Analyzing AWS EC2 Network Resources in DDI Central

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is at the heart of most AWS deployments, powering scalable virtual machines for applications, services, and infrastructure workloads. But managing EC2 efficiently involves much more than just instances — it includes tracking network interfaces, Elastic IPs, and load balancers, all of which play a crucial role in service availability and connectivity.

For busy network admins, juggling these elements across multiple regions and VPCs can quickly become overwhelming.

That’s where DDI Central’s Cloud Observability steps in.

With built-in cloud observability, DDI Central offers a unified view of critical EC2 networking components:

• EC2 Instances – View instance state, IP assignments, and DNS mappings in real time.
• Network Interfaces (ENIs) – Track interface associations, IP details, and subnet placement.
• Elastic IPs – Monitor allocation, usage, and attachment status to avoid waste or misconfiguration.
• Load Balancers – Understand traffic distribution, DNS resolution, and IP dependencies across services.

For Network Admins, This Means:

• Unified visibility across EC2’s networking stack without switching between AWS consoles
• Faster troubleshooting of routing issues, IP conflicts, or DNS resolution failures
• Accurate planning for IP capacity, DNS records, and load distribution — across hybrid or multicloud setups

To access and analyze EC2 resources within DDI Central,

1. Log into DDI Central using the web UI. Only an Admin or Operator with pertinent access privileges to a cloud cluster can access a Cloud Observability cluster.
2. Select an AWS-integrated Cloud Observability Cluster, created during cloud integration setup, from the top right corner within the Web UI.
3. Navigate to IPAM->EC2 menu inside the selected cluster:
   • Click the Instances tab at the top of the page
   • This opens a dedicated dashboard for AWS EC2 observability

4. Global Instance Distribution & State Analytics

   

   This consolidated dashboard enables admins to easily rack instances by zone, scope workloads by IP.

   Service Availability Map (Asia-Pacific)

   • World map visualization indicating geographic concentration of EC2 instances.
   • Highlights:
     • Circle radius represents instance density per country.
     • Hover tooltips reveal region name and instance count.
   • Quickly identify regional hot spots and underutilized locations for better capacity planning and DR strategy alignment.

   Regional Instance Distribution Donut

   • Breaks down total instance count (e.g., 27) across AWS APAC regions.
   • Offers multi-region visibility for cross-data center workload distribution and resilience comparison.

   Instance State Breakdown (Bar Graph)

   • Categorizes instances by operational state — Running, Stopped, Pending, etc.
   • Enables fast health-check diagnostics and operational inventory review at a glance.

   Instance Inventory Table

   Key Fields:

   • Instance Type, Availability Zone
   • Public DNS & IPv4 Address
   • Platform (OS), Tags
   • Deepens observability at the instance level, with tag-based context for ownership, environment, and stack grouping.

5. Instance Drill-Down View

   

   Instance Overview Panel

   • Metadata:
     • Instance Name and ID
     • Availability Zone
     • Current State
   • Baseline identity and state monitoring for real-time instance status.

   Subnet Association Tab

   • Details:
     • Subnet ID, CIDR, Usage %, Available IPs
     • IPv6/DNS64 flags
   • Tracks network containment of the instance and IP availability within assigned subnet.

   VPC Mapping Tab

   • Details:
     • VPC ID, CIDR IPv4/6, Default Flag
   • Shows tenant network the instance belongs to; supports subnet hierarchy and IP isolation validation.

   ENI (Elastic Network Interface) Association

   • Details:
     • ENI ID, Subnet, VPC, AZ
     • Security Group & Public DNS
   • Associates IP and firewall context to specific ENIs, enabling route table debugging and IP allocation assurance.

   Elastic IP Overview

   • Details:
     • Elastic IP, Allocation & Association IDs
     • Private IP, Network Border Group
   • Confirms external accessibility, maps NAT/Egress flows to private IPs securely.

   Instance Tags Tab

   • Details:
     • Key: Name → Value: "Bhuvana"
   • Supports traceability and cost allocation for cloud asset governance.

6. Network Interface-Level Drill Down

   

   ENI Overview Panel

   • Metadata:
     • ENI ID, Status: In-Use
     • Instant verification of active/inactive network interfaces across VPC.

   Subnet Mapping

   • Details:
     • Subnet ID, IPv4 CIDR, Usage %, AZ
     • DNS64 & IPv6 info
   • Reveals which subnet the ENI is attached to; critical for VLAN/subnet provisioning and DHCP decisions.

   VPC Association

   • Details:
     • VPC ID, CIDR IPv4/6, Default Flag
   • Validates tenant scope and broadcast domain.

   Elastic IP Association

   • Details:
     • Allocated Elastic IP, Allocation ID, Private IP, Associated ID, Network Border Group
   • Maps ENI to EIP-NAT routes, confirming exposure to external users or services.

   Linked Instance (if any)

   • Details:
     • Instance ID (if associated)
   • Value Proposition: Connects the interface to compute context, helpful in tracing packet flow paths.

   ENI Tag Metadata

   • Tags:
     • aws:ecs:serviceName = bhuvana1
     • aws:ecs:clusterName = bhuvana-cluster4
   • Links ENI to ECS orchestration context, enabling visibility into service-level deployment and microservice tracing.

7. Elastic IP Visualization

   

   Global Distribution & State Overview

   Map + Donut Chart:

   • Show where Elastic IPs are allocated across Asia-Pacific.
   • Breakdown by region (e.g., 22 Elastic IPs total).
   • Visualizes IP distribution hotspots to assess egress point availability and elastic usage efficiency.

   Elastic IP Inventory Table

   • Fields:
     • Name, Allocated IPv4, Allocation ID
     • Private IP, Associated Resource ID
     • Network Border Group, Interface ID, Tags
   • Enables full visibility into IP NAT bindings, aiding troubleshooting and dynamic scaling use cases.

   Elastic IP Tag Details Modal

   

   • Fields:
     • Key/Value pair (e.g., Name = Bhuvana-test1)
   • Ensures tagging compliance for billing and network asset classification.

8. Load Balancer Visualization

   

   Load Balancer Geo and State Overview

   • Map + Donut Chart + Bar Graph:
     • Location and count of EC2 Load Balancers across regions.
     • Visual status (Active, Provisioning, Failed, etc.)
   • Monitors load balancing surface area and availability posture across AZs and public endpoints.

   Load Balancer Inventory Table

   • Fields:
     • Name, DNS Name
     • VPC, Availability Zone count
     • Type: Network, Application, Gateway
   • Connects DNS and routing policies to specific zones; simplifies root-cause analysis for regional access delays.

   Availability Zone Modal (Drilldown)

   

   • Shows:
     • Zone-wise breakdown (e.g., ap-east-1a/b/c)
     • Associated Subnet IDs
   • Allows mapping of traffic distribution and redundancy posture for fault tolerance.

Why It's Effective

With DDI Central, network administrators can:

• Gain a global and granular view of EC2 instance deployments
• Instantly trace instance-IP-subnet-VPC relationships
• Confirm public IP allocation and network exposure
• Identify orphaned interfaces or improperly tagged resources
• Track Elastic IP allocation and NAT behavior
• Visualize load balancer health and zone spread
• Audit infrastructure compliance and optimize IP space usage

DDI Central brings AWS network intelligence under a single unified pane of glass—designed for real-time clarity and control.