Amazon Expands Private Cloud to Include AWS Direct

By Sheila Shanker
Updated: May 01, 2012

Amazon Expands Private Cloud to Include AWS Direct

Amazon has started to offer expanded virtual private services with AWS Direct Connect, a system that helps businesses bypass the regular Internet, cutting costs, improving bandwidth usage and offering an overall more consistent network and Internet connections.

The AWS Direct Connnect system offers a dedicated network connection from a firm’s data center or office, using the industry standard 802.1q VLANs. It’s flexible enough to be partitioned, while allowing for easy logical connections reconfigurations. Firms can use the same Internet connection to access public sites, such as objects stored in Amazon S3, and private areas, including Amazon EC2 within the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud.

The firms most likely to benefit from this new feature would be those that perform large and frequent data transfers or those who need a more stable and predictable network performance. Another benefit  of the AWS Direct is that firms can utilize existing equipment by connecting it to a dedicated network connection.

At this time, AWS Direct Connect has only one location available in Virginia, but there are plans to open other locations in San Jose, Los Angeles, London, Singapore and Tokyo in the near future.

Costs for this service include 30 cents per hour for a 1 Gbps per hour. It also offers a 10 Gbps port for $2.25 per hour. Although there are no charges for incoming data transfers, the cost for outgoing data transfers is 2 cents/GB.

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