Edge locations are AWS data centers designed to deliver services with the lowest possible latency. Located in major cities across the globe, they are physically closer to end-users than traditional AWS Regions, which enables faster response times for supported services like CloudFront and Route 53.
Edge locations act as the network's frontline, bringing services closer to the end-user. This proximity is crucial for reducing latency and ensuring user requests are handled with maximum speed. By minimizing the distance data travels, they significantly boost performance for time-sensitive applications.
They are also vital for security and efficiency. Filtering malicious traffic at the edge stops threats before they reach the core network. This enhances security and offloads origin servers, improving overall service scalability and reliability for users everywhere.
This is how you can leverage edge locations for your applications.
While both are core to AWS infrastructure, Edge Locations and Availability Zones serve distinct purposes.
Using edge locations provides a suite of powerful benefits that enhance application performance and user experience. By bringing data and services closer to your global audience, you can achieve significant improvements in speed, security, and scalability.
While edge locations offer significant advantages, their implementation comes with unique challenges. Teams must carefully navigate specific trade-offs and limitations to fully leverage their power.
Can I run my own applications in an Edge Location?
No, you cannot run custom applications or servers. Edge Locations are managed by AWS to run specific services like CloudFront and Route 53, which simplifies management but limits your direct control over the infrastructure.
How do Edge Locations differ from AWS Regions?
Edge Locations are for low-latency content delivery and DNS, not for hosting primary applications. In contrast, AWS Regions contain multiple Availability Zones where you deploy your core infrastructure like EC2 instances and databases for high availability.
Do I need to manually select an Edge Location for my users?
No, manual selection is not required. AWS services like CloudFront automatically route user requests to the nearest Edge Location based on latency, ensuring optimal performance without any intervention on your part.
NoSQL ("Not only SQL") databases offer a flexible alternative to relational models, excelling at managing large and unstructured data sets.
Page views count the total number of times a page on your website is loaded. This metric is a key indicator of your site's overall traffic.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated phone system that uses voice and keypad inputs to interact with callers and route their calls.
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is a sales specialist who finds and qualifies new leads, building a pipeline for the sales team.
HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform with tools for marketing, sales, and service, all aimed at helping businesses grow.
A dialer is software that automatically dials phone numbers for agents, boosting call efficiency and connecting them to live prospects faster.
Programmatic advertising uses AI and real-time bidding to automate the buying and selling of digital ad space, targeting specific audiences.
Learn about break-even, including calculating your break-even point, importance of break-even analysis, & break-even analysis vs. profit margins.
An inside sales rep sells products or services remotely from an office, using digital tools like phone and email to connect with customers.
Marketo is a marketing automation platform used by B2B marketers to manage lead generation, nurturing, email marketing, and analytics.
A soft sell is a low-pressure sales tactic that uses subtle persuasion and relationship-building to gently guide customers toward a purchase.
Sales prospecting is the process of identifying potential customers, or prospects, and initiating contact to convert them into paying customers.
A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.
CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is the code that styles a website. It controls the colors, fonts, layout, and overall look of a web page.
Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.
A sales script is a pre-written guide of talking points that helps salespeople navigate conversations with potential customers.
Webhooks are automated messages sent by an app when a specific event occurs. They push real-time data to another app's unique URL.
Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a business strategy where the product itself drives user acquisition, conversion, and expansion.
Learn about below the line, including key strategies for below the line marketing, & distinguishing above and below the line tactics.
Quality Assurance (QA) is the systematic process of ensuring a product or service meets specified quality standards from development to delivery.
The lead qualification process is how you determine which prospects are most likely to become customers by evaluating them against specific criteria.
Total Addressable Market (TAM) represents the maximum revenue a company can earn by selling its product or service in a specific market.
Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) measures the revenue generated by a marketing campaign relative to the cost of that campaign.
Remote sales is selling from a distance. Reps use digital tools to connect with prospects and close deals without meeting them in person.
OAuth is an open standard for access delegation. It lets you grant apps access to your data on other services without sharing your password.
Sales enablement technology refers to software and tools that equip sales teams with the resources they need to close more deals efficiently.
An enterprise is a large-scale organization, often a corporation, defined by its complex structure and substantial number of employees.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software bots to mimic human actions and automate repetitive, rules-based tasks on digital systems.
A follow-up is a communication sent after an initial interaction to continue the conversation, provide more value, or prompt a response.
Lead enrichment adds third-party data to your raw lead lists, creating fuller prospect profiles for more effective and personalized outreach.
Sales engagement is the sum of all interactions between a seller and a prospect, aimed at building a relationship and moving a deal forward.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts a victim's files, holding them hostage until a ransom is paid for the decryption key.
Sales objections are reasons or concerns raised by a potential customer as to why they are hesitant or unwilling to make a purchase.
Sales metrics are quantifiable data points that track and measure a sales team's performance against specific goals and objectives.
Logo retention is a key B2B metric that measures a company's ability to retain its customers, or 'logos,' over a specific period.
Contract management is the process of creating, executing, and analyzing contracts to maximize performance and minimize financial risk.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable, recurring income a business expects to receive each month from all active subscriptions.
An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules that lets different software applications talk to each other and share information.
Sales Operations KPIs are measurable metrics that track the efficiency and effectiveness of a sales team's operational processes.
Fault tolerance is a system's ability to continue operating without interruption when one or more of its components fail.
