AWS Hybrid Cloud Services for Your Enterprise

AWS Hybrid Cloud Services for Your Enterprise

AWS hybrid cloud services extend your on-premises infrastructure into Amazon Web Services through AWS Outposts, Storage Gateway, Direct Connect, and ECS/EKS Anywhere. This guide covers the core AWS hybrid services, architecture patterns, security considerations, and how AWS hybrid compares to Microsoft Azure hybrid — so you can make an informed platform decision.

Key facts

• AWS Outposts: Full 42U racks or 1U/2U servers running AWS services locally in your data center.
• AWS Outposts pricing: 3-year subscription with upfront, partial upfront, or no-upfront payment options.
• AWS Direct Connect: dedicated 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps network connection from your data center to AWS.
• AWS Storage Gateway types: S3 File Gateway, FSx File Gateway, Volume Gateway, Tape Gateway.
• EPC Group is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with core designations — we advise on both AWS and Azure hybrid strategies.
• AWS hybrid cloud suits organizations with significant AWS investment; Azure hybrid suits Microsoft 365 and Windows-heavy environments.

Core AWS hybrid cloud services

AWS Outposts

AWS Outposts brings AWS infrastructure and services into your on-premises data center. You run EC2, EBS, ECS, EKS, RDS, and EMR locally — managed by AWS through the same console as your cloud environment.

• Outposts Racks — Full 42U racks with EC2 instances and EBS storage for full-service local compute.
• Outposts Servers — Individual 1U or 2U servers for smaller or edge locations.
• Use cases — Low-latency applications (manufacturing, healthcare imaging), data residency requirements, local data processing.
• Pricing — 3-year subscription. Upfront, partial upfront, or no-upfront payment options.

AWS Storage Gateway

Storage Gateway connects on-premises applications to AWS cloud storage through standard NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and virtual tape interfaces. Applications keep their existing protocols while AWS manages the cloud backend.

• S3 File Gateway — Presents S3 buckets as NFS or SMB file shares for on-premises applications.
• FSx File Gateway — Low-latency access to Amazon FSx for Windows File Server from on-premises.
• Volume Gateway — Block storage volumes backed by S3 with point-in-time snapshots for disaster recovery.
• Tape Gateway — Virtual tape library replacing physical tape with cloud-backed virtual tapes.

AWS Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated private network connection from your data center to AWS. It bypasses the public internet for lower latency, consistent bandwidth, and reduced data transfer costs.

• 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps dedicated connections available through Direct Connect partners.
• Hosted connections from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps through partner network providers.
• Use cases: large data migrations, real-time application integration, compliance-driven network isolation.
• Works with AWS Transit Gateway for centralized multi-VPC connectivity.

Amazon ECS/EKS Anywhere

ECS and EKS Anywhere run AWS container orchestration on your on-premises hardware. Your containers are managed through the same AWS control plane as your cloud workloads.

• ECS Anywhere: run ECS tasks on any on-premises or edge server using the ECS agent.
• EKS Anywhere: deploy Kubernetes clusters on-premises using the same EKS tooling as cloud.
• Use cases: containerized applications with data residency requirements or low-latency edge needs.

AWS vs. Azure hybrid cloud: enterprise comparison

Category	AWS Hybrid	Azure Hybrid
On-premises compute	AWS Outposts (Racks and Servers)	Azure Stack HCI, Azure Arc
Dedicated network	AWS Direct Connect (1/10 Gbps)	Azure ExpressRoute (1/10 Gbps)
Hybrid storage	AWS Storage Gateway (NFS, SMB, iSCSI, VTL)	Azure StorSimple, Azure File Sync
Container hybrid	ECS Anywhere, EKS Anywhere	Azure Arc for Kubernetes
Management plane	AWS Systems Manager, AWS Console	Azure Arc, Azure Monitor
Microsoft 365 integration	Limited — requires custom connectors	Native — Azure AD, Teams, Intune, SharePoint
Windows workloads	Supported but not native	Native — Windows Server, Active Directory, SQL Server
Best for	AWS-first organizations, Linux workloads, cloud-native apps	Microsoft 365 environments, Windows-heavy infrastructure, regulated industries

Enterprise hybrid cloud architecture patterns

Enterprise hybrid cloud deployments follow three common patterns:

• Burst-to-cloud — On-premises handles steady-state workloads. AWS handles peak demand bursts. Direct Connect carries the overflow traffic.
• Compliance-driven hybrid — Regulated data stays on-premises (Outposts). Analytics and reporting run in AWS cloud. Network isolation through Direct Connect.
• Edge computing — AWS Outposts or ECS/EKS Anywhere at manufacturing plants or retail locations. AWS cloud handles centralized management and analytics.

Security considerations for hybrid cloud

• Identity — AWS IAM and AWS Organizations for centralized identity across hybrid environments. Consider integrating with Active Directory via AWS Directory Service.
• Network security — Security Groups, NACLs, and AWS Network Firewall for traffic control. Direct Connect bypasses public internet for sensitive data flows.
• Data encryption — AWS KMS for encryption at rest. TLS 1.2+ for data in transit. Outposts inherits cloud encryption controls.
• Compliance — AWS Artifact provides compliance documentation for HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, and PCI DSS. Outposts supports HIPAA-eligible workloads.
• Monitoring — AWS CloudTrail for API audit logging. AWS Security Hub for centralized security findings. Amazon GuardDuty for threat detection.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main AWS hybrid cloud services?

The four core AWS hybrid services are: AWS Outposts (on-premises AWS compute), AWS Storage Gateway (cloud-connected on-premises storage), AWS Direct Connect (dedicated private network connection to AWS), and Amazon ECS/EKS Anywhere (on-premises container orchestration managed by AWS).

How does AWS Outposts work?

AWS Outposts places AWS-managed hardware in your data center. You run EC2 instances, EBS storage, and services like RDS and ECS locally — managed through the same AWS Console as your cloud environment. Outposts connects to an AWS region for management and control plane operations.

What is AWS Direct Connect used for?

Direct Connect provides a dedicated private network connection from your data center to AWS. It is used for large data migrations, real-time hybrid application integration, and compliance-driven network isolation that requires traffic to stay off the public internet. Available in 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps configurations.

AWS hybrid vs. Azure hybrid: which is better?

It depends on your existing infrastructure. AWS hybrid is better for AWS-first organizations with Linux workloads. Azure hybrid is better for Microsoft 365 environments with Windows Server, Active Directory, and SharePoint. Most enterprises with Microsoft 365 get more value from Azure's native integration with their existing Microsoft investment.

Can EPC Group help with AWS hybrid cloud?

EPC Group specializes in Microsoft Azure hybrid cloud — Azure Stack HCI, Azure Arc, Azure ExpressRoute, and Azure hybrid storage. For organizations evaluating AWS vs. Azure hybrid, we provide unbiased architecture guidance. Our Microsoft expertise means we are best suited to Azure hybrid deployments.

Design your hybrid cloud strategy

Talk to a senior cloud architect about AWS or Azure hybrid architecture. Call (888) 381-9725 or request a 30-minute discovery call.