Google Cloud announced Google Distributed Cloud during Google Next ‘21 virtual event
What does this mean?
In simple layman’s terms a customer can now have some Google Cloud services running some certified hardware and software either in their data centers with full autonomy or colocation data centers.
Google Cloud’s simplified preferred definition of Google Distributed Cloud, is a portfolio of solutions consisting of hardware and software that extend Google Cloud infrastructure to the edge and into your data centers.
Where can Google Distributed Cloud be deployed to?
1. Google’s network edge - Allowing customers to leverage over 140+ Google network edge locations around the world.
2. Operator edge - Enabling customers to take advantage of an operator’s edge network and benefit from 5G/LTE services offered by our leading communication service provider (CSP) partners. The operator edge is optimized to support low-latency use cases, running edge applications with stringent latency and bandwidth requirements.
3. Customer edge - Supporting customer-owned edge or remote locations such as retail stores, factory floors, or branch offices, which require localized compute and processing directly in the edge locations.
4. Customer data centers - Supporting customer-owned data centers and colocation facilities to address strict data security and privacy requirements, and to modernize on-premises deployments while meeting regulatory compliance.
What Google Cloud services are running on Google Distributed Cloud?
Google Distributed Cloud is enabled by Anthos. It helps you to build and run applications on GKE clusters and virtual machines anywhere with a Cloud-backed control plane for consistent management at scale.
Compute Services:
● Compute Instances
● Serverless Containers
● Kubernetes Engine
● Serverless Functions
Storage Services:
● Object Storage
● Istio Service Mesh
Continuous Integration Services:
● Build (from Cloud Build)
● Deploy (from Cloud Deploy)
● Artifact Registry
Developer Tools:
● IDE plugins
● Cloud SDK
APIs Services:
● API Gateway
● Apache Kafka (Partner-provided services)
● Kubernetes Engine
● Serverless Functions
Security Services:
● Key Management Service
● HashiCorp Vault (Partner-provided services)
● Identity Aware Proxy
Data and Analytics Services:
● PostgreSQL Database
● Elasticsearch Service (Partner-provided services)
● MongoDB Database (Partner-provided services)
● Redis Data Store (Partner-provided services)
● Event Streaming
● Data Lake Storage
AI/ML Services:
● Speech-to-Text
● Language Translation
● Machine Learning Platform
● Video Content Analysis
● Text-to-Speech
● Image Insights
Observability Services:
● Loggin
● Prometheus (Partner-provided services)
● Grafana (Partner-provided services)
● Splunk (Partner-provided services)
Will Google Distributed Cloud make management of the hardware and software harder for me and my organization?
No. Google Distributed Cloud is a fully-managed integrated hardware and software solution, meaning you don’t have to worry about the underlying infrastructure and can focus on your application and business initiatives. Google Cloud aims to simplify operations leveraging Google’s expertise and track record in areas like skill deployment fleet management and site reliability engineering. This allows you to focus on your business priorities and leave the complexities to Google Cloud.
Wil this meet our data sovereignty needs?
Yes. Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) enables customers to have a full spectrum of control.
Data Sovereignty (Keep data within the sovereign cloud): Data is allocated on your premise and under the control; No data transferred outside of your isolated environment.
Operational Sovereignty (Fully control your own platform): Operated independently of Google Cloud and global networks.Can be operated by customer directly or a trusted partner, on dedicated networks and with local control plane.
Software Sovereignty (Cloud as a trusted local service): Google Cloud’s open core and open API helps reduce vendor risk and enable operational and software continuity even in black swan events. The benefits of cloud are delivered locally.
Will I need to have my Google Distributed Cloud on premise connected to Google Cloud?
No. Google Distributed Cloud includes a hosted mode to run sensitive workloads. Hosted mode helps you meet sovereignty needs by addressing data residency with strict security and privacy requirements all while providing you with a way to modernize on-premise deployments. Customers can manage this directly or host through a designated and trusted partner. This will not require connectivity to Google Cloud at any time to manage infrastructure and uses a local control plane for operations. Upgrades and patches are offered by Google and verified by the trusted partner.
References
How to extend Google Cloud services with Google Distributed Cloud - Hosted Mode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XG6APa7Wdg
Driving transformation with Google's Distributed Cloud
https://youtu.be/6JqnZLxmYWk?t=520
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