On-Premise Strategy with AWS | Deep Dive.

On-Premise Strategy with AWS - Deep Dive.

Scope:

• Benefits of Hybrid,
• Hybrid Architecture Models,
• Connectivity Options,
•  Hybrid Compute,
•  Hybrid Storage + Data Strategy,
•  Identity + Access Integration,
•  Operations, Observability & Automation,
•  Security & Governance,
•  Migration Patterns (Rehost → Refactor),
•  Common Use-Case Blueprints,
•  Reference Architectures.

Intro:

• Modern enterprises rarely choose only cloud or only on-premise.
• Instead, Modern enterprises design hybrid architectures that unify both (cloud & on-premise.)
• AWS offers a full hybrid ecosystem for:
• Extending, 
• Integrating, 
• Modernizing, 
• Sometimes completely transforming on-premise workloads.

1. Benefits of Hybrid

• Organizations go hybrid with AWS because:

 Regulatory or data residency requirements

• Certain workloads must remain on-prem.

 Legacy systems not cloud-ready

• Mainframes, monolithic ERP systems, specialized hardware.

 Latency & edge computing

• Processing needs to occur close to manufacturing lines, hospitals, or retail sites.

 Gradual migrations

• Hybrid enables “move when ready” rather than a big bang.

 Modernization without disruption

• New cloud-native features can be layered on top of existing systems.

2. Hybrid Architecture Models

Model A: On-prem Primary + AWS for Bursting

• twtech runs core workloads on-prem, burst compute into AWS for peak loads.

Model B: AWS Primary + On-prem Legacy Extensions

• Main applications run in AWS; on-prem supports legacy DBs, directory services, or proprietary systems.

Model C: Distributed Edge + Regional Cloud

• Use AWS Outposts, Snowball Edge, or Local Zones to keep compute close to users.

Model D: Multi-site Active/Active

• Both on-prem and AWS regions are active, using global load balancing + data replication.

3. Connectivity Options (Network Deep Dive)

• Connectivity is the backbone of hybrid infrastructure.

A. Layer 3 VPN

• Quickest and cheapest.
• IPSec tunnels over the internet.
• Good for dev/test or light workloads.

B. AWS Direct Connect (DX)

• Dedicated private fiber link.
• 1, 10, 100 Gbps options.
• SLA-backed, low latency, highly stable.
• Supports public, private, and transit VIFs.

C. DX + VPN (HA Hybrid)

• VPN acts as failover for Direct Connect.

D. AWS Transit Gateway Hybrid Mesh

• Centralizes routing.
• Integrates multiple VPCs and on-prem networks.

E. SD-WAN + AWS Cloud WAN

• Allows global WAN orchestration between branches and AWS.

4. Hybrid Compute Strategy

Option A: AWS Outposts

• AWS-managed hardware in twtech datacenter.
• twtech runs EC2, ECS, EKS, RDS locally, managed from AWS console.

Option B: AWS Snow Family

• Edge compute + storage for disconnected environments.

Use cases:

• Tactical edge
• Industrial sites
• Large-scale data migrations

Option C: VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC)

• Extend vSphere into AWS with native integration:
• vMotion from on-prem
• Shared operational model
• Tight integration with native AWS services

Option D: Containers

• Hybrid Kubernetes:
• EKS Anywhere (EKS-A)
• EKS Hybrid Nodes
• ECS Anywhere

Option E: Serverless Access to On-Prem

• AWS Lambda calling on-prem services via:
• Direct Connect
• API Gateway + VPC Link

5. Hybrid Storage + Data Strategy

A. Direct Data Extension

• Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP integrates with on-prem NetApp clusters.
• FSx File Gateway for Windows file shares.

B. Storage Gateway (File, Tape, Volume)

• Allows on-prem applications to use cloud-based storage seamlessly:
• Backup to AWS
• Archival to Amazon S3 Glacier
• NFS/SMB caching with cloud backing

C. Database Hybrid Approaches

• RDS + on-prem DBs using DMS for replication.
• Aurora Global Database with near-zero RPO failover to AWS.
• Babelfish for SQL Server migrations.

D. Data Lakes + Analytics

• twtech can keep operational DBs on-prem while analytic pipelines run in AWS:
• S3 as central lake
•  AWS Glue for ETL
•  Amazon Athena for query

6. Identity & Access Integration

A. Active Directory Integration

• AWS Managed Microsoft AD + Trust relationships
• AD Connector (proxy)

B. Single Sign-On

• IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO)
• Federation via SAML/ADFS/Okta

C. Secrets & Key Management

• AWS KMS with on-prem HSM integration via CloudHSM

7. Operations, Observability & Automation

Unified Monitoring

• CloudWatch metric aggregation from on-prem
• CloudWatch Agent or Prometheus exporters
• AWS Systems Manager (SSM) for hybrid fleet management

Unified Logging

• CloudWatch Logs
• Amazon OpenSearch Service
• On-prem SIEM integration (Splunk, QRadar)

Automation

• Systems Manager Run Command
• Patch Manager for hybrid nodes
• IaC: Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK

8. Security & Governance

Zero Trust Hybrid Models

• PrivateLink to expose services securely
• Firewall Manager + Security Hub
• Inspector for EC2 + EKS + on-prem agents

Encryption Strategy

• KMS multi-region keys
• On-prem HSM integration

Network Security

• VPC endpoints, NACLs, security groups
• Microsegmentation via AWS Network Firewall

9. Migration Patterns

1. Rehost (“Lift & Shift”)

• VMware Cloud on AWS
• AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

2. Replatform

Move databases to:

• RDS
• Aurora
• DynamoDB

3. Repurchase

• Move to SaaS alternatives.

4. Refactor / Modernize

Break monolith into:

• Lambda
• Fargate
• Microservices

5. Retire / Retain

• Hybrid allows selective migration.

10. Common Use-Case Blueprints

A. Hybrid App Development

Apps use:

• API Gateway in AWS
• On-prem DB through Direct Connect

B. Disaster Recovery to AWS

Warm standby:

• Continuous replication using DMS/MGN
• Route 53 failover

C. Cloud Bursting for Compute

On-prem HPC clusters overflow to:

• EC2 Spot Fleets
• EKS clusters

D. Edge Manufacturing

Outposts or Snowball for:

• Local SCADA/PLC processing
• Batch upload to AWS analytics tools

11. twtech Sample Reference Architectures

A. Hybrid Network Core

B. Hybrid Kubernetes

C. Hybrid Active Directory

On-Prem AD ←→ AWS Managed AD (trust)

IAM Identity Center (SSO)

D. Hybrid Storage Gateway

Local NFS/SMB Apps → File Gateway → S3 / Glacier