-: Connectivity options. 2 2
In this lesson, 3 3
we're going to talk about the different connectivity options 4 4
that are available when connecting to cloud-based solutions, 5 5
including virtual private networks or VPNs, 6 6
and a private-direct connection to your cloud provider. 7 7
Now, as we go through these options, 8 8
I want to point out that we're not talking about your ability 9 9
to use software as a service, 10 10
as part of a cloud technology in this lesson, necessarily. 11 11
Instead, we're more focused 12 12
on connecting our enterprise networks 13 13
to our public cloud service providers known as CSPs. 14 14
Now, for example, 15 15
let's pretend your organization decided to offload 16 16
all of its on-premise servers over to the cloud, 17 17
including your internet servers, like your file servers, 18 18
your proxy servers, your mail servers, and others. 19 19
Well, how are your network clients 20 20
going to access those resources? 21 21
We need to ensure that when Susan in accounting 22 22
or Bob in human resources logs under the network, 23 23
they can actually reach that domain controller 24 24
and be authenticated and then access the ShareDrive 25 25
just like they could when the server was down the hall 26 26
in our data center, 27 27
even though the server may now be across the country, 28 28
sitting in one of Amazon's or Microsoft's data centers. 29 29
So we need to talk about connectivity options. 30 30
The first type of connectivity we need to cover 31 31
is known as a virtual private network or VPN. 32 32
By using a virtual private network solution, 33 33
you can establish a secure connection 34 34
between your on-premise network, your remote offices, 35 35
your client devices, 36 36
and the cloud provider's global network. 37 37
This type of connection will usually be created 38 38
as a site-to-site VPN between your EdgeRouter 39 39
and the cloud service providers network. 40 40
When using a VPN solution like this, 41 41
usually you're going to rely on a traditional IPsec VPN 42 42
to create an encrypted connection 43 43
between your cloud providers network 44 44
and your own enterprise network, 45 45
all over the public internet, 46 46
using this encrypted VPN tunnel. 47 47
This allows you to extend your network 48 48
using a highly available, managed 49 49
and Elastic Cloud VPN solution 50 50
to protect your network traffic 51 51
instead of letting it traverse the internet directly. 52 52
Well, the VPN works well in most cases. 53 53
If you're running a large enterprise networking, 54 54
you need higher speeds and redundancy, 55 55
you may instead choose to use a private-direct connection 56 56
to your cloud provider. 57 57
These are sold under different names, 58 58
depending on the cloud provider you're using. 59 59
If you're with Amazon Web Services or AWS, 60 60
they call this a Direct Connect Gateway. 61 61
If you're with Microsoft Azure, 62 62
they call this an Azure Private Link. 63 63
So what is a private-direct connection? 64 64
Well, it's going to allow you to extend your preexisting, 65 65
on-premise data center or office network 66 66
into the cloud provider's network 67 67
so that you can directly connect 68 68
to your virtual private cloud 69 69
inside that cloud provider's network. 70 70
Now, by using a private-direct connection, 71 71
you can bypass the internet directly 72 72
and instead establish a secure and dedicated connection 73 73
from your infrastructure 74 74
to the cloud provider's infrastructure 75 75
using a dedicated leased line 76 76
or a similar type of WAN connection. 77 77
So what's the difference between using a VPN 78 78
and a private-direct connection? 79 79
Well, in general, a private-direct connection 80 80
will support faster speeds and better performance. 81 81
For example, if using an AWS-managed VPN service, 82 82
you can only achieve a maximum speed 83 83
of four gigabytes per second 84 84
when you're connecting your enterprise network 85 85
to your virtual private cloud that's hosted by Amazon. 86 86
Now on the other hand, 87 87
if you have a private-direct connection, 88 88
which they call AWS Direct Connect, 89 89
you can get speeds up to 40 gigabytes per second. 90 90
Additionally, private-direct connections can support 91 91
multiple connections into multiple VPCs 92 92
that are hosted in the cloud. 93 93
And this provides us with redundancy. 94 94
Whereas with a VPN solution, 95 95
we can only support one VPN connection to one VPC at a time. 96 96
But with everything in the cloud, 97 97
there's always going to be trade-offs. 98 98
Yes, a private-direct connection has better performance 99 99
and better redundancy, 100 100
but it's also a more expensive connection 101 101
than a VPN connection. 102 102
So with AWS, for example, if you're using a VPN solution, 103 103
this costs you about 9 cents per gigabyte 104 104
of data transferred. 105 105
But if you're using a private-direct solution, 106 106
this costs between 20 and 30 cents per gigabyte 107 107
of data transferred, 108 108
making it two to three times more expensive. 109 109
So when it comes to connecting your enterprise networks 110 110
to your virtual private clouds, 111 111
that are hosted by Amazon or your Azure Virtual Networks, 112 112
remember, you can either use a VPN 113 113
or a private-direct connection. 114 114
It just depends on the level of performance you need 115 115
and the amount of costs that you're willing to accept.