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Bridging the Cloud Divide: A Step-by-Step Guide to Azure-AWS VPN

Copyright & Fact Checker 25 October 2024

In today’s interconnected world, businesses often find themselves leveraging multiple cloud providers to optimize their resources and meet specific needs. Establishing a secure and efficient connection between different cloud environments is crucial for seamless data flow and collaboration. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up a VPN tunnel between Azure and AWS, enabling secure communication between your workloads across these two popular cloud platforms.

Key Considerations

Before diving into the configuration steps, it’s important to consider the following:

VPN Type: For most scenarios, a Site-to-Site VPN using IPsec is sufficient.
Routing: Static routing is often used for simplicity, but BGP can be beneficial for more complex network topologies.
Security: Implement appropriate security measures, such as strong authentication and encryption, to protect your data.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Azure Configuration:

Create a resource group, virtual network, and subnet.

Set up an Azure VPN Gateway with the desired SKU and public IP.
Create a Local Network Gateway to represent the AWS VPN gateway.

2. AWS Configuration:

Create a VPC and subnet.

Set up a Virtual Private Gateway (VGW).

Create a Customer Gateway (CGW) with the Azure VPN gateway’s public IP.
Establish a Site-to-Site VPN connection, configuring static routing and downloading the configuration file.

Enable route propagation for the VGW.

3. Azure Configuration (Continued):

Create a VPN connection between the Azure VPN Gateway and Local Network Gateway.
Configure the connection settings using the information from the AWS configuration file.

4. Additional Considerations:

Add routes to the AWS route table to ensure proper traffic flow.
Configure security groups and network security groups to control traffic between the two networks.
Test connectivity between virtual machines in Azure and AWS to verify the VPN is functioning correctly.

Troubleshooting Tips

Check route propagation: Ensure that routes are propagated correctly between Azure and AWS.
Verify firewall rules: Make sure security groups and NSGs allow necessary traffic.
Review VPN connection status: Check the status of the VPN connection in both Azure and AWS.
Consult documentation: Refer to the official documentation for Azure VPN Gateway and AWS Virtual Private Gateway for detailed information and troubleshooting guidance.

Conclusion

By following these steps and addressing common troubleshooting issues, you can successfully establish a secure VPN connection between Azure and AWS. This will enable seamless communication and data transfer between your workloads, empowering you to leverage the benefits of both cloud platforms effectively.

References: Internet Archive, Undercode Ai & Community, Techcommunity.microsoft.com, Wikipedia,es: Quantum Computing Circle
Image Source: Undercode AI DI v2, OpenAIFeatured Image