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Please Give Me Back My Network Cables! On Networking Limits in AWS#

SREcon25 Americas digest Program Core pick 25–27 March 2025

Recording

Steffen Gebert and Miklos Tirpak, emnify — Core

Play the recording: Please Give Me Back My Network Cables! On Networking Limits in AWS

  • Why: A specific, hard-won account of where "the cloud network" abstraction breaks down — running a mobile core network's packet-processing functions on EC2 and hitting undocumented and semi-documented AWS networking limits (packets-per-second, connection tracking) directly relevant to anyone building network-function or high-PPS workloads on public cloud.
  • What: A catalog of AWS EC2 networking limits (bandwidth caps, packet-per-second ceilings, connection tracking limits) discovered the hard way while running a mobile virtual network operator's custom mobile core network functions on AWS, including which limits are documented versus not, and how to monitor remaining quota. (from abstract only)
  • How: Explains how limits like PPS and connection tracking affect network traffic once exceeded, and diagnostic approaches for identifying when an incident is actually an undocumented cloud networking-limit rather than an application bug. (from abstract only)
  • Where applicable: Network-function/packet-processing workloads on AWS EC2 specifically; the underlying lesson (cloud "unlimited" networking has real, sometimes-undocumented ceilings) generalizes to any high-PPS or connection-dense workload on public cloud.