BYTE the Cloud

Chris 0:00
All right, let's dive into this AWS Transit Gateway. Sure, if you're a mid level cloud engineer, you've probably at least heard

Kelly 0:10
of this. Oh, yeah, definitely a buzzy topic, for sure. Yeah.

Chris 0:13
And I feel like every time I look it up, I get a slightly different explanation. So I'm hoping we can really, like solidify for ourselves what this is all about.

Kelly 0:21
Okay, yeah, happy to break it down. So, I

Chris 0:24
mean, just at the highest level, what is this thing?

Kelly 0:27
So it's basically like the central hub for all your networking in AWS. So think of all these VPCs that you've got, maybe you've got on prem networks too, VPN connections, direct connect all that, yeah, instead of managing all those individually, yeah, they all come into this one Transit Gateway.

Chris 0:45
Okay, so it's like simplifying the connections exactly. You don't have everything like spaghetti together,

Kelly 0:50
yeah, it's that single entry and exit point.

Chris 0:52
Got it for all your traffic. Okay? So it's like a big traffic control, exactly

Kelly 0:56
like a big traffic cop, okay, I like that, making sure everything's going where it needs to

Chris 1:00
go. So less of like the individual point to point connections and more like everything going through this one hub, exactly. Okay, that that makes a lot of sense conceptually, but I think where I always get tripped up is like, that's a nice idea, but how does this actually work in practice? Like, what are some examples of how companies are actually using this?

Kelly 1:19
Sure, so one example is multi region deployments. Okay, so if you've got applications running in different ws regions, you need to connect those V PCs across regions. Yeah, Transit Gateway makes it easy. Okay, so instead of setting up a bunch of VPN tunnels between each region, yeah, everything just goes through the Transit Gateway. Got it. It's much more manageable. So

Chris 1:41
it's like a region agnostic connection point,

Kelly 1:43
pretty much, okay, that

Chris 1:44
makes sense, yeah. What about like, connecting to on prem? Like, I know a lot of companies aren't fully in the cloud yet, yeah.

Kelly 1:51
Hybrid Cloud is huge, yeah. And Transit Gateway is great for that too. Okay, you can connect your on prem networks, whether through direct connect or VPN, to your Transit Gateway, and then from there, it can reach all your VPCs in AWS got it. It's a single point of connection for your on prem stuff.

Chris 2:08
So instead of having to manage a bunch of different connections from on prem to each individual VPC, it's like on prem to Transit Gateway, and then Transit Gateway takes care of the rest Exactly. It just simplifies everything. Okay, so we've got this idea of, like a central hub, simplifying connections, managing traffic. What else should we know about this thing?

Kelly 2:29
Well, let's dig into some of the features. Okay, yeah, let's get into like, how it actually works. So first off, routing. Transit Gateway supports both static and dynamic routing. So what's the difference with static routing, you define all the paths manually, okay? But with dynamic routing, it can adjust automatically.

Chris 2:46
So that's for, like, more complex environments where things are changing a lot, exactly. So if I'm like, spinning up new V PCs all the time, dynamic routing would be the way to go.

Kelly 2:54
Yeah, it helps keep everything running smoothly, even when things are changing, okay,

Chris 2:58
that makes sense. So it's like, flexible. It can handle simple or complex routing scenarios

Kelly 3:02
Exactly. It's all about giving you the control you need. Okay. And what

Chris 3:07
about security? I feel like with anything networking, security has got to be top

Kelly 3:11
of mind. Oh, for sure. And Transit Gateway has some great security features, okay, like, what? Well, first off, you've got route tables, okay, these let you control how traffic is routed based on its destination.

Chris 3:23
Okay? So I can, like, segment my network exactly.

Kelly 3:26
You can create separate route tables for different groups of VPCs, so you can isolate sensitive workloads and control traffic flow.

