Amazon CloudFront vs BIG-IP

Likelihood to Recommend

Amazon CloudFront is best suited when there is a need of speed in serving static and dynanic web contents of a web application. If the content is already in that edge location, CloudFront delivers it immediately. If the content is not currently in that edge location, CloudFront retrieves it from an Amazon S3 bucket or an HTTP server. Amazon CloudFront is not appropriate in case users can tolerate some delays or servers are present near to the location of user. It also Integrates through the W3 Total Cache plugin. Amazon CloudFront Pricing based on bandwidth usage that's the best part of it.

Read full review

Ashish Agarwal

Software Engineer

GenpactInformation Technology and Services, 1001-5000 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

The product provides a very successful solution for both VPN and Load Balancing, especially for medium and large-sized companies. It can be preferred in small-sized companies, but due to the price and licensing model, I think this would be an unnecessary expense. This product is very successful especially if you have more than 2 servers on the Internet, DMZ side and you are going to balance the load between them. On the local side, if you are managing a large database, this solution of F5 is truly unrivaled.

Read full review

Evren BOZTEPE

Network & Security Technical Architect

Vakıf KatılımFinancial Services, 1001-5000 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Pros

CloudFront, like other CDNs, is a very reliable content delivery network for delivering content like images, videos, HTML, and javascripts that are run on browsers across the world.
It provides secure hosting of content at no extra cost. AWS Certification Manager also provides the ability to create and manage custom SSL certificates at no extra cost for our websites.
It is secure, which means that it uses AWS Shield for Layer 3/4 DDoS mitigation and AWS WAF for Layer 7 protection. Hence seamlessly integrating with other AWS services. So you do not have to shop outside of AWS ecosystem

Read full review

Verified User

Team Lead in Engineering

Financial Services Company, 10,001+ employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Easy connection: you can connect to your corporate network with two clicks.
IP restriction: F5 has a list of possible insecure IP numbers, if someone tries to connect using one of these numbers, F5 BIG-IP won't connect.
Always on feature: Very handy feature, if you install always on, you won't need to click connect.

Read full review

Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Information Technology and Services Company, 501-1000 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Cons

If price is the main concern, CloudFront is not the cheapest-in-class by a wide margin
Some of the settings are not obvious to new users, and the management dashboards could use work
Lacks fine-grained access controls and statistical reports for usage

Read full review

Joshua Dickson

Director of Engineering

NorthOutComputer Software, 51-200 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

The appliance had power supply problems, replaced 2 over the 5 years, $3000 each
The appliance as a hardware device had no support 2 years after we bought them, moved to virtual
Requires F5 knowledge, their terminology and way of doing things needs training

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Hospital & Health Care Company, 51-200 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

$0.02

Amazon CloudFront Editions & Modules

Edition

First 10TB	$0.09
Next 40TB	$0.08
Next 100TB	$0.06
Next 350TB	$0.04
Next 524TB	$0.03
Next 4PB	$0.03
Over 5PB	$0.02

none

Additional Pricing Details

—

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

—

BIG-IP Editions & Modules

—

Additional Pricing Details

—

Usability

Amazon CloudFront 9.0

Based on 1 answer

Easy way to integrate a CDN within the AWS infrastructure. It allows further customization based on company needs.

Read full review

Carlos Becerra

Senior Software Engineer & Project Manager

WiFiesta IncInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

BIG-IP 9.0

Based on 1 answer

Great customization and easy to use help reference menus

Read full review

Alan Matson, CCNA:S, MCP

Senior Network Security Engineer

InsightInformation Technology and Services, 5001-10,000 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Support Rating

Amazon CloudFront 7.1

Based on 7 answers

CloudFront is a good CDN solution. It can be a bit complicated to implement depending on your needs, but AWS tech support is great. You get to avoid a ton of upfront costs by going with CloudFront. It works best in conjunction with other AWS services in your infrastructure. Once you set it up, you won't need to do much to maintain it. It just works.

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

E-Learning Company, 51-200 employees

View all 7 answers on this topic

BIG-IP 7.7

Based on 7 answers

On the occasions when we've had to engage f5 support, they have been great. They have always resolved our issues quickly and been easy to work with and professional. The reason I give them a 10 out of 10, however, is because when we've had issues that have crossed over between the f5 BIG-IP, our Cisco switches, and our Microsoft IIS server the f5 support representatives have been extremely knowledgeable about every product and device involved and have been able to troubleshoot end-to-end without having to engage other vendors.

Read full review

Paul Luchini

Network Engineer

Kentucky Administrative Office of the CourtsGovernment Administration, 1001-5000 employees

View all 7 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

Amazon has always been creative and leading, and I have been using its services for years. They are very reassuring and have fast and responsive support--you can call them from any time zone to respond quickly. High security on servers, open hands on changes, and increasing and decreasing server resources and features.

Read full review

Ali Kazempour

Information Technology Manager

AzerexInformation Technology & Services, 1-10 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

I can't recall the name of the previous software we used for remote intranet access, but it was much less reliable. F5 BIG-IP is consistent and easy to use--the authentication process happens quickly and reliably via my cell phone's facial recognition feature which is convenient and secure. No need to carry a key fob or enter a verification code. The previous software required email codes be sent and entered to verify access.

Read full review

Verified User

Professional in Human Resources

Internet Company, 10,001+ employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Our website loads much more quickly in other countries as a result of CloudFront. For example: loading cached assets from CloudFront in Australia is 4x as fast as it would be to load the same assets without CloudFront.
Very inexpensive service considering the value it brings.

Read full review

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Entertainment Company, 1-10 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Load balancing is a requirement in most serious web environments, and this allows us to keep sites up and running in the event of partial server outages.
Keeping sites extra secured with the advanced security and routing features is a plus.

Read full review

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Entertainment Company, 51-200 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Amazon CloudFront vs BIG-IP