Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

Chapter 4. Evaluating Cloud-Based Mitigation Vendors

We live in the world where cloud computing, essentially rented computing capacity, is commonplace. Vendors such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure allow you to utilize their computing power without building your own. Among the broad umbrella of cloud computing services, there are subcategories such as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

In this chapter, we will focus on DDoS mitigation vendors who fall under the SaaS model, where they offer their software as a service, often charging a license fee to start and a metered usage fee when you use their services. As active DDoS practitioners, we are familiar with current vendor brands and offerings in the marketplace today. However, we want to focus on the technologies and features instead of any particular vendor brands or their “secret sauce.”

In this chapter, we want to answer the question of whether to build your own on-premise DDoS solution, buy the service from a cloud-based provider, or do both. By understanding the pros and cons of using a cloud-based DDoS mitigation provider, you can start to reflect back to your own network and conclude with your own answer to the build-versus-buy question.

Focus on On-Premise Versus Cloud

In previous chapters, we discussed the DDoS detection and mitigation techniques available once you have the traffic data. This chapter will place the focus on the infrastructure ...