Chris 3:34
That's that's pretty powerful, like, from a security perspective, yeah, it's all about that least privilege principle. So it's not just about connectivity. It's like a security tool as well. Definitely, it gives you a lot of control over your network. So how does this Transit Gateway fit in with everything else in AWS like, does it play nice with other services? Yeah,

Kelly 3:51
it integrates with a ton of other services, okay, like VPCs, Direct Connect, VPN, even security services like AWS firewall manager. So

Chris 3:59
it's not like a standalone thing. It's really designed to be part of the whole AWS ecosystem, exactly. It's all connected. Okay, that makes sense. So it's like a central piece of the puzzle. Yeah, you could say that. Okay, so we've talked about what it is, some examples of how it's used, routing, security, integration with other services. Is there anything this thing can't do? Any limitations we should be aware of.

Kelly 4:21
That's a good point. There are a couple things. First off, multicast traffic, okay, Transit Gateway doesn't support that, so

Chris 4:28
if I've got applications that rely on multicast, I might need a different

Kelly 4:32
solution. Yeah, you'd have to look at other options. Okay, good to know anything else? Well, there's also a slight latency increase, okay, compared to direct VPC peering. So if you have applications that are super sensitive to latency, yeah, you might want to consider so it's

Chris 4:49
like a trade off, right? You get the simplicity all these features, yeah, but you might have a tiny bit more latency,

Kelly 4:54
exactly. It's all about choosing the right tool for the job.

Chris 4:57
That makes sense? Yeah? Yeah. Okay, so we've got a good overview now. Yeah, we've covered the basics. Let's shift gears a little bit and put on our exam prep hats. All

Kelly 5:07
right. Time for some exam questions, yeah, let's

Chris 5:10
see what they might throw our way about Transit Gateway. So let's say you're in the

Kelly 5:13
hot seat, okay, you're taking the AWS exam, and you get a question about Transit Gateway. What are some of the things they might ask you, yeah, like,

Chris 5:22
what kind of questions should we be prepared for? Well, they could start

Kelly 5:25
with the basics, like, what is Transit Gateway? Or why would you use it over traditional VPC peering? Okay,

Chris 5:31
so they want to make sure we understand the fundamentals

Kelly 5:34
exactly, but then they'll probably take it up a notch with more scenario based questions. Okay, so give me an example. Sure, imagine they give you a scenario where you need to connect multiple VPCs across different AWS regions, and they ask you to design a solution using Transit Gateway.

Chris 5:49
Okay? So we need to be able to apply our knowledge, not just define what it is exactly.

Kelly 5:53
They want to see that you can actually use it to solve real world problems. Got it. They might also ask you about specific Transit Gateway features like how to use route tables for network segmentation.

Chris 6:04
Okay, so they'll really be testing our in depth understanding.

Kelly 6:08
Yeah. They might even throw in some curve balls, like asking you to compare Transit Gateway to other AWS networking services like VPNs or direct connect.

Chris 6:17
So we need to know how it fits into the bigger picture. Exactly. They

Kelly 6:20
want to make sure you can choose the right tool for the job.

Chris 6:24
This is really helpful. Yeah, I'm starting to get a sense of what to expect, but I'm sure there's even more to it. Yeah, right. What other exam style questions might they throw our way? Oh,

Kelly 6:33
definitely they could get into more advanced topics like high availability and fault tolerance.

Chris 6:39
Okay, so how do we make sure our Transit Gateway network can handle failures

Kelly 6:43
Exactly? They might ask you to design a resilient architecture that can handle failures without disrupting traffic flow, so redundancy is key Exactly. And they might also ask about specific configuration details, like network address translation or NAT stat. Okay, that's one we haven't talked much about it's an important one. Nat allows instances in a private subnet to access the internet without having public IP addresses, right?

Chris 7:07
And I remember you saying that Transit Gateway can somehow simplify NAT configurations.

