Service Highlights

Reduces Your Bandwidth Costs – If you have bandwidth-heavy workloads that you wish to run in AWS, AWS Direct Connect reduces your network costs into and out of AWS in two ways. First, by transferring data to and from AWS directly, you can reduce your bandwidth commitment to your Internet service provider. Second, all data transferred over your dedicated connection is charged at the reduced AWS Direct Connect data transfer rate rather than Internet data transfer rates.

Consistent Network Performance – Network latency over the Internet can vary given that the Internet is constantly changing how data gets from point A to B. With AWS Direct Connect, you choose the data that utilizes the dedicated connection and how that data is routed which can provide a more consistent network experience over Internet-based connections.

Compatible with all AWS Services – AWS Direct Connect is a network service, and works with all AWS services that are accessible over the Internet, such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), and Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC).

Private Connectivity to your Amazon VPC – You can use AWS Direct Connect to establish a private virtual interface from your on-premise network directly to your Amazon VPC, providing you with a private, high bandwidth network connection between your network and your VPC. With multiple virtual interfaces, you can even establish private connectivity to multiple VPCs while maintaining network isolation.

Elastic – AWS Direct Connect makes it easy to scale your connection to meet your needs. AWS Direct Connect provides 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps connections, and you can easily provision multiple connections if you need more capacity. You can also use AWS Direct Connect instead of establishing a VPN connection over the Internet to your Amazon VPC, avoiding the need to utilize VPN hardware that frequently can’t support data transfer rates above 4 Gbps.

Simple – You can sign up for AWS Direct Connect service quickly and easily using the AWS Management Console. The console provides a single view to efficiently manage all your connections and virtual interfaces. You can also download customized router templates for your networking equipment after configuring one or more virtual interfaces.

Pricing

Pay only for what you use. There is no minimum fee.

AWS Direct Connect Ports

Pricing is per port-hour. Read more about billable port-hours.

Data Transfer*

* Data Transfer over AWS Direct Connect will be billed in the same month in which the usage occurred. Standard Internet Data Transfer usage incurred by using other AWS services will be charged the following month. For example, if you transfer 500 GB over AWS Direct Connect and 1500 GB over the Internet in June, you will be charged for 500 GB of Data Transfer at AWS Direct Connect rates on your June billing statement and 1500 GB of Data Transfer at Standard Internet Data Transfer rates on your July billing statement.

Resources

Detailed Description

When to use AWS Direct Connect

There are several use cases for which AWS Direct Connect is desirable, including:

Working with Large Data Sets: Transferring large data sets over the Internet can be time consuming and expensive. If you are like most businesses, you have procured just enough bandwidth to meet your web and email needs, and share that Internet connection across the entire enterprise. When you use the cloud, you can find that transferring large data sets can be slow because your business critical network traffic is contending for bandwidth with your other Internet usage. To decrease the amount of time required to transfer your data, you could increase the bandwidth to your Internet service provider, which frequently requires a costly contract renewal and a minimum commitment. With AWS Direct Connect, you can transfer your business critical data directly from your datacenter, office, or colocation environment into and from AWS bypassing your Internet service provider and removing network congestion. Further, AWS Direct Connect’s simple pay as-you-go pricing, and no minimum commitment means you pay only for the network ports you use and the data you transfer over the connection, which can greatly reduce your networking costs.

Real-time Data Feeds: Applications that use real-time data feeds can also benefit from using AWS Direct Connect. For example, applications such as voice and video perform best when network latency remains constant. Network latency over the Internet can vary given that the Internet is constantly changing how data gets from point A to B. With AWS Direct Connect, you control how your data is routed, which can provide a more consistent network experience over Internet-based connections.

Hybrid Environments: AWS Direct Connect can help you build hybrid environments that satisfy regulatory requirements requiring the use of private connectivity. Hybrid environments allow you to combine the elasticity and economic benefits of AWS with the ability to utilize other infrastructure that you already own.

AWS Direct Connect Locations

AWS Direct Connect is available at eight locations around the world. The table below shows connectivity options to different AWS Regions.

APN Partners* supporting AWS Direct Connect

If you don’t have preexisting infrastructure at one of our AWS Direct Connect locations, don’t worry. AWS has a growing list of APN Technology and Consulting Partners (formerly called AWS Direct Connect Solution Providers) who can assist you in using the AWS Direct Connect service. These APN Partners can help you establish network circuits between an AWS Direct Connect location and your datacenter, office, or colocation environment, or assist you in constructing a hybrid environment.

Getting Started

To use AWS Direct Connect, you simply:

• Decide on an AWS Direct Connect location, how many connections you would like to use, and the port size. Multiple ports can be used simultaneously for increased bandwidth or redundancy.
• Use the AWS Management Console to create your connection request(s).
• If you are connecting from a remote location, you can ask to be contacted by an AWS representative.
• Once your request is confirmed, you will receive an email which contains a Letter of Authorization – Connecting Facility Assignment (LOA-CFA).
• Provide the LOA-CFA to an APN Partner or your service provider who will establish the connection on your behalf.
• Once the connection is up, use the AWS Management Console to configure one or more virtual interfaces to establish network connectivity.

Additional Resources

If you would like to discuss your specific application or requirements with an Amazon Web Services sales representative, please contact us.

Intended Usage and Restrictions

Your use of this service is subject to the Amazon Web Services Customer Agreement.