 does this with Routing Policies, not actual traffic forwarding. So remember: Route 53 tells clients where they should connect â not how packets get there.
âď¸ Common Routing Policies and Exam Use Cases
| Routing Policy | What It Does | Exam-Relevant Use Case | Exam Trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | One record â one target | Static site, no failover | No health checks â single answer always |
| Failover | Active-Passive routing | Backup server in another Region | Route 53 cannot fail over CloudFront or Global Accelerator, since they expose single endpoints |
| Latency-Based | Chooses the Region with lowest latency to the user | Multi-Region ALB or EC2 web apps | Must deploy identical stacks in multiple Regions |
| Geolocation | Routes by userâs country or continent | Regional compliance (EU vs. US) | Country match â latency optimization |
| Geoproximity | Routes by geographic bias (requires Traffic Flow) | Custom steering (e.g., shift 20% to APAC) | Does not support failover or optimize for latency |
| Weighted | Distributes traffic by percentage | Canary deployments or A/B testing | Weight only affects DNS responses, not session stickiness |
| Multi-Value Answer | Returns multiple healthy IPs | Client-side load distribution with health checks | Not true load balancing like ALB/NLB |
đŤ When Route 53 Is Not the Right Global Tool
| Scenario | Better AWS Service | Why Route 53 Isnât Right |
|---|---|---|
| Need real-time routing with instant failover | AWS Global Accelerator | Route 53 changes propagate via DNS TTLs â not instant |
| Need content caching or global edge presence | Amazon CloudFront | Route 53 only resolves names â doesnât deliver or cache content |
| Need static IPs for TCP/UDP applications | Global Accelerator | Route 53 gives DNS names, not static IPs |
| Need ingress routing within a region or session managment control | ALB | Route 53 canât inspect requests or balance sessions |
đ§ Bitâs Exam Nuggets
- Route 53 = DNS-layer control, not packet-level control. â If the question talks about âlatency-based user redirectionâ, thatâs Route 53 Latency Routing. â If it talks about âinstant failover without DNS TTL delayâ, thatâs Global Accelerator.
- Alias records are the default choice for AWS targets (ALB, CloudFront, S3 website endpoints).
- Health checks can monitor endpoints outside AWS â exam questions love this detail!
- Traffic Flow policies can combine multiple routing types (e.g., weighted + geolocation).
đżď¸ Bitâs Quick Recap
- Route 53 is your DNS-based global traffic manager â perfect for user redirection between AWS Regions or endpoints.
- It doesnât route packets or cache content â thatâs Global Accelerator or CloudFront territory.
- Expect exam questions comparing Route 53 vs. Accelerator or CloudFront for global architectures â the winner depends on whether DNS latency tolerance is acceptable.