Kelly 7:12
It can, especially when you have multiple VPCs involved. Okay, we definitely need

Chris 7:16
to cover that in more detail before we're done. Absolutely. We'll

Kelly 7:19
dive into that. But for now, let's focus on some specific exam style questions. All right,

Chris 7:24
I'm ready. Let's test our knowledge. Okay, here's

Kelly 7:26
a scenario. You're working for a company that's going through a merger, okay, they need to connect the VPCs of two separate AWS accounts. How would you approach this? Hmm,

Chris 7:36
that's interesting. So now we're talking about multiple accounts, not just multiple V PCs within the same account, exactly. It adds another layer of complexity. So, could we still use Transit Gateway? In this case,

Kelly 7:48
you absolutely can. You'd use a feature called Transit Gateway peering. Transit Gateway peering. What's that? It allows you to connect Transit Gateways in different AWS accounts. Oh, so

Chris 7:57
it's like bridging the gap between those separate environments exactly

Kelly 8:00
you're extending the reach of Transit Gateway. So in

Chris 8:03
this merger scenario, we'd set up a Transit Gateway in each account and then peer them together,

Kelly 8:08
that's right, and you'd still use route tables to control traffic flow between the connected VPCs. Okay,

Chris 8:13
so Transit Gateway peering is like an extension of the service, allowing us to connect not just VPCs, but entire AWS accounts

Kelly 8:20
precisely. It's a powerful tool for scenarios like Mergers Acquisitions or even just working with multiple departments that have their own AWS environments.

Chris 8:29
This is really expanding my view of what Transit Gateway can do. It's like a Swiss army knife for cloud networking. I like that analogy. It highlights the versatility of this service. Okay, give

Kelly 8:39
me another one. I'm

Chris 8:39
feeling pretty confident now. All right, here's another scenario. You have a VPC that needs to access an Amazon S3 bucket, okay, but you want to keep that traffic within the AWS network for security and performance reasons. How can Transit Gateway help?

Kelly 8:54
Hmm, this sounds familiar. Didn't we talk about something called VPC endpoints?

Chris 8:58
You've got a great memory. Yes, VPC endpoints are the key here. They allow you to connect to AWS services like S3 without leaving the AWS network.

Kelly 9:07
So instead of going over the public Internet, the traffic stays within Amazon's private network. Exactly. It's more secure and often faster.

Chris 9:15
So we'd create a VPC endpoint for S3 and then configure Transit Gateway to route traffic from our VPC to that endpoint

Kelly 9:23
precisely. Transit Gateway can really streamline the configuration and management of VPC endpoints, especially when you have multiple VPCs involved.

Chris 9:32
This is starting to make a lot of sense. I can see how understanding these different pieces of the AWS networking puzzle is essential for both the exam and real world cloud engineering,

Kelly 9:42
and that's what we're aiming for. We want you to walk away from this deep dive feeling confident in your Transit Gateway knowledge. Oh, I'm

Chris 9:50
definitely getting there. But I'm sure there are even more exam style questions we could cover. What other challenges might they throw our way?

Kelly 9:56
Oh, there are plenty they could ask about, things like high availability and fault. Tolerance. How can you design your Transit Gateway architecture to be resilient and handle failures? Okay, that

Chris 10:06
makes sense. Redundancy and reliability are critical in any production environment,

Kelly 10:09
exactly, or they might dive into specific configuration details, like network address translation, Nat. Nat, that's

Chris 10:16
one we haven't talked much about yet. It's an important topic.

Kelly 10:19
Nat allows instances in a private subnet to access the internet without having public IP addresses, and Transit Gateway can play a role in simplifying NAT configurations. Okay, I'm

Chris 10:29
adding that to my mental list of things to study. We need to make sure we cover na in detail before we wrap up this deep dive.

Kelly 10:34
Absolutely, and we will. But for now, let's take a moment to recap what we've learned so far about Transit Gateway. We've covered its role as a central hub for connecting VPCs on premises networks and even other AWS accounts through peering. We've also touched on its security features like route tables and network segmentation, and we've

Chris 10:52
started diving into the world of exam Trep, exploring how Transit Gateway might be tested in different scenarios, from connecting multiple VPCs to securing access to AWS services like S3

Kelly 11:03
you've got it, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's still so much more to explore when it comes to Transit Gateway. In our next segment, we'll continue our deep dive, tackling even more complex scenarios and diving deeper into those crucial features that might pop up on the exam. I'm

Chris 11:18
ready for the challenge. Let's keep this Transit Gateway adventure going.

Kelly 11:22
Welcome back to our deep dive. It feels like we're really getting into the weeds now with Transit Gateway. Yeah,

Chris 11:28
we're way past the basics at this point. Yeah, but that's kind of the point, right? We want to get into the nitty gritty, the stuff that might actually trip you up on the exam. Exactly.

