Reliable Hybrid Connectivity with AWS VPN
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
As we know VPN are now integral part of organization help in connecting two different networks in different locatioins. We use AWS VPN to establish secure connectivity between our on-prem infrastructure to AWS Network. It provides an encrypted connection that allows our internal application and server to seamlessly communicate with AWS resources without exposing them over the internet. In our environment we use VPN to securely access the Ec2 instances, databases and other private resources from the corporate network help us to seamlessly transfer data between on prem to AWS. AWS VPN mades it possible to bring hybrid connectivity between networks.
Pros
- AWS VPN allow us to securely access the AWS EC2 and other services from our corporate network enable the work flow to be hybrid between these networks.
- AWS VPN are easy to setup and configure any one can setup the VPN gateway by having little understanding to networking also it only creates the gateway the main connectionn is always established the corporate network (Customer Gateway) makes it build trust.
- The cost factor when compared to other site-to-site VPN is less and charge only for the engress traffic from AWS makes it best as from corporate we can keep sending files and data to AWS storage without any data transfer cost for ingress.
Cons
- Amazon VPN is already one of the best service of AWS as it has almost everything covered but one thing that can cause pain is troubleshoting the VPN issue as mentione the main connectivity is done by the costomer gateway finding any issue from the AWS end becomes difficult as there are not many options to check into.
- Although the performance is great but usally it has limit of 1.25Gbps it is already high speed but can sometimes feels slow when transfering something extremely large can actually bring down the entire connection.
Return on Investment
- The biggest positive in using the AWS VPN is the data charges as data coming inbound to AWS is always free and never changed the charges are only for egress data makes it one of the best in the field.
- Another thing is the IPSec encryption keeps are data encrypted while traveling over the internet makes our data safer
- The VPN connection are always established by the on-prem network and never from the AWS makes it more easier and for the organization that primarily works on on prem will have less dependency on AWS for such connectivity.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Azure VPN Gateway, OpenVPN Access Server and Fortinet FortiGate
Other Software Used
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Azure VPN Gateway, Fortinet FortiGate