Key accounts are a company's most valuable customers, vital due to their significant revenue contribution and strategic importance for growth.
A competitive landscape is an analysis of your direct and indirect competitors, revealing their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning.
Conversational intelligence (CI) is AI technology that analyzes customer conversations to find insights that help sales and support teams improve.
Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines how a system behaves under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.
Data mining is the process of discovering patterns, trends, and useful information from large datasets to make better business decisions.
Targeted marketing focuses on specific consumer groups whose needs align with your product, allowing for more personalized and effective messaging.
Learn about bad leads, including identifying bad leads, warning signs of bad leads, impact of bad leads on sales, & strategies to minimize bad leads.
Video prospecting is the sales technique of sending personalized videos to potential customers to grab their attention and secure more meetings.
Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with its customers.
A competitive advantage is a unique edge that allows a business to produce goods or services better or more cheaply than its rivals.
Inbound sales attracts interested prospects who've engaged with your brand, letting sales reps connect with warm leads instead of cold outreach.
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an ad model where you pay a fee each time your ad is clicked. It's a method of buying targeted visits to your website.
Learn about buyer intent data, including sourcing and interpreting buyer intent data, & key metrics in buyer intent analysis.
Process automation uses technology to execute recurring tasks or processes, replacing manual effort to cut costs and boost efficiency.
A hybrid sales model blends traditional and digital sales methods to engage customers across multiple channels and buying preferences.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is technology that controls access to copyrighted digital content, restricting its use, modification, and distribution.
CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software is a sales tool for creating accurate, configurable quotes for complex products and services.
A needs assessment is the process of identifying the gap between a company's current state and its desired future state.
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract defining the level of service between a provider and a client, including metrics and penalties.
A stakeholder is any individual, group, or party that has an interest in an organization and the outcomes of its actions.
The Challenger Sales Model is a sales approach where reps challenge a customer's thinking by teaching, tailoring, and taking control of the sale.
Data enrichment is the process of enhancing raw data by adding missing information from other sources, making it more complete and actionable.
Learn about business intelligence, including key components of business intelligence, the role of BI in decision making, business intelligence tools and techniques.
A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.
A data pipeline is a set of automated processes that move raw data from various sources to a destination for storage and analysis.
Digital advertising is the practice of delivering promotional content to users through various online and digital channels like social media or search engines.
Learn about ballpark, including estimating with ballpark figures, understanding ballpark estimates in sales, & ballpark estimates vs. precise quotes.
Renewal rate is the percentage of customers who renew their subscriptions or contracts at the end of their service period.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the predictable income a company expects to receive from its customers over a one-year period.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy that uses paid tactics to increase a website's visibility in search engine results.
Click-through rate (CTR) is a metric that measures the percentage of people who click on a specific link, ad, or call-to-action.
An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
On-Target Earnings (OTE) is a salesperson's total potential pay, combining base salary and commission for hitting their sales quota.
Sales team management is the process of leading, coaching, and motivating a sales team to achieve its sales goals and drive revenue growth.
Lead scraping is the process of automatically extracting contact information and other relevant data about potential customers from online sources.
Low-hanging fruit are the most obvious and easy-to-tackle tasks or goals that provide a quick, valuable return for minimal effort.
A value gap is the difference between the value a customer expects from a product and the actual value they receive, often leading to churn.
Employee advocacy is the promotion of an organization by its staff members, who share positive messages and content through their personal networks.
Learn about B2B contact base, including building an effective B2B contact base, & strategies for expanding your contact base.
An AI sales script generator is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to create personalized sales scripts for any outreach scenario.
Deal flow refers to the stream of business proposals and investment opportunities that a company or investor receives.
Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method where all expenses are re-evaluated and must be justified from scratch for each new budget period.
Learn about B2B, including what is it, its key elements, the benefits of B2B partnerships, the differences between B2B and B2C, and strategies for effective marketing.
Lead nurturing is the process of developing and reinforcing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) benchmarks are key metrics used to measure the performance and success of your targeted account strategies.
A sales lead is a potential customer—an individual or organization that has shown interest in your company's products or services.
A nurture campaign is a series of automated messages designed to build relationships with potential customers and guide them toward a purchase.
Unit economics are the direct revenues and costs of a business calculated on a per-unit basis, revealing its fundamental profitability.
“Always Be Closing” (ABC) is a sales mantra meaning every action a salesperson takes should be with the ultimate goal of closing the sale.
A commission is a service charge paid to an agent for a transaction. It's typically a percentage of the sale, rewarding performance directly.
A digital strategy outlines how your business will use online channels, data, and technology to achieve its goals and connect with customers.
Microservices is an architecture where apps are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other over APIs.
Stress testing is a type of software testing that determines a system's robustness by pushing it beyond its normal operational capacity.
Triggers are predefined conditions that, when met, automatically launch a workflow or action, ensuring timely and relevant outreach.
Learn about business development representative, including skills and qualifications for BDRs, & roles and responsibilities of a BDR.
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application that manages your entire hiring and recruitment process from a single dashboard.
The 80/20 rule, or Pareto Principle, posits that 80% of results come from just 20% of the effort. It's a key concept for prioritization.
Technographics is data that outlines a company’s technology stack, helping B2B teams identify prospects based on the software and hardware they use.
Regression analysis is a statistical method for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables.
A marketing automation platform is software that automates marketing actions. It helps manage tasks like email campaigns and lead nurturing.