VPN vs Direct Connect AWS — Which is Best For Your Needs
There has been a massive shift from traditional datacenters to a cloud computing environment. With a cloud computing environment comes simpler management, generally lower costs, and much more agility. However, if an organizations datacenter is located in the cloud, then connections to the cloud become critically important.
Connections to the Cloud
If an organization moves its computing environment to the cloud, then the connection to the cloud becomes critical. If the connection to the cloud fails, then the organization can no longer access cloud resources. The performance needs and an organization’s dependency on IT will determine the connection requirements to the cloud.
For most organizations, getting a “direct” connection to the cloud will be the preferred method. A direct connection is analogous to a private line in the networking world because it is effectively a wire that connects the organization to the cloud. This means guaranteed performance, bandwidth, and latency. As long as the connection is available, performance is excellent. This is unlike a VPN connection over the internet, where congestion anywhere on the internet can negatively affect performance.
Since network connections can fail, a direct connection is generally combined with a VPN backup over the internet. A VPN can send the data securely over the internet to AWS. A VPN provides data security via encryption and permits the transfer of routing information and the use of private address space. VPNs work by creating an IP security (IPsec) tunnel over the internet.
The diagram below shows an example of a direct connection to the AWS platform.
VPN Connection to AWS
The simplest and cheapest means to connect to AWS is a VPN. A VPN provides a means to “tunnel” traffic over the internet in a secure manner. Encryption is provided by IPsec, which provides a means to provide encryption (privacy), authentication (identifying of the user), data authenticity (meaning the data has not been changed), and non-repudiation (meaning, the user can’t say they didn’t send the message after the fact). However, the problem with VPN connections is that while the connection speed to the internet is guaranteed, there is no control of what happens on the internet. So, there can be substantial performance degradation based upon the availability, routing, and congestion on the internet. VPN-only connections are ideal for remote workers and small branches of a few workers, where if they lose connectivity, there will not be significant costs to the organization.
The diagram below shows an example of a VPN connecting to the AWS platform.
High-Availability Connections
Connecting to the cloud with high availability is essential when an organization depends upon technology.
The highest availability architectures will include at least two connections to the cloud. Ideally, each connection is with a separate service provider, a dedicated router, and each router connected to different power sources. This configuration provides redundancy to the network connection, power failures, and the routers connecting to the cloud. For organizations that need 99.999 percent availability, this type of configuration is essential. For even higher availability, there can be a VPN connection as a backup to the direct connection.
Now you know the how to use direct connections and VPN connections to AWS.
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