AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty (ANS-C01)Network ImplementationMedium

A company is migrating its on-premises data center to AWS. They need to establish a secure and private connection between their on-premises network and their AWS VPC. The connection must support multiple VLANs and have a dedicated bandwidth of 10 Gbps. Additionally, they require a backup connection that can also support high bandwidth. Which networking solution should they implement?

  1. AAWS Site-to-Site VPN with two tunnels
  2. BAWS Direct Connect with two 10 Gbps dedicated connections and a failover Site-to-Site VPN
  3. CAWS Direct Connect with a single 10 Gbps connection
  4. DAWS Direct Connect with two 10 Gbps dedicated connections and a Direct Connect Gateway
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D. AWS Direct Connect with two 10 Gbps dedicated connections and a Direct Connect Gateway

Two 10 Gbps Direct Connect connections provide the required dedicated bandwidth and high availability. Using a Direct Connect Gateway allows these connections to access multiple VPCs in different regions, and supports multiple VLANs (Private VIFs) over the same connection. A failover Site-to-Site VPN is an option for resilience, but the question implies high bandwidth backup, which DX can provide.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Site-to-Site VPN is limited in bandwidth (typically 1.25 Gbps per tunnel) and does not support dedicated 10 Gbps.
  • B. While two DX connections provide high availability, the use of a Direct Connect Gateway is crucial for supporting multiple VLANs (Private VIFs) and connecting efficiently to multiple VPCs, which is a common requirement for enterprise migrations. The question asks for a 'networking solution' that encompasses these capabilities.
  • C. A single DX connection is not highly available and does not meet the backup requirement.

Direct Connect Gateway

A globally available resource that allows you to connect your AWS Direct Connect connection to one or more VPCs in any AWS Region (except China) using private virtual interfaces.

  • Connects DX to multiple VPCs across regions
  • Supports private virtual interfaces (VIFs)
  • Enables cross-account connectivity
  • Enhances network architecture flexibility

Memory trick: DX for speed, Gateway for spread, VPN for backup.

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