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EC2 Series→Project 4

Advanced Networking

Implement advanced networking with private subnets, NAT Gateway, and bastion hosts

Difficulty

Advanced

Duration

6-8 hours

Cost

~$25-40 (if left running)

Project Overview

Design and implement enterprise-grade network architecture with advanced security features. This project focuses on production-ready networking patterns used in enterprise environments with emphasis on security and isolation.

You'll deploy applications in private subnets, implement secure access patterns with bastion hosts, configure NAT Gateways for outbound connectivity, and establish comprehensive network monitoring and logging.

Learning Objectives

Network Security

  • • Private subnet architecture design
  • • Bastion host configuration and hardening
  • • Network ACLs and security groups
  • • VPC Flow Logs implementation

Advanced Networking

  • • NAT Gateway configuration
  • • Route table optimization
  • • Multi-AZ network resilience
  • • Network monitoring and alerting

Technologies Used

VPC
Virtual Private Cloud
NAT Gateway
Outbound Connectivity
Bastion Host
Secure Access
VPC Flow Logs
Network Monitoring

Network Architecture

Public Tier

  • • Application Load Balancer
  • • NAT Gateway for outbound traffic
  • • Bastion host for secure access
  • • Internet Gateway connectivity

Private Tier

  • • Application servers in private subnets
  • • RDS database in isolated subnets
  • • No direct internet connectivity
  • • Outbound access via NAT Gateway

Security Features

Network Isolation

  • • Private subnet deployment
  • • Network ACL restrictions
  • • Security group layering
  • • Subnet route isolation

Access Control

  • • Bastion host with MFA
  • • SSH key rotation
  • • Session logging
  • • Time-based access

Monitoring

  • • VPC Flow Logs
  • • CloudTrail logging
  • • GuardDuty integration
  • • Custom alerting

Prerequisites

  • • Completion of Projects 1, 2, and 3
  • • Strong understanding of networking concepts
  • • Experience with Linux system administration
  • • Knowledge of security best practices
  • • Familiarity with AWS CLI and CloudFormation

Project Steps

1

Design multi-tier network architecture

2

Create VPC with public and private subnets

3

Configure NAT Gateway and route tables

4

Deploy and harden bastion host

5

Implement Network ACLs and security groups

6

Deploy applications in private subnets

7

Configure VPC Flow Logs and monitoring

8

Set up automated security scanning

9

Test security and access controls

10

Implement disaster recovery procedures

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