Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Observing and diagnosing your network with AWS (NET205)

Summary

• The session, led by Suhaib Tahir and Riggs Goodman, focused on network observability, monitoring tools, and troubleshooting tools in AWS.
• The speakers discussed the importance of network observability for operational efficiency, cost optimization, security, and proactive issue mitigation.
• The collect, monitor, and analyze phases of network observability were outlined, emphasizing the collection of telemetry data, creation of alarms, and analysis for root cause identification.
• AWS CloudWatch was highlighted for metrics collection, alarms, and logs, with features like anomaly detection and contributor insights.
• CloudWatch Dashboards were recommended for centralized monitoring and operational playbooks.
• AWS Network Manager was introduced as a tool for managing global networks, including Transit Gateway and Cloud WAN.
• Network troubleshooting tools like VPC Reachability Analyzer, Transit Gateway Route Analyzer, and Network Access Analyzer were presented.
• Infrastructure performance metrics and CloudWatch Internet Monitor were introduced to help identify AWS and internet performance issues.
• VPC flow logs and traffic mirroring were discussed for deeper network analysis and troubleshooting.

Insights

• Network observability is critical for maintaining highly available and scalable networks, especially as they grow in complexity across multiple accounts, regions, and VPCs.
• AWS provides a suite of tools that integrate with CloudWatch to offer comprehensive network monitoring and observability, allowing for proactive issue detection and resolution.
• The introduction of AWS Network Manager as a centralized management console for global networks signifies AWS's commitment to simplifying network operations for customers.
• The new features in infrastructure performance metrics and CloudWatch Internet Monitor show AWS's efforts to provide visibility into network performance both within AWS and on the broader internet.
• The session highlighted the importance of automating network deployments and changes using infrastructure as code and CI/CD best practices to reduce human error and improve network design.
• AWS's approach to network troubleshooting emphasizes not just reactive measures but also proactive analysis and visualization tools to ensure proper network configurations and connectivity.
• The session underscored the need for a well-defined monitoring team and escalation processes, as well as the use of playbooks for documenting investigation processes and remediation steps.