If you’ve worked with AWS for even a short time, you've probably crossed paths with the NAT Gateway the service that lets your private subnets access the internet without exposing them publicly. It’s reliable, managed, and simple… until you need to run workloads across multiple Availability Zones (AZs).
Suddenly you’re managing multiple NAT Gateways, multiple public subnets, multiple route tables and of course, multiple bills.
But AWS recently rolled out an update that changes the game: A new Regional NAT Gateway mode.
In this post, I’ll break down what changed, why it matters, and how you can start using it today.
What AWS Actually Changed
Traditionally, NAT Gateways were zonal. This meant you needed one NAT Gateway per AZ if you wanted high availability which led to higher cost and more complex architecture.
With the new update, AWS now allows you to create a single NAT Gateway at the VPC level, which:
- Automatically scales across AZs as needed
- Doesn’t require a public subnet in every AZ
- Supports Elastic IPs (EIPs) or Bring-Your-Own-IP (BYOIP)
- Automatically expands into an AZ when workloads appear there
You essentially get a central, smarter, self-adjusting NAT Gateway for your entire VPC.
Why This Update Is a Big Deal
. Your Architecture Becomes Much Simpler
No more creating public subnets, NAT gateways, and route tables for every AZ. Your VPC diagram instantly gets cleaner.
. Better High Availability (With Less Work)
The regional NAT Gateway expands into any AZ where you launch resources. No failover scripts. No manual setup. Just automatic coverage.
. Better Security Posture
Since you don’t need public subnets in every AZ anymore, your VPC can lean more toward a “private-by-default” model.
. Smarter IP Handling
AWS now automatically allocates additional IPs when connection limits are reached. It also integrates with IPAM, so large orgs can manage IP policies more cleanly.
. Potential Cost Optimization
You’re not paying for multiple idle NAT Gateways, You pay only for the regional gateway hours in the AZs where traffic actually flows.
How to Use the Regional NAT Gateway
Here’s a simple AWS CLI example for creating one:
aws ec2 create-nat-gateway \
--connectivity-type public \
--subnet-id subnet-1234567890abcdef \
--region-availability regional \
--allocation-id eipalloc-0123456789abcdef
In Terraform:
resource "aws_nat_gateway" "regional" {
connectivity_type = "public"
subnet_id = var.public_subnet
region_availability = "regional"
allocation_id = aws_eip.nat.id
}
resource "aws_eip" "nat" {
domain = "vpc"
}
Final Thoughts
This update feels like one of those subtle AWS changes that quietly unlock major improvements in how we design cloud networks. Instead of juggling multiple NAT Gateways, route tables, and subnets, you can now build cleaner, more resilient architectures with much less effort.
For teams that value scalability, security, and simplicity, this is a win.
If you haven’t tried the new Regional NAT Gateway yet, spin it up in a dev environment and watch how much simpler your VPC looks.
Author: SAHEED OLATUNDE IPAYE
Top comments (1)
Super cool.... Never knew about this feature..Wow, this is a game-changer!
I'm definitely going to try this in my development environment. Thanks for breaking it down so clearly!