I am currently creating a basic app with React-Native (frontend) and Flask/MongoDB (backend). I am planning on using AWS S3 as cheap cloud storage for all the images and videos that are going to be uploaded and viewed. My current idea (and this could be totally off), is when a user uploads content, it will go through my Flask API and then to the S3 storage. When a user wants to view content, I am not sure what the plan of attack is here. Should I use my Flask API as a proxy, or is there a way to simply send a link to the content directly on S3 (which would avoid the extra traffic through my API)?

I am quite new to using AWS and if there is already a post discussing this topic, please let me know, and I'd be more than happy to take down this duplicate. I just can't seem to find anything.

CodePudding user response：

Should I use my Flask API as a proxy, or is there a way to simply send a link to the content directly on S3 (which would avoid the extra traffic through my API)?

If the content is public, you just provide an URL which points directly to the file on the S3 bucket.

If the content is private, you generate presigned url on your backend for the file for which you want to give access. This URL should be valid for a short amount of time (for example: 15/30 minutes). You can regenerate it, if it becomes unavailable.

Moreover, you can generate a presigned URL which can be used for uploads directly from the front-end to the S3 bucket. This might be an option if you don't want the upload traffic to go through the backend or you want faster uploads.