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Guidance for Using a Satellite Infrastructure for Resilient AWS Direct Connect Networking

Overview

This Guidance shows how you can use a satellite infrastructure for critical and noncritical workloads with multiple resiliency types, such as development and test resiliency, high resiliency, or maximum resiliency. By using AWS Direct Connect in conjunction with a satellite infrastructure and the best practices outlined here, you can establish resilient network connections between your AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and your on-premises infrastructure. This Guidance helps you extend your access to AWS resources in a reliable, scalable, and cost-effective way.

How it works

Development and Test Resiliency

This architecture diagram shows how to achieve development and test resiliency for noncritical workloads by using separate connections that terminate on separate devices in one location.

Download the architecture diagram
Architecture diagram illustrating a resilient AWS satellite infrastructure using Direct Connect. The image shows connections between customer on-premises teleport, partner teleport, AWS Direct Connect locations, and the AWS Cloud, including VPCs, VPN gateway, Transit Gateway, and AWS services such as Amazon S3 and API Gateway. Interfaces include private, public, and transit virtual interfaces for high availability and redundancy.

High Resiliency

This architecture diagram shows how to achieve high resiliency by having one connection terminating at multiple locations.

Download the architecture diagram
Architecture diagram showing a resilient AWS satellite infrastructure using Direct Connect for high resiliency. The diagram includes customer on-premises teleports, partner on-premises teleports, RF transmit/receive equipment, partner routers, AWS Direct Connect locations, cross-connects, AWS routers, Direct Connect gateways, and integration with AWS Cloud services such as Amazon S3 and Amazon API Gateway. It illustrates redundant connectivity paths to ensure high availability and reliability.

Maximum Resiliency

This architecture diagram shows how to achieve maximum resiliency by separating connections terminating on separate devices in more than one location.

Download the architecture diagram
Architecture diagram illustrating a resilient AWS Direct Connect infrastructure for satellite communications, showing customer on-premises teleports, partner teleports, AWS Direct Connect locations, VPN and transit gateways, and integration with AWS Cloud services like Amazon S3 and API Gateway.

Well-Architected Pillars

The architecture diagram above is an example of a Solution created with Well-Architected best practices in mind. To be fully Well-Architected, you should follow as many Well-Architected best practices as possible.

Direct Connect allows you to maintain a consistent throughput into your AWS environment. And, various automated monitoring tools let you more easily debug a multipoint failure if one occurs. For example, Amazon CloudWatch alarms notify you if a metric stays beyond a specified threshold for a specified number of periods, and AWS CloudTrail lets you share and monitor log files. Additionally, Direct Connect and CloudWatch provide console dashboards that offer a simple view of the state of your AWS environment, so that you can also manually monitor your solution.

Read the Operational Excellence whitepaper

Direct Connect helps you securely set up a private, dedicated throughput into AWS. You can also optionally activate MAC Security. Additionally, Amazon VPC lets you configure a logically isolated virtual network to host your AWS resources.

Read the Security whitepaper

Direct Connect lets you plan for reliability and resiliency by architecting one or multiple connections into your AWS environment, based on your workload resiliency requirements. This helps you achieve fault-tolerant and highly available connections. Additionally, Transit Gateway lets you connect multiple VPCs to Direct Connect with a single interface, simplifying network monitoring and maintenance and removing complex peering relationships.

Read the Reliability whitepaper

Direct Connect helps you achieve the network throughput and bandwidth required for your applications while also providing configurability in the types of connections you can use (for example, private or public VIFs) depending on the service you’re communicating with.

Read the Performance Efficiency whitepaper

You can use a pay-as-you-go pricing model for Direct Connect, allowing you to achieve cost savings by only paying for the network bandwidth you need. Additionally, you can save on infrastructure costs because you don’t need to manually provision ground segments or satellite constellations.

Read the Cost Optimization whitepaper

Direct Connect and Transit Gateway let you specify the exact number of resources needed to maintain optimal network connectivity, helping you to avoid overprovisioning, resulting in efficient and sustainable operations.

Read the Sustainability whitepaper

Disclaimer

The sample code; software libraries; command line tools; proofs of concept; templates; or other related technology (including any of the foregoing that are provided by our personnel) is provided to you as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement, or the relevant written agreement between you and AWS (whichever applies). You should not use this AWS Content in your production accounts, or on production or other critical data. You are responsible for testing, securing, and optimizing the AWS Content, such as sample code, as appropriate for production grade use based on your specific quality control practices and standards. Deploying AWS Content may incur AWS charges for creating or using AWS chargeable resources, such as running Amazon EC2 instances or using Amazon S3 storage.

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