ACG LINK

AWS Site-to-Site VPN: Overview and Configuration Example

AWS Site-to-Site VPN allows you to establish secure and scalable connections between your on-premises network and your Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC). This enables you to extend your on-premises data center into the AWS Cloud, providing secure and reliable connectivity. Here's a detailed overview of AWS Site-to-Site VPN along with a configuration example:

Features of AWS Site-to-Site VPN:

1. Secure Connectivity:

   • Establishes encrypted IPsec VPN connections between your on-premises network and AWS VPC.
2. Redundancy and High Availability:
   • Supports the creation of redundant VPN connections for increased availability.
3. Scalability:
   • Easily scales to support a large number of on-premises networks and VPCs.
4. Dynamic Routing:
   • Supports dynamic routing protocols (BGP - Border Gateway Protocol) for automatic route propagation.
5. IP Address Prefixes:
   • Allows the definition of IP address prefixes for your on-premises network and the VPC.
6. Customer Gateway:
   • Represents the physical device or software application on the customer side of the VPN connection.
7. Virtual Private Gateway (VGW):
   • Represents the VPN endpoint on the AWS side of the VPN connection.
8. CloudWatch Monitoring:
   • Monitors VPN connections using AWS CloudWatch, providing visibility into connection health and performance.

Configuration Example:

Let's create a simple AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection between an on-premises network and an Amazon VPC using the AWS Management Console:

1. Login to AWS Console:

   • Navigate to the AWS Management Console.
2. Create a Customer Gateway:
   • In the "VPC Dashboard," click "Customer Gateways" in the left navigation pane.
   • Click "Create Customer Gateway" and provide the necessary details, including the public IP address of your on-premises VPN device.
3. Create a Virtual Private Gateway (VGW):
   • In the "VPC Dashboard," click "Virtual Private Gateways."
   • Click "Create Virtual Private Gateway" and attach it to your VPC.
4. Create a VPN Connection:
   • In the "VPC Dashboard," click "Site-to-Site VPN Connections."
   • Click "Create VPN Connection" and provide the necessary details, including the customer gateway and virtual private gateway.
5. Configure VPN Connection Options:
   • Specify the IKE (Internet Key Exchange) and IPsec configuration options.
   • Define the tunnel options, such as pre-shared keys and BGP settings.
6. Download VPN Configuration:
   • After creating the VPN connection, download the VPN configuration file, which includes information needed for on-premises VPN device configuration.
7. Configure On-Premises VPN Device:
   • Using the downloaded configuration file, configure your on-premises VPN device with the necessary settings.
8. Verify VPN Connection:
   • In the AWS Management Console, monitor the status of the VPN connection in the "Site-to-Site VPN Connections" section.
   • Verify the BGP status and check for any connectivity issues.
9. Test Connectivity:
   • Test connectivity between resources in your on-premises network and your Amazon VPC.
10. CloudWatch Monitoring (Optional):
    • Explore CloudWatch metrics to monitor VPN connection performance.
11. Terminate VPN Connection (Optional):
    • Optionally, you can delete the VPN connection through the console if it's no longer needed.