Question 313 of 1,621
Global Accelerator for Low-Latency Multi-Region UDP Traffic
A company is designing a network for a real-time gaming application that requires the lowest possible latency across AWS Regions. The application uses UDP traffic. Which AWS service should be used to optimize traffic routing?
Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Global Accelerator because it is the only AWS service designed to optimize low-latency multi-region UDP traffic for real-time applications like gaming. Global Accelerator uses Anycast IP addresses to route UDP traffic over the AWS global network, directing packets to the nearest healthy endpoint and minimizing both latency and jitter. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of traffic optimization for non-HTTP protocols—a common trap is confusing Global Accelerator with Amazon CloudFront, which does not natively support UDP. Remember that CloudFront is for HTTP/HTTPS and TCP, while Global Accelerator handles UDP and TCP at the network layer. A useful memory tip: think of Global Accelerator as the “UDP-friendly express lane” that bypasses the public internet, whereas CloudFront is the “HTTP cache stop.”
⚠ Common exam trap
AWS often tests the misconception that DNS-based routing (like Route 53 latency routing) provides the same latency optimization as Global Accelerator, but the trap is that DNS routing only affects the initial resolution and does not control the actual network path for ongoing UDP traffic, while Global Accelerator optimizes every packet in real time.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Global Accelerator.
AWS Global Accelerator uses the Anycast IP address concept to route UDP traffic over the AWS global network, minimizing latency by directing traffic to the nearest healthy endpoint. It is specifically designed for real-time applications like gaming that require low latency and jitter, and it supports UDP traffic natively.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Direct Connect with multiple connections.
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect is for on-premises to AWS, not inter-region optimization.
- ✓
AWS Global Accelerator.
Why this is correct
Global Accelerator supports UDP and uses the AWS backbone to reduce latency.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53 with latency-based routing.
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 only controls DNS resolution, not traffic path.
- ✗
Amazon CloudFront with custom origins.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFront does not support UDP traffic.
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Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on ANS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is designing a network for a real-time gaming application that requires extremely low latency between players. The application will be deployed on EC2 instances in multiple AWS regions. Which AWS service provides the best latency performance by using the AWS global network and anycast IPs?
hard- A.AWS Direct Connect
- ✓ B.AWS Global Accelerator
- C.Amazon CloudFront
- D.Amazon Route 53 Latency Routing
Why B: AWS Global Accelerator uses the AWS global network and anycast IPs to route traffic to the optimal edge location, then over the AWS backbone to the nearest healthy endpoint. This minimizes internet hops and latency, making it ideal for real-time gaming applications that require consistent low latency across multiple regions.
Variation 2. A company is designing a network for a real-time gaming application that requires low latency and high throughput between game servers in multiple regions. The application uses UDP traffic. Which AWS service should be used to route traffic between regions?
hard- A.AWS Transit Gateway
- ✓ B.AWS Global Accelerator
- C.Amazon CloudFront
- D.Amazon Route 53
Why B: AWS Global Accelerator uses the Anycast IP address and the AWS global network to route UDP traffic from users to the optimal regional endpoint, minimizing latency and jitter. It is designed for real-time applications like gaming that require low-latency and high-throughput UDP traffic between regions, as it bypasses the public internet and leverages AWS's internal backbone.
Variation 3. A company is designing a global application that will serve users across North America and Europe. The application consists of a static website hosted on Amazon S3, a REST API hosted on Amazon API Gateway, and a backend application running on EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The company wants to minimize latency for users by serving content from the closest AWS region. They also want to ensure high availability and automatic failover if a region becomes unavailable. The company is considering using Amazon Route 53 with a latency-based routing policy. However, they are concerned about DNS caching and propagation delays during failover. Which additional service should they use to improve the failover experience and provide a single endpoint for users?
hard- A.Use a Network Load Balancer in each region and configure Route 53 with failover routing
- B.Use Amazon CloudFront with multiple origins pointing to the S3 bucket and the ALB in each region
- C.Use Lambda@Edge to dynamically route traffic based on the user's location
- ✓ D.Use AWS Global Accelerator to provide a static IP address and route traffic to the ALB in the closest healthy region
Why D: AWS Global Accelerator uses the AWS global network to route traffic to the closest healthy endpoint via the Anycast static IP addresses, bypassing DNS caching and propagation delays. It provides a single fixed endpoint for users and integrates with the ALB in each region, automatically failing over to the next healthy region within seconds when health checks fail.
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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