> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aviatrix.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# East-West Traffic Inspection Overview

> Compare Aviatrix's two approaches to east-west traffic inspection: Transparent DCF Protection with AWS Transit Gateway, and East-West Inspection with Aviatrix Transit. Learn which one applies to your deployment.

Aviatrix offers two approaches to inspecting east-west traffic (traffic
between spoke VPCs and VNets), depending on how your spokes reach each other.

## Transparent DCF Protection with AWS Transit Gateway

For AWS environments that already route spoke-to-spoke traffic through a
user-managed AWS Transit Gateway (TGW), Transparent DCF Protection (also called
Bump-in-the-Wire, or BITW) inserts Aviatrix spoke gateways into the traffic path
through automated route programming, without a TGW replacement, re-IP, or
downtime. See

<a href={"/docs/enterprise/" + "10.1" + "/guides/security/east-west/transparent-dcf-protection-aws-tgw"}>Transparent DCF Protection with AWS Transit Gateway</a>
.

## East-West Inspection with Aviatrix Transit

<Note>
  East-West Inspection with Aviatrix Transit is in Preview in Controller 10.1.
</Note>

For spoke VPCs and VNets that route east-west traffic across the Aviatrix
transit fabric instead of a TGW, East-West Inspection with Aviatrix Transit
applies Suricata IPS/IDS and TLS MITM inspection to that traffic once Symmetric
Routing guarantees a flow's forward and return traffic uses the same spoke
gateway. See

<a href={"/docs/enterprise/" + "10.1" + "/guides/security/east-west/ips-east-west"}>Enable East-West Inspection with Aviatrix Transit</a>
.

## Which Approach Applies to You

* If your spokes attach to a user-managed AWS TGW, use Transparent DCF
  Protection with AWS Transit Gateway.
* If your spokes attach to an Aviatrix Transit and you need Suricata IPS/IDS or
  TLS MITM inspection on east-west traffic, use East-West Inspection with
  Aviatrix Transit.
* The two approaches address different transit architectures and are not
  interchangeable. Apply DCF policy independently of which one you use.

## Related Topics

* <a href={"/docs/enterprise/" + "10.1" + "/concepts-architectures/components/dcf/dcf-overview"}>DCF Overview</a>
* <a href={"/docs/enterprise/" + "10.1" + "/concepts-architectures/architecture/security/ips-east-west-design-patterns"}>East-West Suricata IPS and TLS MITM Inspection Architecture</a>