AWS Direct Connect
AWS Direct Connect is a cloud service of Amazon Web Services that establishes a dedicated, private network connection from an on-premises network to one or more VPCs and other services in the same region. Set up through an internet service provider (ISP) or a colocation facility, it decreases network latency and congestion compared to a connection over the public internet and can accelerate migration from on-premises to the cloud, complementing Amazon VPC and AWS Transit Gateway.
Key points
- Uses industry-standard 802.1Q virtual LANs (VLANs) to partition the dedicated connection into multiple virtual interfaces.
- Virtual interfaces can be reconfigured at any time to meet changing needs.
- Private virtual interface — connects to an Amazon VPC using private IP addresses.
- Public virtual interface — connects to AWS services located in any AWS region, except China, from an on-premises data center using public IP addresses.
- Provides a constant, dedicated network connection rather than a shared one.
- Traffic stays on the dedicated connection and never touches the public internet, which decreases network latency and congestion and gives more consistent, predictable bandwidth than an internet-based connection.
- Can accelerate migration from on-premises environments to the cloud.
- Provisioning typically takes weeks and costs more than AWS Site-to-Site VPN, which can be set up in minutes; a Site-to-Site VPN connection is often used as a quick or backup connection while Direct Connect is being provisioned.
- Traffic is not encrypted by default; a Site-to-Site VPN connection can be layered over a Direct Connect public or private virtual interface for an encrypted dedicated link.
- Dedicated connections are offered at four port speeds over single-mode fiber: 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, 100 Gbps, and 400 Gbps.
- MACsec (MAC Security) provides Layer 2, point-to-point encryption between the customer’s router and the Direct Connect device at no additional charge. It is supported on 10 Gbps, 100 Gbps, and 400 Gbps dedicated connections at selected locations — not on 1 Gbps connections and not on hosted connections.
Pricing
- Port hours — charges determined by capacity and connection type.
- Outbound data transfer — a separate, second pricing dimension.