Securely connect to AWS-hosted database

[awarren-darwin]

I want to use Google Looker to connect securely (i.e. password not sent in plain text) to a database hosted on AWS that is not directly accessible from the Internet. Is it possible to do so (e.g. via an AWS load balancer)? Or is Google Looker designed only to be used with databases that are either directly accessible from the Internet or hosted within GCP?

[sam8]

You've got the right idea.

Looker needs to be able to reach the database over the internet. However, there are ways to add extra security to that process, such as setting up an SSH tunnel.

[awarren-darwin]

Thanks for the suggestion, but it looks as though this article applies only to the Looker enterprise product, and not Look Studio (which is what I am using).

[sam8 · Accepted solution]

Ah, gotcha. In that case, the information you're looking for is on the Connect to Amazon Redshift page.

Firewall and database access

To allow Looker Studio to connect to and query databases that are behind a firewall, you will need to open access to one of the IP addresses shown below. You may also need to configure your database to accept traffic from these addresses. Consult the documentation for your specific database for instructions on how to do this.

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Private IP connections aren't supported for Looker Studio. You'd have to open the database to connect to the Looker Studio IP addresses over the public internet.

If that doesn't work for you, I recommend creating a feature request!

[dinesh111]

You could also use different AWS accounts to store workloads and sensitive data. That's what I do to limit exposure in case of configuration errors. I get accounts from https://digitalstorenet.com/product/buy-aws-account/.