AWS CCP EXAM PREP: Guide to AWS Networking Services

An AWS-certified cloud practitioner is your central starting point if you are non-technical and aspiring to make a career in an ever-growing cloud computing field. The cloud has enabled many innovations and provided benefits like cost savings, unlimited capacity,  and scalability for businesses.

Amazon web service (AWS) is the cloud computing platform that offers a wide range of services that reduces cost and enables scaling up the business. The core services offered by AWS are network, database, compute, and storage. This certification will help you understand the concepts and use cases of AWS services, which can help you get your dream job.

In this article, we shall discuss AWS networking services in detail. A network is a path that facilitates communication between devices. AWS networking provides a highly reliable, secure, and fast network. There are so many AWS services like Amazon VPC, Amazon EC2, Amazon route 53, Amazon gateway, and load balancer that make the AWS network complete.

You should have a clear idea about all these AWS services along with their use cases to understand AWS networking services in a better way. So, first, we will go through all AWS services, then we will go through AWS networking architecture, and AWS networking services use cases.

AWS Networking Services

1. Amazon VPC

Amazon VPC (Amazon Virtual private cloud) is a networking service that lets us create a virtual and isolated network for amazon resources. This private network would be hidden from the external world. So, you can perform certain business activities you do not want to make public.

Any user having an AWS account can create and manage Amazon VPC with the help of amazon tools and services like AWS management console, Amazon SDK, and Amazon CLI (COmmand line interface).

Some key concepts you should know about Amazon VPC are,

• Subnets: It is a part of a virtual network with a range of IP addresses. You can launch AWS resources like EC2 instances in a specified subnet.
• Gateway: Gateway facilitates communication between your resources and the virtual network.
• Route table: Route table is used to control where your network traffic is directed.

2. Amazon EC2

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is one of the most used AWS key services. It helps to create virtual machine instances within the cloud. You can set up and launch virtual machine instances in a short time.

Salient features of Amazon EC2 Instances

• It provides secure and flexible computing capacity in the cloud.
• It enables you to configure networking capacity, storage, and memory as per your requirement.
• It uses instance store volume to secure the temporary data if you stop or terminate the instances.
• It uses a secure firewall to specify ports, protocols, and IP ranges to access instances.

3. Amazon Route 53

Amazon Route 53 is a very popular and scalable DNS (Domain name system) service. It provides an IP routing service that lets end users connect with web applications efficiently. Here are some benefits of Amazon ROute 53.

• In case when primary location is not available, amazon route 53 routes end users to an alternative location. It makes it very reliable in case of any failure.
• Amazon route 53 is so flexible that users can create and edit traffic policies.
• Amazon route 53 is simple, cost-effective, and secure.
• Amazon route 53 has an auto-scalable feature by which it can even handle high-volume queries.

4. Amazon Load Balancer

As the name suggests, a load balancer distributes traffic from various scaling resources and cloud apps to meet the traffic requirement. In AWS, elastic load balancing is the load balancer. It handles load on the AWS server as per incoming traffic. There are 4 types of load balancers.

• Gateway load balancer
• Application load balancer
• Classic load balancer
• Network load balancer

Amazon load balancer provides high-security features like SSL/TSL decryption and integrated certificate management. It also lets you monitor the real-time performance and health of web applications.

5. AWS Private Link

As the name suggests, AWS private link facilitates the private connection between various amazon services like Amazon VPC, Amazon web services, and local networks with protecting data from exposure to the public internet.

As it does not pass through the public internet, it reduces threats like distributed DOS attacks and brute force. With AWS private links, you do not need path definitions, firewall rules, or route tables to connect with all the services across Amazon VPC.

6. AWS Direct Connect

You can create a dedicated network from your location to AWS with the help of AWS direct connect. It simply provides a private connection between the client’s data center and AWS cloud without using the public internet.

AWS direct connect is compatible with all the AWS services. It supports high bandwidth for a better speed (starting from 50 Mbps to 100 Gpsc) and a consistent network. AWS direct connect creates multiple virtual interfaces to access public services as well as private services.

7. Amazon Gateway

In simple language, amazon gateway functions as a gatekeeper of your network. Any request made in the network travels from one end to another end after passing through a gateway. So, basically, it connects two networks for communication. There are 2 types of gateways used in amazon networking,

• API Gateway: API gateway maintains secure APIs for the web applications to access various AWS features and data storage. It handles and processes all the API calls.
• Transit Gateway: The transit gateway helps to connect amazon VPC and an on-premise network with a central hub. As it connects with the central hub, users can centrally keep watch on their network with the help of a transit gateway.

8. AWS Network Architecture

AWS network architecture is a structured way to connect various amazon services in the cloud. In simple words, it is a web of various interconnected devices that are connected for a common purpose.

AWS network architecture includes Amazon VPC, in which multiple amazon services and devices are connected to form a network. A highly secured and fast network can be created to connect various amazon components like amazon gateways, private links, direct connect, subnets, EC2, and load balancers.

AWS Networking Services Use Cases

1. Amazon networking services help to build a strong network foundation

With the help of the amazon network foundation, you can keep watch on traffic in your network. You can simplify connectivity, resource launch, traffic monitoring, and network management with the help of various amazon networking services like Amazon VPC, AWS transit gateway, and AWS private link.

2. Use amazon networking services to connect hybrid infrastructure

Connect your on-premise activities with AWS services in a secure and cost-effective way. AWS hybrid connectivity solutions provide seamless connectivity between on-premise infrastructure and the cloud.

3. Deliver data faster with low latency and high throughput

Deliver applications and data more safely and faster on a highly secured and best-performing cloud network with the help of edge networking. Deliver your data anywhere in the world over a purpose-built network.

4. Simplify your application’s network architecture

Streamline and improve your application’s network with the help of AWS application networking. AWS app meshwork, Elastic load balancing, and AWS global accelerator are put together for improved performance and monitoring capabilities.

AWS Networking Services Jobs and Salary

Your chances of getting a good job and salary depend on your skill and knowledge. Even with less experience, you can get a good salary by showcasing your skills and capabilities.

The average base salary any AWS network engineer is likely to get is 5.43 lakh INR per annum. AWS network engineers are also entitled to receive all the employee welfare benefits. The salary increases with your experience. 

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