AWS Certified Solutions Architect – ProfessionalDesign Solutions for Organizational ComplexityMedium
A large pharmaceutical company operates a hybrid environment with critical on-premises applications that exchange sensitive research data with applications running in AWS. They are experiencing intermittent network latency and packet loss when transferring large datasets, impacting research timelines. The current connectivity uses a site-to-site VPN over the public internet. The company requires a dedicated, consistent, and secure network connection with predictable performance between their on-premises data centers and AWS, while also ensuring high availability. Which solution should an architect recommend?
- AIncrease the bandwidth of the existing Site-to-Site VPN connections and optimize VPN tunnel settings.
- BDeploy AWS Storage Gateway in File Gateway mode on-premises to synchronize data with Amazon S3.
- CUtilize Amazon CloudFront with custom origin for faster data transfer to AWS.
- DImplement AWS Direct Connect with multiple connections to different AWS Direct Connect locations and configure a Direct Connect Gateway.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Implement AWS Direct Connect with multiple connections to different AWS Direct Connect locations and configure a Direct Connect Gateway.
AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated private connection, offering consistent network performance and lower latency than VPN over the public internet. Using multiple connections to different Direct Connect locations and a Direct Connect Gateway ensures high availability and allows connectivity to multiple VPCs in different AWS Regions.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Increasing VPN bandwidth doesn't address the inherent unpredictability and potential for packet loss over the public internet, which is critical for sensitive research data.
- B. AWS Storage Gateway is for extending on-premises storage to AWS, not for providing a dedicated network connection for general application traffic and real-time data exchange.
- C. Amazon CloudFront is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) primarily for accelerating content delivery to end-users, not for accelerating data transfer from on-premises data centers to AWS applications with a dedicated link.
AWS Direct Connect with Direct Connect Gateway
A service providing a dedicated network connection from an on-premises network to AWS, combined with a gateway to connect to multiple VPCs across different AWS Regions.
- Offers consistent network performance and reduced latency.
- Provides a private, secure connection, bypassing the public internet.
- Direct Connect Gateway enables connectivity to VPCs in any AWS Region (except China) via a single connection.
Memory trick: Direct Connect is the dedicated highway for hybrid networks.