AWS Direct Connect Connection ap-south-2

Question

**Hi Experts, **
I have an existing AWS Direct Connect dedicated connection (10 Gbps) in the ap-south-2 (Hyderabad) Region.

I would like to terminate the physical Direct Connect connection, but I want to retain the associated virtual interfaces (VIFs) for both IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity that are currently configured on the same Direct Connect connection.

I have the following questions:
1- Is it possible to retain private/public virtual interfaces after terminating the underlying dedicated Direct Connect connection?
If retention is possible, are there any limitations or dependencies I should be aware of (for example, attachment to another Direct Connect connection or a Link Aggregation Group)?

2- What happens to the IPv4 and IPv6 BGP sessions and routes when the physical connection is deleted & retention will not change any IP address when I will connect the same interfaces to another Direct Connect Connection?

3- Are there any charges for keeping the virtual interfaces themselves if the underlying Direct Connect connection is no longer active?
If charges apply, could someone clarify the billing model for VIFs (public, private) in this scenario?

re:Post Agent · Accepted Answer

When you terminate a dedicated AWS Direct Connect connection, the virtual interfaces (VIFs) associated with that connection cannot be retained independently. Virtual interfaces are logical connections that exist on top of physical Direct Connect connections and use industry standard 802.1Q VLANs with BGP. They are inherently tied to an active physical connection.

To address your specific questions:

1. Virtual interfaces cannot exist without an underlying physical Direct Connect connection. If you terminate your dedicated connection, the associated private and public VIFs will also be removed. However, if you plan to establish a new Direct Connect connection, you would need to recreate the virtual interfaces on that new connection. Dedicated connections support multiple virtual interfaces to isolate different traffic flows, and these connections can also be bundled into a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) for increased bandwidth.

2. When the physical Direct Connect connection is deleted, all BGP sessions (both IPv4 and IPv6) associated with the virtual interfaces on that connection will be terminated, and the routes will be withdrawn. If you recreate virtual interfaces on a new Direct Connect connection, you will need to reconfigure the BGP sessions. The IP addressing for the new VIFs would follow the same configuration process as the original setup.

3. Since virtual interfaces cannot exist without an active physical Direct Connect connection, there would be no charges for VIFs alone if the underlying connection is terminated. The billing is associated with the active Direct Connect connection itself and any attachments (such as to a Transit Gateway or Cloud WAN core network edge for transit VIFs).

If you need to maintain connectivity while transitioning between Direct Connect connections, you may want to consider establishing the new connection and configuring the VIFs on it before terminating the existing connection to avoid service interruption.  
**Sources**  
[Hybrid network connections - Hybrid Connectivity](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/hybrid-connectivity/hybrid-network-connections.html)  
[AWS Direct Connect - Hybrid Networking Lens - AWS Well-Architected Framework](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/hybrid-networking-lens/aws-direct-connect.html)

Ajit N K · Answer

Hey Yash, just came across your question and wanted to flag something important before you proceed.

The VIFs cannot be retained when you delete a dedicated Direct Connect connection. AWS deletes all associated VIFs along with the connection itself, so there is no way to detach them and re-attach them to a different connection or LAG. The AWS Knowledge Center article on deleting a Direct Connect connection confirms this explicitly.

The safe path is to provision the new connection first (or the LAG), create fresh VIFs on it with your desired IP/VLAN configuration, establish the BGP sessions in parallel, then gradually shift traffic using BGP weight adjustments. Only after you have validated traffic flowing cleanly on the new path should you delete the old VIFs and then the old connection. BGP reconvergence on each new VIF typically takes 30-90 seconds, so this can be done with very minimal disruption if the new connection is already provisioned.

One thing that would change the approach significantly: is your new Direct Connect connection already in "available" state, or does it still need to be ordered? If it still needs to be ordered, you are looking at a 1-3 week lead time for a new 10 Gbps dedicated connection in ap-south-2, and the old connection needs to stay up during that window.

I will put together a more detailed reply with BGP configuration examples and a step-by-step cutover checklist if that would help. Just reply with the answer to the question above and whether you also have direct control over BGP policies on your on-premises router.

AWS Direct Connect Connection ap-south-2

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