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John  Ajera
John Ajera

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AWS VPC Endpoints: Secure Private Connectivity

πŸ”Œ AWS VPC Endpoints: Secure Private Connectivity

πŸ“Œ What is a VPC Endpoint?

VPC Endpoints allow private connectivity between AWS services and your VPC, eliminating the need for internet access.

🎯 Why Use VPC Endpoints?

βœ… Enhanced Security – No public IP exposure
βœ… Lower Costs – Avoid NAT Gateway charges
βœ… Better Performance – Uses AWS backbone network


πŸ“œ Requirements

  • VPC with private subnets
  • Security Groups allowing internal traffic
  • IAM Policies for access control
  • Private DNS enabled (for Interface Endpoints)

πŸ”€ Types of VPC Endpoints

🟒 Interface Endpoints (AWS PrivateLink)

  • Uses Elastic Network Interfaces (ENI)
  • Supports most AWS services (e.g., SSM, CloudWatch, EC2 Messages)
  • Requires security group rules

πŸ”΅ Gateway Endpoints

  • Available only for S3 & DynamoDB
  • Uses route table entries instead of ENIs
  • No additional cost

πŸ”§ Setting Up a VPC Endpoint

resource "aws_vpc_endpoint" "ssm" {
  vpc_id              = aws_vpc.example.id
  service_name        = "com.amazonaws.${data.aws_region.current.name}.ssm"
  vpc_endpoint_type   = "Interface"
  subnet_ids          = aws_subnet.private[*].id
  security_group_ids  = [aws_security_group.vpc_endpoints.id]
  private_dns_enabled = true
}
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For a complete working example, check out this Terraform demo:
πŸ”— tf-aws-vpc-endpoint-demo


⚠️ Gotchas & Considerations

  • Security Group Rules – Must allow inbound traffic
  • Private DNS – Enable for easier access
  • Costs – Interface Endpoints have hourly & data charges
  • Service Limits – Only S3 & DynamoDB support Gateway Endpoints

βœ… Pros & Cons

Feature βœ… Pros ❌ Cons
Security Private AWS traffic Needs SG fine-tuning
Cost Avoids NAT fees Interface costs apply
Performance Faster, AWS backbone Region availability varies

πŸ” Troubleshooting

πŸ”— Check Endpoint Status

aws ec2 describe-vpc-endpoints --region <region>
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🌐 Verify Connectivity

nc -zv logs.<region>.amazonaws.com 443
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πŸ”„ Test IAM Permissions

aws ssm describe-instance-information
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πŸš€ Summary

VPC Endpoints enhance security, reduce costs, and improve performance by keeping AWS service traffic inside the VPC. Plan your security groups and IAM policies carefully to maximize benefits!

πŸ”— AWS VPC Endpoints Docs

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