Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers several connectivity options to its users. One of these options is AWS Direct Connect, which allows you to create a dedicated private network connection between your on-premises data centers and AWS.
PermalinkOverview of AWS Direct Connect
AWS Direct Connect offers a dedicated network connection over a private line that bypasses the public internet. It provides a more reliable, secure, and deterministic network experience as compared to internet-based connections.
AWS Direct Connect offers two types of connections:
Dedicated Connections
Hosted Connections
Dedicated Connections provide a physical Ethernet cable that directly connects your infrastructure to AWS. It offers a dedicated and exclusive 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps connection that can be used by a single customer.
On the other hand, Hosted Connections are virtual private connections that utilize a third-party connection to AWS. It offers a shared connection that can be divided among multiple customers.
Both connection types can connect to any AWS service that is reachable over the internet, including EC2 instances, S3 buckets, RDS instances, and several other AWS services.
PermalinkHow to Use AWS Direct Connect
To establish an AWS Direct Connect network connection, you need to follow these three steps:
Choose a Direct Connect Partner: Before starting a Direct Connect, you need to choose an AWS Direct Connect Partner to establish a dedicated network connection. You can choose from several AWS Direct Connect Partners, including telecommunications providers, colocation providers, and other dedicated networks then set up a Cross Connect.
Establish the Connection: Once you have established the Direct Connect Partner, you can establish the network connection with AWS by creating a new port on the Partner's Physical Interface.
Configure a Virtual Interface: Configure the Virtual Interface for connecting your physical infrastructure to an AWS region of your choice.
PermalinkDirect Connect Gateway
If you want to connect multiple VPCs located in various AWS Regions, Direct Connect Gateway is a great solution. It allows you to create a Virtual Private Gateway that spans across multiple VPCs in different AWS Regions.
By following these steps, you can quickly scale your network connections without worrying about individual connections.
You can set up Direct Connect Gateway by following these simple steps:
Create a Virtual Private Gateway: Create a Virtual Private Gateway on the AWS account that is connected to AWS Direct Connect.
Create a Direct Connect Gateway: Create a Direct Connect Gateway on the AWS account connected to AWS Direct Connect, which represents your complete IP address space and enables you to reach multiple VPCs.
Attach Virtual Private Gateway: Attach the Virtual Private Gateway to the Direct Connect Gateway.
Attach VPCs: Attach the desired VPCs to the Direct Connect Gateway.
PermalinkUsing Direct Connect with VPN
Although AWS Direct Connect provides a stable and secure network, having a backup plan is always good. Therefore, it is essential to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection for redundancy and reliability.
By following these steps, you can create a backup VPN connection that can take over in the case of a Direct Connect failure.
You can use AWS Direct Connect with VPN by following these steps:
Create a Customer Gateway: Create a Customer Gateway on the AWS account that is connected to AWS Direct Connect.
Create a Virtual Private Gateway: Create a Virtual Private Gateway on the AWS account connected to AWS Direct Connect.
Create VPN Connection: Create a VPN connection on the Virtual Private Gateway and configure the required settings, including the pre-shared key, tunnel IP addresses, etc.
Update Route Table: Update the route table of your VPCs to point to the Virtual Private Gateway.
PermalinkConclusion
In this article, we discussed the overview of AWS Direct Connect, how to use it to establish private network connections between on-premises data centers and AWS, how to use Direct Connect Gateway to scale your connections, and how to use Direct Connect with VPN to get redundancy and reliability. AWS Direct Connect provides a reliable and secure way to connect your infrastructure with AWS, and by setting up Direct Connect Gateway and VPN connections, you can ensure redundancy and reliability.