How to establish a connection between GCP and AWS

If you are considering using both Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) in your multi-cloud infrastructure, sooner or later, you’ll need to decide how to connect the two platforms. There are a number of ways to connect GCP and AWS, each with its advantages and disadvantages.

In this article, we will look at the different ways to connect GCP and AWS and discuss the factors you should consider when choosing a connectivity solution. ⬇️

Why connect GCP and AWS?

Both GCP and AWS provide diverse computing resources, but each has its own strengths. By linking the two platforms, you can expand your computing capabilities to incorporate the benefits of both platforms and leverage the best features of each one.

Connecting the two platforms can also comply with regulations, as some require storing your data across multiple vendors.

Plus, if you have a disaster recovery plan that includes both GCP Cloud and AWS Cloud, you can improve your chances of recovering from a disaster by having your data and applications spread across two different platforms.

Read also: The benefits and challenges of coexisting GCP and AWS cloud infrastructures

The different ways to connect GCP and AWS

Virtual Private Network (VPN / HA VPN)

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a secure connection between two or more devices over a public network, such as the Internet. VPNs can be used to securely connect devices on different networks, such as a company’s internal network and the public internet.

How (HA) VPN works

The difference between a classic VPN and a high-availability (HA) VPN is the number of links or tunnels between the two networks.

A high-availability VPN connection is designed to provide continuous connectivity between your GCP and AWS networks, even if one of the links in the connection fails. This is done by creating multiple VPN tunnels between the two networks. If one tunnel fails, the traffic will be routed over the other tunnels.

There are three ways to set up HA VPN between GCP and AWS:

1. Google Cloud VPN + AWS VPN: Both are IPsec tunnel services and are therefore mutually compatible and are commonly used by most users of both AWS and GCP
2. Google Cloud Interconnect + AWS Direct Connect: These services may be looked upon as supercharged VPNs due to their relatively high throughput, but they are per-order and come with a significantly higher cost. More on this topic below.
3. Third-party VPN provider: You will need to create a VPN connection between your GCP network and the VPN provider’s network. The VPN provider will create multiple VPN tunnels between their network and AWS. This will probably require running a standalone VM or a group of VMs, which may defeat the purpose of Cloud environments and is, therefore, not recommended. But it may be the only solution if you need a non-IPsec VPN such as Wireguard.

GCP Interconnect & AWS Direct Connect

These services offered by both GCP and AWS allow you to create a dedicated physical connection between the two cloud providers (or any other service cloud provider).

Google has a handy guide on how to set this up between GCP and AWS. Access it here: https://cloud.google.com/network-connectivity/docs/interconnect/how-to/cci/aws/connectivity-overview.

Pros and cons

• Dedicated connection: provides a reliable, private connection between your GCP and AWS networks, meaning your traffic isn’t shared with other users, which can improve performance and security.
• High bandwidth: offers a variety of port speeds, so you can choose the one that best meets your needs.
• Low latency: provides low latency between your GCP and AWS networks.
• Scalability: easily increase or decrease the bandwidth of your connection as needed.
• Availability: available in many regions.

Conclusion

The best method for connecting GCP and AWS will depend on your specific needs and requirements. No matter which method you choose, connecting GCP and AWS can be a great way to extend your computing resources, improve your disaster recovery plan, and take advantage of the best features of each platform.

At Revolgy, we always go above and beyond to help our customers create the perfect infrastructure solution for their needs. Contact us for a free consultation.