Category: Amazon VPC

We’ve added two new features to the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to make it more powerful and easier to use. Here’s the scoop:

• IP Address Control – You can now assign the IP address of your choice to each of the EC2 instances that you launch in your Virtual Private Cloud. The address must be within the range of addresses that you designated for the VPC, it must be available for use within the instance’s network subnet, and it must not conflict with any of the addresses that are reserved for internal use by AWS. You can specify the desired address as an optional parameter to the RunInstances function. This will allow you to have additional control of your network configuration, and has been eagerly anticipated by many of our customers. Two use cases that we’ve heard about already are running DNS servers and Active Directory Domain Controllers.
• Config File Generation – VPC can now generate configuration files (example at right) for several different types of devices including the Cisco ISR and a number of Juniper products including the J-Series Service Router, the SSG (Secure Services Gateway), and the ISG (Integrated Security Gateway). The files can be generated from the command line or from within ElasticFox. Generating the config files in this way lets you avoid common configuration issues and allows you to be up and running in minutes.

If you want to connect a Linux-based VPN gateway to your Virtual Private Cloud, take a look at Amazon VPC With Linux. This article will show you how to set up IPSec and BGP routing and includes detailed configuration information.

If you are running OpenSolaris, take a look at the OpenSolaris VPC Gateway Tool.

— Jeff;

I’m happy to announce that Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is now available in our EU (Ireland) region.

Customers with existing IT infrastructure in the EU can now deploy Amazon VPC in the same region in order to provide the best possible experience for their users. They can also deploy an Amazon VPC in the EU to ensure that their data remains in the EU.

A lot has happened in the VPC world since we first announced it last fall. Here’s a recap of the major developments:

1. We released the AWS SDK for .Net, with full support for the VPC APIs.
2. We opened up the VPC beta to all interested parties. At the same time we increased the maximum size of a VPC from a “/18” (16K IP addresses) to a “/16” 65K IP addresses).
3. We added support for launching from EBS-backed AMIs (enabling Windows 2008 and SQL Server 2008, larger root file systems, and faster boot times).
4. We enabled the use of the EC2 High Memory instance types (17.1, 34.2, or 68.4 GB of RAM) within a VPC.

I’ve focused on VPC in a number of my more recent presentations and the reception is always great. The audiences grasp the concept and the power immediately, and many of them want to create a VPC right away. In fact, after one of the talks on my recent east coast tour, an audience member came up to the podium so that we could speak in private. After hearing about the VPC he had sketched out a diagram of his existing network and his plans to use the VPC to extend it, complete with IP addresses. He asked me how he would go about getting it set up, and wondered if it would be difficult to do. I happened to have a printed copy of the VPC Getting Started Guide in my messenger bag and was happy to give it to him!

— Jeff;