What is a virtual private cloud in AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) dominates the cloud computing industry with over 200 services, including AI and SaaS. In fact, according to Statista, AWS accounted for 32% of cloud spending in Q3 2022, surpassing the combined spending on Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and other providers.

A virtual private cloud (VPC) is one of AWS‘ most popular solutions. It offers a secure private virtual cloud that you can customize to meet your specific virtualization needs. This allows you to have complete control over your virtual networking environment.

Let’s dive deeper into AWS VPC, including its definition, components, features, benefits, and use cases.

What is a virtual private cloud?

A virtual private cloud refers to a private cloud computing environment within a public cloud. It provides exclusive cloud infrastructure for your business, eliminating the need to share resources with others. This arrangement enhances data transfer security and gives you full control over your infrastructure.

When you choose a virtual private cloud vendor like AWS, they handle all the necessary infrastructure for your private cloud. This means you don’t have to purchase equipment, install software, or hire additional team members. The vendor takes care of these responsibilities for you.

AWS VPC allows you to store data, launch applications, and manage workloads within an isolated virtualized environment. It’s like having your very own private section in the AWS Cloud that is completely separate from other virtual clouds.

AWS VPC components

AWS VPC is made up of several essential components:

Subnetworks

Subnetworks, also known as subnets, are the individual IP addresses that comprise a virtual private cloud. AWS VPC offers both public subnets, which allow resources to access the internet, and private subnets, which do not require internet access.

Network access control lists

Network access control lists (Network ACLs) enhance the security of public and private subnets within AWS VPC. They contain rules that regulate inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet level. While AWS VPC has a default network NACL, you can also create a custom one and assign it to a subnet.

Security groups

Security groups further bolster the security of subnets in AWS VPC. They control the flow of traffic to and from various resources. For example, you can have a security group specifically for an AWS EC2 instance to manage its traffic.

Internet gateways

An internet gateway allows resources in your virtual private cloud that have public IP addresses to access internet services. These gateways are redundant, horizontally scalable, and highly available.

Virtual private gateways

AWS defines a private gateway as “the VPN endpoint on the Amazon side of your Site-to-Site VPN connection that can be attached to a single VPC.” It facilitates the termination of a VPN connection from your on-premises environment.

Route tables

Route tables contain rules, known as “routes,” that dictate the flow of network traffic between gateways and subnets.

In addition to the above components, AWS VPC also includes peering connections, NAT gateways, egress-only internet gateways, and VPC endpoints. AWS provides comprehensive documentation on all these components to help you set up and maintain your AWS VPC environment.

Features of AWS VPC

AWS VPC offers a range of features to optimize your network connectivity and IP address management:

Network connectivity options

AWS VPC provides various options for connecting your environment to remote networks. For instance, you can integrate your internal networks into the AWS Cloud. Connectivity options include AWS Site-to-Site VPN, AWS Transit Gateway + AWS Site-to-Site VPN, AWS Direct Connect + AWS Transit Gateway, and AWS Transit Gateway + SD-WAN solutions.

Customize IP address ranges

You can specify the IP address ranges to assign private IPs to resources within AWS VPC. This allows you to easily identify devices within a subnet.

Network segmentation

AWS supports network segmentation, which involves dividing your network into isolated segments. You can create multiple segments within your network and allocate a dedicated routing domain to each segment.

Elastic IP addresses

Elastic IP addresses in AWS VPC help mitigate the impact of software failures or instance issues by automatically remapping the address to another instance within your account.

VPC peering

VPC peering connections establish network connections between two virtual private clouds, enabling routing through private IPs as if they were in the same network. You can create peering connections between your own virtual private clouds or with private clouds belonging to other AWS accounts.

AWS VPC benefits

There are several benefits to using AWS VPC:

Increased security

AWS VPC employs protocols like logical isolation to ensure the security of your virtual private cloud. The AWS cloud also offers additional security features, including infrastructure security, identity and access management, and compliance validation. AWS meets security requirements for most organizations and supports 98 compliance certifications and security standards, more than any other cloud computing provider.

Scalability

AWS VPC gives you complete control over your virtual private cloud infrastructure, allowing you to easily scale resources as needed. You can add users, applications, and business units to accommodate business growth without compromising data privacy.

Flexibility

AWS VPC offers high flexibility, enabling you to customize your virtual private cloud according to your specific requirements. You can enhance visibility into traffic and network dependencies with flow logs, and ensure your network complies with security requirements using the Network Access Analyzer VPC monitoring feature. AWS VPC provides numerous capabilities to personalize your virtual private cloud experience.

Pay-as-you-go pricing

With AWS VPC, you only pay for the resources you use, including data transfers. You can request a cost estimate from AWS to determine the pricing for your business.

AWS VPC use cases

Businesses utilize AWS VPC for various purposes. Here are some popular use cases:

Host multi-tier web apps

AWS VPC is an ideal choice for hosting web applications that consist of multiple tiers. You can harness the power of other AWS services to add functionality to your apps and deliver them to users.

Host websites and databases together

With AWS VPC, you can simultaneously host a public-facing website and a private database within the same virtual private cloud. This eliminates the need for separate VPCs.

Disaster recovery

AWS VPC enables network replication, ensuring access to your data in the event of a cyberattack or data breach. This enhances business continuity and minimizes downtime.

AWS VPC deployment recommendations

Here are some best practices for deploying AWS VPC:

• Use security groups to restrict unauthorized access to subnet instances in your virtual private cloud.
• Implement layers of security, such as network ACLs, to protect your virtual private cloud.
• Utilize VPC peering connections for efficient routing between two virtual private clouds.
• Establish VPN connections between your virtual private cloud and remote networks to optimize network traffic flow.
• Implement subnet planning to create smaller network segments and optimize network efficiency.

Why choose AWS VPC?

AWS VPC offers a secure and customizable virtual private cloud solution for your business. Its features include VPC peering, network segmentation, flexibility, and enhanced security measures. Whether you wish to host multi-tier applications, improve disaster recovery capabilities, or achieve business continuity, investing in AWS VPC can bring significant benefits. Remember to follow the deployment recommendations provided above to maximize the value of this technology.

Read more about LogicMonitor’s partnership with AWS here: https://www.logicmonitor.com/blog/extend-visibility-wherever-your-business-demands