You can measure latency with AWS Global Accelerator using several tools and methods, each suited for different aspects of performance measurement:
**1. AWS Global Accelerator Speed Comparison Tool
This browser-based tool allows you to compare the latency and download speeds of Global Accelerator versus the public internet from various AWS Regions. You select a file size, and the tool downloads it over HTTPS/TCP from Application Load Balancers in different Regions to your browser, showing you direct download speed comparisons. This helps gauge the latency improvements Global Accelerator provides over standard internet routes. However, results can vary due to external factors like last-mile network quality[2][3].
**2. iPerf3
iPerf3 is a widely used network testing tool that measures throughput and latency by sending TCP or UDP traffic between a client and server. For Global Accelerator, you run an iPerf3 server on an EC2 instance behind the accelerator endpoint and an iPerf3 client from your test location targeting the accelerator's IP. This setup allows you to actively measure network performance, including latency and bandwidth, over the Global Accelerator network. You can customize test duration, reporting intervals, and directionality of traffic. This method provides detailed, real-time latency and throughput data[1].
**3. Amazon CloudWatch Metrics and Alarms
Global Accelerator automatically sends metrics to CloudWatch, which you can use to monitor latency-related data in real time. You can create alarms to notify you when latency exceeds thresholds or when traffic patterns change unexpectedly. CloudWatch helps with ongoing latency monitoring and troubleshooting without additional setup[5][7][9].
**4. Global Accelerator Flow Logs
Flow logs provide detailed records of traffic flowing through your accelerator to endpoints. While primarily used for security and audit purposes, analyzing flow logs can also help identify latency and reachability issues by showing traffic patterns and delays[5][7][9].
**5. AWS CloudTrail Logs
CloudTrail logs API calls related to Global Accelerator, which is useful for auditing and troubleshooting configuration changes that might affect latency but does not directly measure latency itself[5][7][9].
**6. Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Load Testing Tools
For application-level latency insights, tools like JMeter, Gatling, Dynatrace, AppDynamics, or AWS X-Ray can be used alongside Global Accelerator. These tools provide end-to-end latency metrics from the client perspective, including the impact of Global Accelerator routing. They are especially useful for measuring real-user latency and tracing requests through distributed systems[8].
**Important Note:
Do not use EC2 instances as clients for latency tests because connections between EC2 instances use the AWS backbone by default, which does not reflect real-world client latency improvements from Global Accelerator[1].
In summary, to measure latency with Global Accelerator, you can use the AWS Global Accelerator Speed Comparison Tool for quick browser-based tests, iPerf3 for detailed network-level measurements, CloudWatch for ongoing monitoring, flow logs for traffic analysis, and APM or load testing tools for application-level latency insights. Combining these tools gives a comprehensive view of latency performance with Global Accelerator.
Citations:
[1] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/networking-and-content-delivery/measuring-aws-global-accelerator-performance-and-analyzing-results/
[2] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/introduction-speed-comparison-tool.html
[3] https://speedtest.globalaccelerator.aws
[4] https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/faqs/
[5] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/monitoring-global-accelerator.html
[6] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/introduction-how-it-works.html
[7] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/logging-and-monitoring.html
[8] https://repost.aws/questions/QUPp7ZNL-zTDOXVM3pE4Xixw/recommended-testing-tool-software-solution-for-application-s-latency
[9] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/en_us/global-accelerator/latest/dg/logging-and-monitoring.html