Google has just announced a significant update to its Cloud Interconnect service. With the introduction of Cross-Cloud Interconnect, businesses can now securely connect any public cloud to Google Cloud through a high-performance network.
This advancement is expected to transform how enterprises handle the challenges of managing their multicloud workloads and dealing with the complexities of network connectivity and configuration.
Cross-Cloud Interconnect aims to simplify the configuration, minimize hardware requirements, and reduce overhead involved in multicloud networking. The service supports Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Alibaba Cloud, with more providers in the pipeline.
Multicloud distribution of applications has been driven by the rising prominence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) workloads. Google Cloud has made a name for itself in providing AI and ML services, including new virtual machines and AI platform. With Cross-Cloud Interconnect, these services can now be extended to other cloud providers, enabling a diverse array of applications to run across public clouds while utilizing Google Cloud Platform’s native services such as Cloud Spanner, Cloud Storage Buckets and BigQuery.
For example, customers can configure a private endpoint to access a fine-tuned generative AI model deployed on Vertex AI and securely access it from a web application deployed in AWS or Azure.
To get started with Cross-Cloud Interconnect, customers need to go through a series of steps, including choosing a region/zone, ordering physical ports, choosing the bandwidth tier, and configuring the services in both cloud environments. To automate the process, Google also needs a letter of authorization (LOA), allowing it to configure Link Aggregation Groups (LAG) for each port in the target cloud.
Cross-Cloud Interconnect is not just a means of connecting multiple clouds; it also prioritizes speed and reliability. The service offers two tiers of bandwidth – 10 gigabits per second and 100 gigabits per second. It also comes with an SLA of 99.9%, providing enterprise customers confidence to deploy multicloud workloads.
Walmart Inc. and Pexip AS are among the early users of Cross-Cloud Interconnect. Google claims that they have already started using this platform to develop their multicloud apps, which has resulted in simplified connectivity, faster production time, and lower costs.
Google has also improved Private Service Connect, a service to securely connect the virtual private clouds configured in different Google projects and regions. It supports Cross-Cloud Interconnect, which enables enterprises to establish private and secure connections from virtual private clouds to Google, partners, or services.
With Private Service Connect, administrators can automate connectivity for private connections for managed services, simplifying the deployment, updating, and deletion of published services connected to it. This eliminates the need for opening networking tickets and makes it easier for Cross-Cloud Interconnect users to create private and secure connections.
Google’s latest investment is in Cross-Cloud Interconnect, following previous investments in Anthos and BigQuery Omni, which underscores its commitment to multicloud. The latest Cross-Cloud Interconnect service joins existing hybrid and multicloud offerings based on Dedicated and Partner Interconnect. As enterprises continue to adopt hybrid and multicloud network services, Google’s Cross-Cloud Interconnect is poised to become an integral part of their journey.
The Cross-Cloud Interconnect by Google is a significant development in the world of multicloud networking. It allows for easy connection between various public clouds, ensures high performance, and offers the added advantage of Google’s AI and ML services. This comprehensive solution is designed to meet the intricate networking requirements of modern businesses.
Source – Google Cross-Cloud Interconnect: A Step Towards Seamless Multicloud Networking