Making It Connect: Connecting Multicloud Architectures Using Network Virtualization

Today, more businesses are interconnecting to multiple clouds than ever before to better migrate and manage hybrid multicloud workloads. On average, organizations are currently using 2.2 private and 2.2 public clouds and experimenting with additional private (1.7) and public (1.2)  cloud platforms.[i] And based on the findings from the Global Interconnection Index (GXI) Volume 4, a market study published by Equinix, we see that as organizations mature and deploy digital infrastructures with hybrid multicloud capabilities, their connectivity to Cloud & IT Providers is predicted to grow 48% annually between 2019 – 2023.

Given the large number of customers interconnecting hybrid multicloud architectures on Platform Equinix^®, we’ve developed a tutorial that illustrates how to use Network Edge and Equinix Fabric^™ private, software-defined interconnection to access and connect multiple cloud platforms. Network Edge from Equinix connects businesses to leading network functions virtualization (NFV) providers to quickly deploy NFV capabilities, such as virtual cloud-to-cloud routing, in minutes, without additional hardware on Platform Equinix. In conjunction with Equinix Fabric, you can use Network Edge services to create hybrid multicloud architectures as a part of your digital infrastructure deployment in core and edge Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX^®) data center locations.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are using Google Cloud Partner Interconnect and AWS DirectConnect to deploy private, multi-cloud connectivity between Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS). However, you can use similar instructions to create a cloud connection for any cloud provider on Equinix Fabric.

Deploying multicloud architectures via cloud-to-cloud routing

There are multiple multicloud architectures you can deploy with software-defined interconnection and NFV services such as cloud-to-cloud routing and SD-WAN. These four are some of the most common we see with our customers on Platform Equinix:

• DevOps Hybrid Anthos Deployment: Several cloud platforms leverage Kubernetes, including Google Cloud Anthos, which makes it easier to deploy and manage applications across different cloud platforms. Google Cloud Anthos enables enterprises to build and manage Kubernetes-based applications once and deploy it anywhere, whether they are on on-premises infrastructures, Google Cloud, or other clouds such as AWS or Microsoft Azure. By leveraging virtualized network routing between clouds to exchange applications and data, you can quickly migrate workloads across hybrid multicloud architectures.
• Transactional Applications – Big Data Analytics: Transactional processes, such as those found in online payment or e-commerce applications, generate massive amounts of data. This data can be analyzed in real-time or as a batch process using big data analytics. Such architecture requires data stores to be adjacent to clouds (either on-premises-to-cloud or cloud-to-cloud) to reduce latency and application response time, while maintaining local data privacy, protection and compliance. This requires hybrid multicloud architectures with private, software-defined interconnection and NFV capabilities that allow direct and secure data access between on-premises and multiple cloud applications/services and data for fast, secure processing and analytics.

Cloud Adjacent Database and Analytics

• Disaster Recovery and High Availability – Placing workloads on multiple clouds for disaster recovery is a key driver of hybrid multicloud architectures. The Flexera 2020 State of the Cloud report showed that 49% of its survey respondents were experimenting or planning to use public clouds for disaster recovery as a service. Software-defined interconnection (i.e., SD-WAN) between on-premises infrastructure and clouds and virtual network routing between clouds, enables fast and reliable recovery in the event of a disaster. And direct and secure virtual connections between different cloud platforms deliver real-time application high availability and data replication to ensure business continuity.
• Cloud-to-Cloud Migration – Application or data migration between clouds can be continuous or intermittent depending on the scenario. For example, in testing and development, it might be an on-and-off migration process, whereas, in a production environment, you might be migrating data between clouds more regularly in a sustained manner. In either event, you can control the network bandwidth capacity, compute and storage resources required for either scenario when leveraging virtual networking such as cloud-to-cloud routing.

Cloud-to-Cloud Application or Data Migration

Virtual networks deliver added value to hybrid multicloud

Network Edge, in combination with Equinix Fabric software-defined interconnection, provides direct and secure, fast access to multiple vendors’ NFV services and cloud platforms for building robust and reliable hybrid multicloud architectures. The benefits of these solutions on Platform Equinix include:

• Fast deployment in minutes versus months, without additional CAPEX.
• An economical OPEX model with the flexibility to modify bandwidth and cloud service consumption to fit your workload needs.
• Scalability by adding additional cloud instances or cloud platforms via fast software-defined interconnection, with no limit to the number of clouds you can connect.
• Direct and secure local routing between clouds delivers single-digit latency (milliseconds), depending on the location, and less risk than going over the public internet.

See for yourself

The following tutorial is for cloud network engineers and operations professionals who want to learn how they can interconnect their Google Cloud environment to AWS or another cloud provider’s environment using Network Edge and Equinix Fabric:

Or try Network Edge for free.

[i] Flexera, “2020 State of the Cloud Report,” 2020.