AWS EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint — Say Bye to Bastion Hosts

Exploring the EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint, its benefits and limitations, and the types of VPC endpoints.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced a new feature called EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint, which simplifies the process of managing Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances. AWS’s EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint enables authorized users to securely connect to their EC2 instances without needing traditional key-based authentication or a public IP address. This eliminates the need to manage and distribute SSH keys, simplifying the management process and enhancing security.

Issue:

Traditionally, to connect to an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance within your Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) over the Internet, you would first have to connect to a bastion host with a public IP address that your administrator set up over an Internet Gateway (IGW) in your VPC. Then, you would use port forwarding to reach your destination instance.

Solution:

Amazon EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint (EIC) is a new feature that allows you to connect securely to your EC2 instances and other VPC resources from the Internet. This eliminates the need for a…