Skip to content

Directconnect

Basics

  • A physical connection in one of the AWS regions
  • The connection can have speeds of 1G, 10G or 100Gbps
  • The connection is between Business Premises --> DX Connect Location --> AWS Region
  • A DX connection is allocation of a network port at a DX location
  • The cost consists of an hourly charge & an outbound data transfer fees. Inbound data transfer is free
  • Provisioning time can be high, as physical connection needs to be established between business premises and DX location
  • There is no resilience as damage to physical connectivity will cause disruption
  • DX provides low and consistent latency
  • DX can be used to access VPC or AWS Public services. Public internet can not be accessed directly without adding a Gateway
  • DX locations are not AWS owned. These are large data centers often owned by 3rd party
  • AWS rents space & provides equipment. This is called as AWS DX cage that contains AWS DX router & DX Endpoints
  • The customer can put its own routers and equipment in a Customer Cag at same location
  • Cross connect is the physical connection between DX Port and Customer Port on customer router
  • Virtual Interfaces (VIFs) are configured over the single physical connection. Three types of VIFs are
  • Transit VIF
  • Public VIF - Access public services
  • Private VIF - Access VPC based services