Introduction

AWS PrivateLink is a highly scalable and secure service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that enables private connectivity between Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), AWS services, and on-premises applications. It provides a way to access services over private IP addresses, eliminating the need for public IP addresses and reducing exposure to the public internet.

Key Features and Characteristics

  1. Private Connectivity: AWS PrivateLink allows you to create private endpoints within your VPC to connect to supported AWS services and third-party services without traversing the public internet.
  2. Scalability: The service can handle high-throughput workloads and automatically scales to meet demand without requiring manual intervention.
  3. Security: By keeping traffic within the AWS network, PrivateLink enhances security by reducing exposure to potential threats associated with public internet connectivity.
  4. Simplified Network Architecture: PrivateLink eliminates the need for complex networking configurations such as VPN connections or Direct Connect for accessing certain AWS services.
  5. Cross-Account Access: It enables secure communication between VPCs in different AWS accounts, facilitating multi-account architectures.
  6. Service Provider Support: Third-party service providers can use PrivateLink to offer their services to AWS customers securely and privately.

How AWS PrivateLink Works

  1. A service provider creates a Network Load Balancer (NLB) and configures a VPC endpoint service.
  2. The consumer creates a VPC endpoint to connect to the service.
  3. AWS generates Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs) in the consumer's subnets.
  4. Traffic flows privately through these ENIs to the service provider's NLB.
[Consumer VPC] --> [VPC Endpoint] --> [AWS PrivateLink] --> [NLB] --> [Service Provider VPC]

Common Use Cases and Applications