Amazon ECS Networking

A Technical Deep Dive

What is ECS Networking?

Overview
• Container-level networking
• Task-level networking
• Service networking
• Load balancer integration
• VPC integration

Key Features
• Multiple networking modes
• Service discovery
• Load balancing
• Security controls
• VPC connectivity

Network Modes
1. awsvpc Mode
• Dedicated ENI per task
• Own security groups
• Private IP addresses
• Full VPC features
• Required for Fargate

Benefits
• Enhanced security
• Network isolation
• Simplified container networking
• Better monitoring
• Native VPC integration

Considerations
• ENI limits per instance

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 • IP address management
• Additional ENI consumption
• Subnet IP availability
• Security group limits

2. bridge Mode
• Default for EC2 launch type
• Docker’s virtual network
• Shared host networking
• Port mapping required
• Container-to-container communication

Benefits
• Resource efficient
• Simple configuration
• Less IP consumption
• Easy port mapping
• Legacy application support

Considerations
• Limited network isolation
• Port conflicts possible
• More complex security
• Host network dependency
• Limited VPC features

3. host Mode
• Direct host network access
• No network isolation
• Maximum performance
• No port mapping needed
• Host network stack

Benefits
• Best performance
• No network overhead
• Simple configuration
• Direct host access
• Suitable for high-performance

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Considerations
• No network isolation
• Port conflicts
• Limited security
• Host dependency
• Port management challenges

4. none Mode
• No external networking
• Complete isolation
• Batch processing focus
• Maximum security
• Minimal network overhead

VPC Integration
1. Subnet Configuration
• Public subnets
• Private subnets
• CIDR planning
• Availability Zones
• Route tables

2. Internet Access
• Internet Gateway
• NAT Gateway
• VPC endpoints
• Direct Connect
• VPN connections

3. VPC Endpoints
• Interface endpoints
• Gateway endpoints
• PrivateLink
• Service access
• Security controls

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Load Balancer Integration
1. Application Load Balancer
• Layer 7 routing
• Path-based routing
• Host-based routing
• SSL termination
• WebSocket support

2. Network Load Balancer

• Layer 4 routing
• Static IP addresses
• High performance
• UDP support
• Extreme scale

3. Configuration Options
• Target groups
• Health checks
• Stickiness
• SSL/TLS
• Access logs

Service Discovery
1. AWS Cloud Map
• Service registry
• DNS management
• API discovery
• Health checking
• Custom namespaces

2. DNS Configuration
• Service names
• A records
• SRV records
• TTL settings
• Custom DNS

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3. Integration
• Route 53
• Private DNS
• Service mesh
• Load balancers
• Health checks

Security Controls
1. Security Groups
• Task-level security
• Service-level rules
• Inbound rules
• Outbound rules
• Cross-service access

2. Network ACLs
• Subnet-level security
• Stateless rules
• Ordered processing
• Explicit allow/deny
• Protocol control

3. VPC Flow Logs

• Traffic monitoring
• Security analysis
• Troubleshooting
• Compliance
• Audit trails

Performance Optimization
1. Network Mode Selection
• Use case evaluation
• Performance requirements
• Security needs
• Resource constraints
• Scalability needs

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2. ENI Management
• ENI density
• IP address planning
• Placement strategies
• Instance types
• Capacity planning

3. Load Balancer Optimization

• Algorithm selection
• Health check tuning
• Connection settings
• SSL offloading
• Access logging

High Availability
1. Multi-AZ Design
• Zone redundancy
• Load distribution
• Failover handling
• Data replication
• Network paths

2. Service Configuration
• Task placement
• Service discovery
• Health checks
• Auto scaling
• Load balancing

3. Disaster Recovery
• Backup strategies
• Recovery procedures
• Network failover
• Data protection
• Service resilience

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Monitoring and Troubleshooting
1. CloudWatch Metrics
• Network metrics
• Load balancer metrics
• ENI metrics
• Container insights
• Custom metrics

2. Network Diagnostics
• VPC Flow Logs
• CloudWatch Logs
• AWS X-Ray
• Network analyzer
• Traffic mirroring

3. Common Issues
• ENI limits
• IP exhaustion
• Security group issues
• DNS problems
• Load balancer health

Best Practices
1. Network Design
• Proper CIDR planning
• Subnet allocation
• AZ distribution
• Security layers
• Service isolation

2. Security
• Least privilege
• Network segmentation
• Traffic monitoring
• Regular audits
• Compliance checks

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3. Operations
• Monitoring setup
• Backup strategies
• Update procedures
• Documentation
• Team training

Advanced Features
1. Container Insights
• Performance monitoring
• Network metrics
• Resource tracking
• Custom dashboards
• Alerting

2. Service Mesh
• Traffic management
• Service discovery
• Security policies
• Observability
• Load balancing

3. Auto Scaling
• Network metrics
• Capacity planning
• Scaling policies
• Target tracking
• Step scaling

Future Developments
• Enhanced networking features
• Improved service discovery
• Advanced security controls
• Performance optimizations
• Integration enhancements

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Additional Resources
• AWS Documentation
• Best Practices Guides
• Reference Architectures
• Community Resources
• Training Materials