When I started learning AWS networking, one of the first concepts I needed to understand was the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). A VPC provides a logically isolated network where AWS resources such as EC2 instances can run.

A VPC is your private network inside AWS. When creating a VPC, you define an IP address range using CIDR notation.

For example:

This gives the VPC a large private IPv4 address range.

The /16 represents the network prefix. IPv4 addresses contain 32 bits.

With 10.0.0.0/16, the first 16 bits identify the network, while the remaining 16 bits can be used for addresses within that network.

A smaller prefix such as /24 provides fewer addresses:

This can be useful when creating smaller subnets inside a VPC.

A subnet is a smaller network range created inside a VPC.

For example:

VPC: 10.0.0.0/16

Public subnet: 10.0.1.0/24

Private subnet: 10.0.2.0/24

This allows resources to be organized into different network segments.

Understanding VPCs, subnets, routing, security groups, and CIDR notation is essential for working with AWS infrastructure. These concepts help determine how resources communicate with each other and with the internet.

The most useful way to learn networking is through hands-on practice. Creating a VPC, adding subnets, configuring route tables, and launching an EC2 instance helped me understand these concepts much better than theory alone.

I’m continuing to explore AWS networking and infrastructure through practical cloud projects.