AWS Interconnect Services Revolutionize Multicloud and Last-Mile Connectivity for Enterprises

Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced the general availability of AWS Interconnect, a suite of managed private connectivity services designed to significantly simplify how organizations connect their cloud environments and on-premises infrastructure. The launch introduces two key capabilities: AWS Interconnect — multicloud, enabling direct, private connections between Amazon Virtual Private Clouds (Amazon VPCs) and VPCs on other major cloud providers, and AWS Interconnect — last mile, streamlining high-speed, private connections from branch offices, data centers, and remote locations to AWS. This development addresses the growing complexity faced by enterprises that increasingly operate across multiple cloud platforms, aiming to reduce the operational burden on IT teams and enhance network performance and security.

The increasing adoption of multicloud strategies by large enterprises stems from a desire to leverage specialized services offered by different providers, meet stringent data residency requirements, or accommodate teams with diverse technology standards. Historically, establishing reliable and secure connectivity between these disparate environments has been a complex undertaking, involving the management of VPN tunnels, coordination with colocation facilities, and intricate configurations of third-party network fabrics. This "undifferentiated heavy lifting" consumes valuable IT resources that could otherwise be dedicated to innovation and application development. AWS Interconnect is positioned to alleviate these challenges by offering a fully managed, turnkey solution.

Simplifying Hybrid and Multicloud Networking

AWS Interconnect provides dedicated bandwidth for private, high-speed network connections to and from AWS, supporting both hybrid and multicloud architectures. The service aims to simplify the entire connectivity process, allowing users to establish resilient, end-to-end connections with a few clicks through the AWS Console. Users can select their desired location, partner, or cloud provider, preferred AWS Region, and bandwidth requirements, effectively removing the friction associated with partner discovery and manual network configuration.

The service is built upon the principle of abstracting infrastructure complexity, offering a managed experience for both multicloud and last-mile connectivity. This allows organizations to focus on their core business objectives rather than the intricacies of network infrastructure management.

AWS Interconnect — Multicloud: Bridging the Cloud Divide

AWS Interconnect — multicloud establishes private, managed Layer 3 connections between an organization’s AWS environment and other leading cloud providers. Initially supporting Google Cloud, with Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) slated for integration later in 2026, this service ensures that traffic flows exclusively over the AWS global backbone and the partner cloud’s private network. This bypasses the public internet, delivering predictable latency, consistent throughput, and isolation from internet congestion without the need for managing physical infrastructure.

Security is a core component of AWS Interconnect — multicloud. All connections utilize IEEE 802.1AE MACsec encryption on the physical links between AWS and partner cloud provider routers at interconnection facilities. This encryption is automatically configured, eliminating the need for separate setup by the user. While AWS handles encryption on its side, users are advised to review the encryption documentation of their specific cloud provider deployments to ensure compliance with their security requirements. Resiliency is also a key feature, with each connection spanning multiple logical links distributed across at least two physical facilities, safeguarding against single points of failure.

For network monitoring and performance management, AWS Interconnect — multicloud integrates seamlessly with Amazon CloudWatch. Each connection includes a Network Synthetic Monitor to track round-trip latency, packet loss, and bandwidth utilization, aiding in capacity planning and performance optimization.

AWS has also made the underlying specification for AWS Interconnect — multicloud publicly available on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license. This open approach encourages collaboration and allows any cloud service provider to become an AWS Interconnect partner by meeting AWS’s technical specifications and operational requirements, including resiliency standards, support commitments, and service level agreements.

A Streamlined Provisioning Process

The provisioning of an AWS Interconnect — multicloud connection is designed to be swift and intuitive. The process typically takes minutes, initiated from the AWS Direct Connect console. Users navigate to the AWS Interconnect section, select their desired cloud provider (e.g., Google Cloud), specify source and destination regions, and define bandwidth requirements. A crucial step involves providing the relevant cloud provider’s project ID. AWS then generates an activation key, which is used on the partner cloud side to finalize the connection. Once established, routes propagate automatically in both directions, enabling data exchange between workloads in a matter of minutes.

A demonstration of the provisioning process for connecting an AWS VPC to a Google Cloud VPC using a Direct Connect Gateway highlights the simplicity:

• Step 1: Request an Interconnect in the AWS Management Console. Users navigate to AWS Direct Connect, then AWS Interconnect, and select "Create." They choose the cloud provider (e.g., Google Cloud), specify the AWS Region and the corresponding Google Cloud Region, and enter details such as bandwidth, the Direct Connect gateway to attach, and their Google Cloud project ID. Upon review and confirmation, the AWS console provides an activation key for the partner cloud side.
• Step 2: Create Transport and VPC Peering Resources on Google Cloud Platform. Using the activation key, users proceed to the Google Cloud side. At the time of the announcement, this involved using the Google Cloud CLI (gcloud). A gcloud network-connectivity transports create command is executed with the activation key and network details. Following this, a peering is established between the GCP VPC and the newly created transport using the gcloud compute networks peerings create command. Verification of the peering can be done in the GCP console.
• Step 3: Associate the Gateway on the AWS Side. In the AWS Interconnect console, users verify that the connection status is "available." Within the AWS Direct Connect console, under "Direct Connect gateways," the attachment to the new interconnect is visible. A final step involves associating the Virtual Private Gateway (VGW) with the Direct Connect gateway.
• Final Configuration: Route Table Update. A crucial final step on the AWS side is to add a route entry in the VPC’s route tables, directing all traffic destined for the GCP IP address range through the Virtual Gateway.

