Security Upgrade for the Cloud: Successful Implementation of AWS Private Links
Challenge:
Our customer was faced with the challenge of providing access from the Internet at a central point within their production AWS account environments, analyzing incoming traffic through web application firewall rules, and then routing the access requests to the backend systems that are exclusively hosted in a private Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).
Solution & Architecture:
Working closely with our customer, we developed a solution to overcome these challenges. The implementation involved setting up dedicated firewall and Internet access VPCs to decouple incoming Internet access from the production backend systems.
Incoming requests are then routed through the external application load balancer to the processing backend systems in the private network environments via the implementation of AWS Private Links.
AWS Private Links are defined by two components. First, the AWS endpoint. This is a network interface on a defined subnet of the firewall VPC. AWS security groups are used to define which communication ports, in our case port 443, are accepted. The source is the web application firewall in the firewall VPC.
The second component is the associated VPC Endpoint Service. This provides a unique communication relationship to an AWS service within AWS accounts and/or across accounts.
In our scenario, we are addressing the AWS Network Loadbalancer in the private networks and across accounts. The big advantage of this solution is that the communication relationships are mapped on the application layer (layer 7) and not on the protocol transport layer (layer 4), which always requires a 1-to-1 routing connection.
Benefits for our Client:
Successful implementation results in improved overall security and efficiency of the customer’s cloud infrastructure.
Consolidation of External Access Points
The new architecture allows for the consolidation of external access points, simplifying management and increasing security. Communication relationships can be managed and set up as needed at the application level within AWS environments.
Increased Network Security
The isolation of communication through dedicated firewall and Internet access VPCs leads to a significant improvement in network security. Routing connections between the firewall and private network environments are no longer necessary with the setup of AWS Private Links.
Implement One-To-Many Communication at the Application Level
The solution enabled efficient and secure one-to-many communication at the application level, increasing scalability and performance.
Conclusion:
The successful implementation of Network Private Link has not only improved our customer’s network security, but also increased efficiency. Through close collaboration and successful project management, we were able to implement a customized solution that addressed our customer’s specific needs and challenges. This experience confirms our expertise in developing advanced solutions for complex cloud infrastructures.
