# AWS Direct Connect

**When sending logs or metrics from AWS to Better Stack, you typically incur AWS egress charges.**

AWS charges up to **$0.09/GB** for data egress, which can significantly increase your expenses for high-volume telemetry.

To help you **reduce these costs**, Better Stack offers dedicated ingestion endpoints that leverage [AWS Direct Connect](https://aws.amazon.com/directconnect/). By routing your data through these endpoints, you can reduce your egress expenses.

We bill for Direct Connect ingestion at **$0.04/GB**, offering substantial savings compared to standard AWS egress rates.

## How to use AWS Direct Connect

To utilize Direct Connect, you need to change your ingestion endpoint from the default ingesting host to the AWS proxy address for your chosen region.

```
[label Format for the Direct Connect ingesting host]
<cluster>-aws-<aws-region>.betterstackdata.com
```

For example, if your logs currently ingest through a host in the `eu-nbg-2` cluster and you want to use AWS Direct Connect in the `eu-central-1` region, it would look like this:

| Default ingesting host | `s123456.eu-nbg-2.betterstackdata.com`             |
|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| Cluster                | `eu-nbg-2`                                         |
| Chosen AWS region      | `eu-central-1`                                     |
| New ingesting host     | `eu-nbg-2-aws-eu-central-1.betterstackdata.com`    |

### Configuration Steps

1. **Identify your cluster**  
Find the cluster you're using  in **Telemetry** -> [Sources](https://telemetry.betterstack.com/team/0/sources ";_blank") -> Your source, e.g. `eu-nbg-2` or `us-east-9`.

1. **Choose an AWS region**  
Select one of our [available AWS regions](#available-aws-regions) that offers Direct Connect.

1. **Construct the new ingesting host**  
Combine your cluster and the chosen AWS region into `<cluster>-aws-<aws-region>.betterstackdata.com`. For instance, `eu-nbg-2-aws-eu-central-1.betterstackdata.com`. This will be your new **ingesting host**.

1. **Update your source configuration**  
Modify your log forwarder, application, or collector configuration to use this new endpoint. This usually involves updating the `ingesting_host` or `endpoint` parameter.

[info]
#### Using syslog to send your logs?

If you're using `*-vec.betterstackdata.com` ingesting host, as suggested for connecting Heroku, Digital Ocean and Render apps, or connecting via RSyslog or Syslog-ng, the AWS Direct Connect cannot be used directly.

Please let us know if you have specific request at hello@betterstack.com.
[/info]

## Available AWS regions

We currently have Direct Connect forwarders in the following AWS region:

*   `eu-central-1`

### Cross-Region Data Transfer

If your AWS services are not running in `eu-central-1`, you can still use our Direct Connect endpoint in that region to reduce costs. You will incur an AWS cross-region data transfer charge, but the total cost to you will still be less than the standard AWS egress costs.

[info]
#### Looking for a different AWS region?

We are actively working on expanding our Direct Connect presence. Please let us know if you have specific region requests at hello@betterstack.com.
[/info]

## Need help?

Please let us know at hello@betterstack.com. We're happy to help! 🙏