1.7 Regions, availability zones and edge locations
You can choose where to put a workload and justify it on latency, law and cost.
Before:00. Groundwork — Linux, Networking & GitUnlocks:02. Compute09. Cost Engineering
The same thing, three names
One idea, sold under a different brand by each provider. Learn it once and you can read any job advertisement.
- On AWS
- Regions + Availability Zones + Local Zones
- On Azure
- Regions + Availability Zones + Region pairs
- On Google Cloud
- Regions + Zones
Where a workload runs is a real decision, and this topic gives it three axes: latency to your actual users, the law the data falls under, and price. Regions, availability zones and edge locations are the vocabulary; how independent zones really are is the fine print worth reading. For learners here the worked question is the Indian one — Mumbai or Hyderabad, and when data-localisation expectations force the choice. The common confusion is treating a region as a place with one machine; it is several isolated zones, and that is what multi-zone designs later rely on.
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Regions, availability zones and how independent they really are
A region is a geographic area, and the zones inside it are meant to fail independently while staying close enough for fast communication. How independent they actually are is the question this item exists to make you ask.
Data residency and Indian data-localisation expectations
Where data physically sits is a legal question as well as a technical one, and Indian rules on keeping certain data in the country are the case closest to home. Deciding this late is far more expensive than deciding it first.
Latency to your actual users; the Mumbai/Hyderabad choice
Latency is measured to your actual users, not to you, and for most of this audience that means weighing the Mumbai and Hyderabad options honestly. A region chosen for familiarity is a decision made by accident.
Edge and CDN locations vs full regions
Content delivery locations cache copies close to users but do not run your application; only a full region does both. Confusing the two leads to plans that cannot work.
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