Virtual Interfaces
A virtual interface (VIF) is a component of AWS Direct Connect that allows customers to create VLANs on their Direct Connect connection. By creating a VIF, customers can partition their Direct Connect connection into multiple, separate, and isolated connections to different AWS services or VPCs. There are two types of virtual interfaces: private VIFs and public VIFs. Private VIFs enable access to a specific VPC, while public VIFs provide access to AWS services accessible over the public internet such as Amazon S3, Amazon EC2 instances with Elastic IPs, or AWS Marketplace.
Virtual Interfaces on AWS Direct Connect
What is it?
A Virtual Interface (VIF) on AWS Direct Connect is a Elastic Network Interface (ENI) that you can attach to your AWS Direct Connect connection. AWS Virtual Interfaces are critical because they allow for the transmission of data between your network and AWS. They can be configured as public or private.
Why is it important?
VIFs are essential in providing secure, private connectivity between AWS and your on-premise datacenter, office, or co-location environment, which reduces network costs, increases bandwidth, and provides a more consistent network experience compared to Internet-based connections.
How it works?
VIF uses VLAN tagging, so that multiple VIFs can share the same connection. This allows you to use the same connection to access public resources (such as objects stored in Amazon S3) using public IP address ranges, and private resources (such as Amazon EC2 instances) using private IP address ranges.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Virtual Interfaces
1. Understand the difference between public and private VIFs. A private VIF is for accessing your VPC, while a public VIF can access public AWS services.
2. Remember that you can share a single connection to AWS across multiple VIFs.
3. Be aware that you must associate a Direct Connect gateway or a Virtual Private Gateway (for private VIFs) and a Direct Connect Gateway (for transit VIFs) with your VIFs.
4. Make sure you know that VIFs use VLAN tagging to separate traffic.
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