Kelly 11:36
We want you to be prepared for anything they throw your way. Yeah. So let's keep digging into some of these more specialized features of Transit Gateway. Okay,

Chris 11:46
sounds good.

Kelly 11:47
What do you have in mind?

Chris 11:48
Well, let's talk about Transit Gateway, connect. Have you heard of that one?

Kelly 11:53
Um, I feel like I've seen it mentioned in the docs, but honestly, I haven't really dug into it yet. What's that all about?

Chris 11:58
So it's a newer feature that's all about connecting branch offices and remote locations to your AWS network. So traditionally, you'd have to use like separate VPN connections for each branch office. Oh,

Kelly 12:10
yeah, I can see how that could get messy really fast, especially if you have a lot of branch offices. Exactly, it becomes a huge management headache. So Transit Gateway connect simplifies this by allowing you to use a single connection from your branch office to a supported third party appliance, and then that appliance connects to your Transit Gateway in AWS. Okay,

Chris 12:29
so instead of direct VPN connections from each branch office to AWS, we're going through this appliance in the middle right, and that

Kelly 12:36
appliance handles a lot of the complexity like encryption and traffic management, so it's much easier to manage and secure those branch office connections. That

Chris 12:45
actually makes a lot of sense. It's like having a dedicated gateway for our branch offices. But what about security? Are we introducing any new vulnerabilities by going through this third party appliance?

Kelly 12:55
That's a great question. Security is always top of mind, and Transit Gateway Connect is designed with that. In mind, the communication between your branch office and the appliance, and between the appliance and your Transit Gateway is all encrypted using industry standard protocols, so you're not sacrificing security. That's good

Chris 13:12
to know. So it's really just about simplifying those branch office connections while maintaining the same level of security Exactly. It's

Kelly 13:19
a great solution for companies with hybrid cloud environments where they need to connect those remote locations to their AWS infrastructure, that

Chris 13:26
makes sense. So we've covered transit, Gateway Connect. What else is there? Well, we

Kelly 13:30
talked a bit about network address translation. Nat earlier. Remember that? Yeah, I remember

Chris 13:34
it was about allowing instances in a private subnet to access the internet without public IP addresses Exactly.

Kelly 13:41
So can you walk me through how you'd actually set that up with Transit Gateway?

Chris 13:45
Well, I know you mentioned we could have a NAT gateway in a public subnet, and that would handle the translation. But how does Transit Gateway fit into the picture?

Kelly 13:54
So imagine you have multiple VPCs, each with private subnets that need Internet access. You could create a NAT gateway in each VPC, but that can get messy to manage. Transit Gateway simplifies this by letting you create a single NAT gateway in a shared VPC, and then you configure Transit Gateway to route traffic from your other DPCs to that shared NAT gateway. So instead of

Chris 14:16
multiple NAT gateways, one for each VPC, we can consolidate everything through Transit Gateway and a single shared NAT gateway Exactly.

Kelly 14:23
It's more efficient, easier to manage, and it ensures consistent NAT policies across your entire network.

Chris 14:30
Okay, that's a really cool way to use Transit Gateway. I'm starting to see how it can really tie everything together and simplify a lot of these complex networking scenarios. Yeah,

Kelly 14:40
it's a pretty powerful tool, and there's a lot more we could dive into, but I think we've covered a good amount for this deep dive.

Chris 14:46
I agree we've gone from the basics to some pretty advanced concepts, and I feel like I have a much better understanding of Transit Gateway now. But of course, the learning never stops, right?

Kelly 14:55
Never. It's all about continuous learning in the cloud. So keep exploring. Experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what's possible with Transit Gateway. Well, dude,

Chris 15:04
thanks for all the insights and tips today. This has been incredibly helpful. My

Kelly 15:08
pleasure and best of luck on your AWS exam journey.

Chris 15:11
Thanks. I think I'm ready to tackle it now, and thanks to everyone listening for joining us on this deep dive into AWS Transit Gateway. We'll catch you next time you.