An organization uses AWS Direct Connect to establish a private connection between their on-premises data center and their AWS VPC. They need to ensure that the maximum possible network throughput is achieved over this connection for large data transfers, and they are currently using a single 1 Gbps Direct Connect connection. The application is highly sensitive to latency and packet loss. Which configuration modification would best optimize the Direct Connect connection for higher throughput and resilience?
- AImplement ECMP (Equal-Cost Multi-Path) routing over multiple Direct Connect connections.
- BProvision a dedicated 10 Gbps Direct Connect connection and remove the existing 1 Gbps connection.
- CConfigure a VPN over the existing Direct Connect connection for increased security and performance.
- DIncrease the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) to 9001 bytes on the Direct Connect virtual interface.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Implement ECMP (Equal-Cost Multi-Path) routing over multiple Direct Connect connections.
ECMP routing over multiple Direct Connect connections allows traffic to be distributed across all available paths, effectively increasing the aggregate throughput beyond a single connection's limit and providing redundancy. While increasing MTU (B) can reduce overhead, it doesn't increase raw bandwidth as significantly as ECMP. A VPN over Direct Connect (C) adds encryption overhead and decreases performance. Provisioning a single 10 Gbps connection (D) increases bandwidth but lacks the resilience of multiple connections with ECMP.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. While a 10 Gbps connection offers higher bandwidth, using multiple connections with ECMP offers both increased aggregate throughput and resilience against a single link failure.
- C. A VPN over Direct Connect adds encryption and decryption overhead, which typically *decreases* throughput and increases latency, contrary to the requirement.
- D. Increasing MTU (Jumbo Frames) can improve efficiency for large packets but doesn't multiply bandwidth like ECMP over multiple links.
Direct Connect ECMP
ECMP (Equal-Cost Multi-Path) routing with AWS Direct Connect allows you to use multiple virtual interfaces or connections to an AWS Direct Connect gateway, distributing traffic across them to increase aggregate bandwidth and provide redundancy.
- Requires multiple Direct Connect connections or VIFs to the same Direct Connect Gateway.
- BGP advertises identical prefixes over multiple paths.
- Increases throughput and improves fault tolerance.
Memory trick: Direct Connect: More paths, more speed, more resilience, just like a multi-lane highway.