Amazon CloudFront now supports gRPC delivery

Amazon CloudFront now supports delivery for gRPC applications. gRPC is a modern, open-source remote procedure call (RPC) framework that allows bidirectional communication between a client and a server over HTTP/2 connections. Applications built with gRPC benefit from improved latency using efficient bidirectional streaming and a binary message format, called Protocol Buffers, which are smaller than traditional payloads, like JSON used with RESTful APIs

gRPC reduces communication latency for applications which require continuous client-server interactions for a responsive user experience. For example, a ride-sharing application can use gRPC service to automatically update the location of the requested vehicles on the user's device without the user having to request updates each time. gRPC addresses some of the latency challenges associated with using REST APIs for bidirectional communication. With REST APIs, clients establish a connection to the server, make a request, receive a response, and then terminate the connection, which introduces extra latency on each request. With gRPC, the client and server can send multiple messages independently and concurrently using a single connection. Using CloudFront to deliver gRPC applications, customers receive the full advantages of gRPC, plus CloudFront's worldwide reach, speed, and security.

CloudFront supports gRPC from all edge locations. This excludes Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) region, operated by Sinnet, and the Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) region, operated by NWCD. Requests and data transfer fees apply to this feature. For further details, visit the CloudFront pricing page and the Developer Guide.