Google Cloud has announced significant updates to its networking infrastructure with the release of application awareness on Cloud Interconnect and the introduction of Cross-Cloud Interconnect.
In a blog post, Muninder Sambi, VP of Cloud Networking, says these advancements are designed to address challenges faced by organizations using hybrid and multicloud architectures. Cross-Cloud Interconnect offers dedicated, private connectivity from Google Cloud to other cloud providers, enhancing the ability to build distributed applications across multiple environments. In addition, application awareness on Cloud Interconnect provides businesses with traffic prioritization tools, enabling them to manage network resources efficiently without overprovisioning bandwidth.
These enhancements tackle longstanding issues with traffic management and unpredictable data transfer costs in multicloud settings. Application awareness, now in preview, includes policies for strict priority and bandwidth share, making Google Cloud the first major provider to offer managed traffic differentiation. This feature allows organizations to prioritize critical business traffic, maintain higher application performance, and lower their total cost of ownership (TCO) through better capacity management and optimized resource use.
Key Points:
• Cross-Cloud Interconnect: Enables private, high-bandwidth, SLA-backed connections from Google Cloud to other cloud providers, supporting hybrid and multicloud strategies.
• Application Awareness: Offers managed traffic prioritization with options for strict priority or bandwidth-sharing policies, ensuring critical traffic performance during congestion.
• Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Improves resource efficiency and reduces the need for costly overprovisioning.
• Fixed Pricing Option: Dedicated and Cross-Cloud Interconnect now include a fixed pricing model, reducing cost variability for data transfers.
• Expanded VPC Flow Logs: Coverage now includes interconnect and VPN traffic, providing comprehensive visibility and insights for better traffic management and cost control.
See: Cross-Cloud Network enhancements for distributed workloads
