Google Cloud got a new network service, the Network Connectivity Center, that simplifies managing complex heterogeneous networks for on-premises and public cloud environments.
Google Cloud got a new network service, the Network Connectivity Center, that simplifies managing complex heterogeneous networks for on-premises and public cloud environments.
Network Connectivity Center, which is available in public preview, is a one-stop solution for network administrators to configure connectivity across Virtual Private Cloud environments configured within Google Cloud and various hybrid connectivity services spanning the public cloud and the enterprise data centers.
Google Cloud has a choice of network connectivity for enterprise customers. The simplest of all is the Cloud VPN that extends an enterprise network to Google’s network through an IPsec VPN tunnel. Cloud Interconnect extends on-premises network to Google’s network through a highly available, low latency connection. Customers can choose between the Dedicated Interconnect to connect directly to Google or use Partner Interconnect to connect to Google through a supported service provider.
Configuring and managing virtual networks and hybrid networks can be overwhelming for customers. Network Connectivity Center aims to bring all network-related configurations to a unified single pane of glass running within Google Cloud which dramatically simplifies configuring and managing complex, heterogenous network topologies.
According to Google, Network Connectivity Center serves as a vantage point to seamlessly connect VPNs, partner and dedicated interconnects, as well as third-party routers and Software-Defined WANs, helping customers optimize connectivity, reduce the operational burden and lower costs—wherever the applications or users may be.
There are many advantages of Network Connectivity Center. Firstly, it’s a single connectivity model for managing VPNs, interconnects, and SD-WANs spanning multiple workloads. It simplifies configuring dedicated interconnect, partner interconnects, Cloud VPN connections and even third-party routers to enable data transfer between the cloud and the data center.
With the help of partners, Google is bringing the power of multi-cloud connectivity through the Network Connectivity Center. It is tightly integrated with the Network Intelligence Center for delivering insights into the connectivity.
Finally, existing SD-WAN solutions can be extended to the cloud through the Network Connectivity Center.
The Network Intelligence Center provides a single console for managing Google Cloud network visibility, monitoring, and troubleshooting. It comes with a Connectivity Tests feature which acts as a diagnostics tool that enables customers to check the connectivity between endpoints in a network. It analyzes the configuration and performs run-time verification. The Firewall Insights service enables customers to better understand and safely optimize their firewall configurations. The Firewall Insights service provides reports that contain information about firewall usage and the impact of various firewall rules on a VPC network.
Through the integration of the Network Intelligence Center, the Network Connectivity Center provides end-to-end visibility of networks through which customers can monitor, visualize and troubleshoot the network.
Originally Published at Forbes