Beginning May 2016 Cornell AWS accounts are setup with AWS Direct Connect (DC) joining the campus 10-space network to the 10-space network in Cornell Standard AWS VPCs. Prior to that accounts were setup with VPN connection back to campus.
FAQs
Q: What is the difference in performance between the Direct Connects and a VPN connection.
A: We don't have tons of data on that. Generally, we find that overall realized speed is similar between VPN and DC connections, but that the DC connection has less variability. Here's an example:
- VPN ping statistics:
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 17.749/18.319/19.348/0.458 ms - DC ping statustics:
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 14.873/15.005/15.188/0.139 ms Seehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_(networking_utility) for interpreting ping output.
- VPN ping statistics:
Q: What are the physical details of Cornell's Direct Connect to AWS?
A: The primary DC connection is a 1Gbit connection. The backup connection is a 100Mbit connection. They use geographically separate routes to AWS.
Q: Is the DC monitored?
A: Yes. The CIT Infrastructure Team monitors the performance and utilization of the primary and secondary links.
Q: Can the DC bandwidth be increased if utilization becomes heavy?
A: Yes, there is an upgrade path should that become necessary.
Q: What traffic is routed through the DC?
A: For Cornell AWS accounts on the DC, only 10-space traffic is routed from on-campus to 10-space addresses in Cornell Standard AWS VPCs. This means that traffic from servers and clients with public campus IP addresses cannot access the 10-space networks in a Cornell Standard AWS VPC. In some circumstances the DC can be configured to route both campus 10-space and all campus public IPs through the DC. Please contact cloud-support@cornell.edu for details about the impact of this special configuration option.
Q: Can Cornell AWS accounts configured to use a VPN connection be upgraded to use the DC?
A: Yes. Contact cloud-support@cornell.edu to request that change. The change will require a brief outage of 10-space routing so advanced planning is required so that access to your cloud-based services is not disrupted.