Once these steps are completed, a private network route is established between the two cloud environments, entirely managed by the respective cloud providers. A test involving compute instances on both AWS and GCP, with a simple web server running on AWS and accessed via its private IP from GCP, demonstrated successful private connectivity.

Key Considerations for Multicloud Deployments

When implementing AWS Interconnect — multicloud, several configuration options and architectural patterns are important to consider:

• Reference Architectures for Scalability: For deployments with multiple VPCs within a single region, AWS Transit Gateway serves as a centralized routing hub, connecting all VPCs through a single Interconnect attachment. This allows for traffic segmentation, consistent routing policies, and integration with AWS Network Firewall for traffic inspection.
• Global Scale with AWS Cloud WAN: For global operations with workloads distributed across multiple AWS Regions and other cloud environments, AWS Cloud WAN extends this model worldwide. It enables any region in the network to reach any Interconnect attachment globally, with centralized policy management and segment-based routing applied consistently. Detailed documentation on these reference architectures is available in related AWS blog posts.

AWS Interconnect — Last Mile: Direct Connections to Your Premises

Mirroring the architecture and design principles of its multicloud counterpart, AWS Interconnect — last mile simplifies the establishment of private connections between an organization’s on-premises locations or remote sites and AWS. This capability leverages the last-mile infrastructure of participating network providers, accessible directly from the AWS Management Console.

The onboarding process is similar to AWS Interconnect — multicloud: users select a provider, authenticate, and specify connection endpoints and bandwidth. An activation key generated by AWS is then used in the provider’s console to finalize the configuration. AWS Interconnect — last mile automatically provisions four redundant connections across two physical locations, configures BGP routing, and activates MACsec encryption and Jumbo Frames by default. This provides a resilient private connection to AWS that adheres to best practices, without manual network component configuration.

This service supports bandwidths ranging from 1 Gbps to 100 Gbps, with the flexibility to adjust bandwidth through the console without reprovisioning. It includes a 99.99% availability SLA up to the Direct Connect port and bundles CloudWatch Network Synthetic Monitor for connection health monitoring. Like its multicloud sibling, AWS Interconnect — last mile attaches to a Direct Connect Gateway, which then connects to Virtual Private Gateway, Transit Gateway, or AWS Cloud WAN deployments.

Lumen Technologies, a key partner, expressed enthusiasm for the new service. Scott Yow, SVP Product at Lumen, stated, "By combining AWS Interconnect — last mile with Lumen fiber network and Cloud Interconnect, we simplify the last-mile complexity that often slows cloud adoption and enable a faster, and more resilient path to AWS for customers."

Pricing and Availability

The pricing for both AWS Interconnect — multicloud and AWS Interconnect — last mile is based on a flat hourly rate for the requested capacity, billed prorata by the hour. Users select a bandwidth tier that aligns with their workload requirements.

AWS Interconnect — multicloud pricing varies by region pair, reflecting the geographical proximity and network routing involved. For deployments utilizing AWS Cloud WAN, the global any-to-any routing model means traffic might traverse multiple regions, impacting the total cost. Detailed pricing information is available on the respective AWS Interconnect — multicloud and AWS Interconnect — last mile pricing pages.

As of its launch, AWS Interconnect — multicloud is available in five region pairs: US East (N. Virginia) to Google Cloud N. Virginia, US West (N. California) to Google Cloud Los Angeles, US West (Oregon) to Google Cloud Oregon, Europe (London) to Google Cloud London, and Europe (Frankfurt) to Google Cloud Frankfurt. Support for Microsoft Azure is expected later in 2026, with OCI also slated for integration.

AWS Interconnect — last mile is launching initially in US East (N. Virginia) with Lumen Technologies as the first partner. Additional partners, including AT&T and Megaport, are in the process of integration, with plans for broader regional availability.

Organizations interested in getting started with AWS Interconnect can visit the AWS Direct Connect console and select AWS Interconnect from the navigation menu. AWS encourages users to share their experiences with AWS Interconnect through the AWS re:Post community.

The announcement signifies a significant step forward in simplifying cloud networking for enterprises, offering a robust and managed solution to address the complexities of modern multicloud and hybrid IT environments. The focus on ease of use, security, and performance is expected to accelerate cloud adoption and enable organizations to unlock greater value from their cloud investments.