NCC and its Usage
In today’s interconnected world, businesses face complex networking challenges, especially when operating across multiple locations or relying on cloud services. Managing these networks efficiently and securely can be a daunting task. This is where Google Cloud’s Network Connectivity Center (NCC) comes in.
Network Connectivity Center
The Network Connectivity Center (NCC) is a service offered by Google Cloud that helps businesses manage their network connections. Think of it as a control center for your network, where you can monitor and manage how different parts of your network talk to each other, whether they’re in the cloud, on-premises, or across various locations.
The Network Connectivity Center is a tool that helps connect different parts of a network, which are called spokes, to a central hub for easier management. There are two main types of spokes it supports:
- Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Spokes: These are cloud-based networks.
- Hybrid Spokes: These include:
- HA VPN Tunnels: High-availability virtual private network connections.
- Cloud Interconnect VLAN Attachments: Links that connect your network to Google’s network.
- Router Appliance Spokes: Virtual routers used to manage traffic.
A single Network Connectivity Center hub can manage either VPC spokes or hybrid spokes, but not both at the same time.
With these capabilities, you can do the following:
1. Connect multiple VPC networks to one another. The VPC networks can be located in projects in the same Google Cloud organization or different organizations.
2. Connect an external network to a Google Cloud VPC network by using Router appliance VMs. This approach is known as site-to-cloud connectivity.
3. Use Router appliance VMs to manage connectivity between your VPC networks.
4. Use a Google Cloud VPC network as a wide area network (WAN) to connect networks that are outside of Google Cloud. You can establish connectivity between your external sites by using Cloud VPN tunnels, Cloud Interconnect VLAN attachments, or Router appliance VMs. This approach is known as site-to-site data transfer.
NCC applications
1. Connect different VPC networks with the Network Connectivity Center
When you connect two or more VPC spokes to a hub using Network Connectivity Center (NCC), it allows all the VPC networks in those spokes to communicate with each other using IPv4. This hub makes it easier to manage connections between many subnets
The diagram below shows an example with two VPC spokes.
2. Connect networks using Router appliance VMs
“Network Connectivity Center (NCC) can use Router appliance VMs in two IPv4 connectivity scenarios:
Connecting a VPC network to an on-premises network or another cloud provider’s network using dynamic routes.
Connecting two VPC networks using dynamic routes.
In these scenarios, Cloud Router handles the BGP sessions for the Router appliance VMs that act as the next hop.”
2.1 Connect an external network to Google Cloud(Site-to-cloud topologies that use a third-party appliance.)
The diagram shows a site-to-cloud setup using a third-party appliance. This connects two VPC networks to an external network, with the Cloud Router VM having one network interface (NIC) in each VPC network.
2.2 Conduct data transfer over Google’s network(Site-to-site data transfer overview)
“Data transfer allows IPv4 connectivity between external networks using a Google Cloud VPC network and hybrid spokes. This lets you transfer data between on-premises networks or other cloud networks.
Steps:
1. Create a hybrid spoke and enable the data transfer option.
2. When data transfer is enabled, the routes learned by each Router appliance VM, Cloud VPN tunnel, or Cloud Interconnect VLAN attachment are shared with all other VMs, tunnels, or VLANs connected to the same hub.
3. Ensure all hybrid spokes use Router appliance VMs, Cloud VPN tunnels, or Cloud Interconnect VLAN attachments within a single VPC network.”
For example, suppose you have data centers in Mumbai, New York, and Tokyo. After connecting your VPC network to each of these sites using supported resources, you can create a spoke for each network. Once set up, Network Connectivity Center will provide full mesh connectivity between all three sites.
As shown in the diagram, you can create spokes that use connectivity resources like Cloud VPN, Cloud Interconnect, and Router appliances.
2.3 Manage connectivity between VPC networks (VPC-to-VPC topology that uses a third-party appliance)
The following diagram uses a hybrid spoke with a Router appliance VM running a specialized firewall or packet inspection software to connect two VPC networks.
How to Use the Network Connectivity Center
Step 1: Setting Up the Network Connectivity Center
First, you need to set up NCC in your Google Cloud project:
- Log in to Google Cloud Console: Go to the Google Cloud Console and log in with your credentials.
- Navigate to NCC: In the left-hand menu, find and click on “Network Connectivity Center.”
Step 2: Creating a Hub
A hub in NCC is like the main control room. It’s where you centralize your network connections.
- Create a Hub: Click on “Create Hub” and give it a name. This hub will be the central point for managing your network connections.
Step 3: Adding Spokes
Spokes are the connections to various parts of your network. They link back to the hub, forming a hub-and-spoke model.
- Add a Spoke: Click on “Add Spoke” and configure it to connect to different network resources like on-premises data centers, other cloud environments, or remote offices.
- Choose Connection Type: You can add different types of connections, such as VPNs, dedicated interconnects, or partner interconnects, depending on your needs.
Step 4: Configuring Routing
Routing determines how data moves through your network.
- Set Up Cloud Routers: If needed, configure cloud routers to manage dynamic routing between your on-premises network and Google Cloud.
Step 5: Monitoring and Managing
Once your network connections are set up, you can use NCC to monitor and manage them.
- View Network Insights: Use the NCC dashboard to get insights into your network’s performance, see any issues, and make adjustments as needed.
Manage Connections: Easily add, remove, or modify connections through the NCC interface.
Use Case:-
A.side-to-cloud, (S2C) connectivity setup:-
For one of our clients, we have implemented side-to-cloud (S2C) network connectivity, which likely involves linking clients’ infrastructure with cloud services or data centers.
In a side-to-cloud, (S2C) connectivity setup, spokes and hubs play crucial roles in managing and facilitating network communications between local networks (spokes) and centralized cloud resources (hub).
As shown in the below screenshot in this context, refers to the central point where the client’s network connectivity center (NCC) is established. It serves as the gateway or aggregator for all spokes, consolidating data traffic and managing connectivity to cloud services. The hub ensures consistent and reliable communication between the spokes and the cloud, optimizing bandwidth usage and providing centralized security.
As shown below screenshot Spokes represent the local networks or endpoints within clients infrastructure. These could be various facilities, offices, or production units spread across different locations
Key Features of Network Connectivity Center
- Centralized Management: NCC provides a single place to manage all your network connections, making it easier to oversee and control your entire network.
- Multiple Connection Types: It supports different types of network connections, such as VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), interconnects, and cloud routers.
3. Network Insights: NCC gives you insights and analytics about your network performance, helping you identify and resolve issues quickly.
4. Scalability: It can scale to support large, complex networks, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
Conclusion
Google Cloud’s Network Connectivity Center simplifies the complex task of managing network connections across diverse environments. By providing a centralized management interface, supporting multiple connection types, and offering valuable network insights, NCC helps businesses maintain efficient, reliable, and secure network connectivity. Whether you’re running a small business with a few remote offices or a large enterprise with global operations, the Network Connectivity Center can streamline your network management and enhance your overall network performance.
