Definition

Hybrid Networking refers to a network that spans AWS and an on-premises data center. Hybrid networking architectures help organizations integrate their on-premises data center and AWS operations to support a broad spectrum of use cases, by using a common set of cloud services, tools, and APIs across on-premises and cloud environments. To establish a hybrid networking environment, there are specific services that connect your on-premises and AWS resources through a common network. For example, you can use Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) to gain control over your virtual networking environment in AWS, AWS Site-to-Site VPN to provide secure encrypted remote office to AWS connectivity over the internet in minutes, and AWS Direct Connect to establish a dedicated private network connection between AWS and your on-premises environment.

The AWS Well-Architected Framework is based on six pillars: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and sustainability. When architecting technology solutions, you must make informed tradeoffs between pillars based upon your business context. AWS provides multiple core components that enable you to design robust architectures for your hybrid networking workload applications. This section presents an overview of the AWS components that are used throughout this document to architect hybrid networking workloads. There are three specific areas to consider when designing hybrid network connectivity for your workload: