Demystifying Cloud Networking GCP v/s AWS (2024)

Network is the root of infrastructure, the foundation of any business setup. Especially if you are planning to migrate from on-premise to cloud or from one cloud to another, estimating timeline and effort depends a lot on how closer the cloud provider is to your current infrastructure. Most of them will tell you they are the same, logically they should be but practically there are nuances which are not known until you start your development process. That is why most organisations have to run weeks of POCs to test cloud feasibility before migration. And this is also one of the reasons why many fear taking that leap of faith to go on cloud.

Cloud computing has become an integral part of modern businesses, offering scalable and flexible solutions for various workloads. Two major players in the cloud computing arena are Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Among the key considerations when choosing a cloud provider is networking, which directly impacts the performance, scalability, and security of applications. This article delves into a comparative analysis of GCP and AWS networking, focusing on VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) architecture, Kubernetes networking, and database connectivity.

VPC Networking:

Both GCP and AWS provide VPCs as a fundamental building block for constructing private, isolated networks within their cloud environments. However, there are distinct differences in their approaches.

GCP boasts its dedicated fiber-optic network, providing a robust and high-performance infrastructure. Notably, GCP's VPCs are regional, meaning that a single subnet spans across all Availability Zones (AZs) within a region. This simplifies network configuration and management, allowing for more seamless communication between resources in different AZs.

On the other hand, AWS adopts a zonal approach to VPCs, requiring specific subnets for each AZ. While this provides finer control over resource placement, it may result in more complex network setups, particularly in multi-AZ deployments.

Kubernetes Networking:

Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration platform, has become a go-to solution for deploying, managing, and scaling containerised applications. Both GCP and AWS offer managed Kubernetes services, namely Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).

GCP's GKE employs a fully integrated network model, deploying clusters within a VPC network that can host various applications. However, this model necessitates unique Pod IP addresses throughout the entire VPC network, limiting IP address reuse. This consideration requires careful planning to ensure efficient IP address allocation.

Conversely, Amazon EKS utilises the Amazon VPC Container Networking Interface (CNI) Plugin for Kubernetes. This approach allows Pod IP addresses to be assigned directly from the VPC address space, either from the default subnet or a custom subnet. While this provides more flexibility, it also introduces challenges related to managing IP address space efficiently. If the VPC that you want to use doesn't have a sufficient number of IP addresses, try to increase the number of available IP addresses. You can do this by updating the cluster configuration to change which subnets and security groups the cluster uses.This type of networking is similar to what we usually get to see for on-premise self managed clusters using VLANs.

So the AWS solution makes it easier to replicate the topology for migration from on-premises to cloud. Whereas GCP needs prior planning and managing a record of at least 4-6 unique ip subnets per cluster.

Database Network:

Database connectivity is a critical aspect of cloud infrastructure, and both GCP and AWS offer managed database services.

In GCP, the Cloud SQL service operates in a separate VPC managed by Google, requiring proxies for external access. VPC peering alone is insufficient, and additional components like SQL auth proxies are necessary to enable cross-VPC communication.

This approach can add operational overhead, particularly when accessing resources like RDS clusters from different VPCs. While GCP simplifies connectivity from certain environments, such as App Engine, GKE deployments require the use of Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and SSL configuration for secure access.

In AWS, the managed database service (RDS) operates within the same VPC, streamlining cross-VPC access through VPC peering. This simplifies network configuration and reduces the need for additional components, making database connectivity more straightforward.

Conclusion:

The choice between GCP and AWS for networking ultimately depends on specific use cases, preferences, and the complexity of the infrastructure.

GCP's regional VPCs and integrated Kubernetes networking provide simplicity and high performance, but careful IP address management is crucial.

AWS, with its zonal VPCs and direct Pod IP assignment in EKS, offers flexibility but may require more meticulous network setup.

Database connectivity, especially with managed services like Cloud SQL and RDS, highlights differences in cross-VPC access.

GCP's approach of a separate managed VPC introduces additional components, while AWS's consolidated VPC simplifies connectivity.

In conclusion, understanding the nuances of networking in GCP and AWS is essential for making informed decisions based on specific requirements and preferences.

Both cloud providers offer robust networking solutions, and the optimal choice depends on the unique needs of each organisation.

Hope this article would help you with better understanding of how to build your infrastructure.

Now you can build a compliance, scale ready and sustainable robust cloud-native infrastructure in hours, not months.

Thanks & Regards

Kamalika