Evaluate available networking features

Selecting and configuring the right networking resources is crucial to achieving optimal performance in your workloads. By evaluating and leveraging available networking features, you can enhance throughput and mitigate latency and jitter, leading to improved user experiences and resource utilization.

Best Practices

Leverage Advanced Networking Features

• Utilize AWS Global Accelerator to improve application availability and performance by routing user traffic to the optimal endpoint based on health, geography, and routing policies.
• Implement Amazon Route 53 for DNS management to facilitate low-latency routing decisions and traffic management through health checks.
• Use AWS Direct Connect for dedicated connectivity between on-premises resources and AWS to achieve consistent network performance and reduced latency.
• Evaluate the use of Amazon CloudFront as a content delivery network (CDN) to cache content closer to users, decreasing latency and improving load times.
• Conduct performance testing and monitoring to quantify the impact of these networking features, adjusting configurations based on real-time metrics and analysis.

Questions to ask your team

• Have you identified the latency and throughput requirements of your application?
• What specific networking features have you evaluated for improving performance?
• How have you measured the impact of any networking configurations implemented?
• Have you considered using edge locations to reduce latency for geographically dispersed users?
• What tools or metrics do you use to analyze network performance?
• Are you monitoring network jitter and its impact on user experience?
• How does your current networking solution support scalability and future growth?

Who should be doing this?

Cloud Solutions Architect

• Assess workload requirements for latency, throughput, and bandwidth.
• Select appropriate networking resources based on performance metrics.
• Design and implement network architecture that aligns with user and on-premises resource constraints.
• Evaluate and configure networking features to optimize performance.
• Conduct testing and analysis to measure the impact of networking choices.

Network Engineer

• Implement the networking solutions designed by the Cloud Solutions Architect.
• Monitor network performance metrics and optimize configurations as needed.
• Configure network-level features to reduce latency and jitter.
• Work with edge locations to improve user experience and resource placement.
• Collaborate with the development team to ensure seamless integration of networking solutions.

DevOps Engineer

• Ensure continuous integration and deployment of applications with a focus on performance efficiency.
• Automate testing of network performance and feature evaluations.
• Gather and analyze metrics related to application performance and network impact.
• Facilitate communication between development, operations, and networking teams.
• Provide feedback for iteration on networking configurations and features.

What evidence shows this is happening in your organization?

• Networking Features Evaluation Template: A structured template to assess various cloud networking features that can enhance performance, including criteria for latency, throughput, and jitter.
• Performance Metrics Analysis Report: A comprehensive report documenting the impact of implemented networking features on workload performance, including metrics such as latency and bandwidth usage.
• Cloud Networking Strategy Guide: A strategic guide outlining best practices for selecting and configuring networking resources in the cloud, including evaluations of specific networking capabilities.
• Networking Configuration Checklist: A detailed checklist to ensure all aspects of networking configurations are evaluated and optimized for performance efficiency before deployment.
• Performance Testing Playbook: A playbook providing step-by-step instructions for conducting performance tests on networking features, complete with measurable objectives and analysis methods.

Cloud Services

AWS

• Amazon CloudFront: A content delivery network (CDN) that accelerates delivery of your websites, APIs, and video content by caching copies at edge locations.
• AWS Global Accelerator: A service that improves the availability and performance of your applications with global users by routing traffic through AWS’s global network.
• Amazon VPC: Allows you to create isolated networks and control the placement of your resources, enabling optimization based on latency and bandwidth needs.

Azure

• Azure Traffic Manager: A DNS-based traffic load balancer that enables you to distribute traffic optimally across global Azure regions.
• Azure ExpressRoute: Allows you to extend your on-premises networks into the Microsoft cloud over a private connection, enhancing performance and reliability.
• Azure Virtual Network: Enables you to create private networks and customize your networking configuration to address latency and throughput.

Google Cloud Platform

• Cloud Load Balancing: Distributes user traffic across multiple backend instances dynamically, improving responsiveness and minimizing latency.
• Cloud CDN: Accelerates content delivery by caching content at locations close to users, reducing latency.
• Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): Allows users to define their own private network in the cloud, optimizing the network configuration based on performance requirements.

Question: How do you select and configure networking resources in your workload?
Pillar: Performance Efficiency (Code: PERF)