Welcome to the eleventh installment of our "Cloud Concepts Demystified With GCP" series. Today we'll be discussing GCP Networking and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network fundamentals, as well as how to create and configure VPC networks.

Networking is a crucial component of any cloud infrastructure. Without a solid network foundation, it's impossible to deliver reliable and performant cloud services. GCP provides a wide range of networking options, including Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks, that allow you to create and manage your own private network within the GCP environment.

But before we dive into VPC networks, let's first talk about the basics of GCP networking.

GCP Networking Fundamentals

At a high level, GCP networking consists of three main components:

• Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks

• Subnets

• Firewalls

VPC networks are global resources that allow you to create a logically isolated virtual network within the GCP environment. A VPC network can span multiple regions and zones, and you can customize its IP address range and subnets to suit your needs.

Subnets, on the other hand, are regional resources that allow you to divide your VPC network into smaller, more manageable IP address ranges. Each subnet is associated with a specific region and zone, and you can specify firewall rules to control traffic between subnets.

Finally, firewalls are rules that control inbound and outbound traffic to and from your GCP resources. You can create firewall rules at both the VPC network and subnet level, and you can use tags to apply rules to specific resources.

With these components in mind, let's explore how to create and configure VPC networks in GCP.

Creating and Configuring VPC Networks

Creating a VPC network in GCP is straightforward. Simply navigate to the VPC networks page in the GCP console, and click the "Create VPC network" button. From there, you'll need to specify a name and an IP address range network. You can also choose to enable private Google access, which allows resources within your VPC network to access Google APIs and services without going over the public internet.

Once you've created your VPC network, you can then create subnets within that network. To do this, navigate to the subnets page and click the "Create subnet" button. You'll need to specify the name, region, IP address range, and VPC network for your subnet. You can also choose to enable private IP, which allows your resources to use internal IP addresses within the VPC network instead of external IP addresses.

One important thing to note when creating subnets is that each subnet must be associated with a single zone within its region. This means that resources within a subnet can only be created in the same zone as the subnet.

Once you've created your subnets, you can then create and configure firewall rules to control traffic between them. You can create firewall rules at the VPC network level or the subnet level, depending on your needs.

To create a firewall rule, navigate to the firewall rules page and click the "Create firewall rule" button. You'll need to specify a name, direction (ingress or egress), action (allow or deny), source and destination IP ranges, protocols and ports, and any applicable tags.

For example, if you wanted to create a firewall rule that allows traffic between two subnets within the same VPC network, you could create a rule that allows traffic with a source IP range of the first subnet and a destination IP range of the second subnet. You could then apply this rule to resources within both subnets using a common tag.

Conclusion

GCP networking and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks are critical components of any cloud infrastructure. By creating and configuring your own private network within the GCP environment, you can achieve greater control and security over your cloud resources.

In this article, we've covered the basics of GCP networking, including VPC networks, subnets, and firewalls. We've also discussed how to create and configure VPC networks, including creating subnets and configuring firewall rules.

With this knowledge, you'll be well-equipped to create and manage your own private network within the GCP environment. Stay tuned for the next installment of our "Cloud Concepts Demystified With GCP" series, where we'll explore more cloud concepts and how to implement them with GCP.