Overview

Networking is what enables Compute Instances and other resources to communicate with each other. It can be broken down into three main use cases:

1. Communication Between Compute Instances: In large systems, workloads are often divided among multiple Compute Instances for easier management. These instances communicate with each other over an internal network called a VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) Network, identifying each other by their Internal IPs. In the example diagram, Compute Instance A can communicate directly with Compute Instance B as they are both within VPC Network A.

2. Communication Across Different Groups: In very large systems, instances can be grouped into different VPC Networks for varying levels of security. A VPC Router is used to connect these different networks, allowing them to communicate. The component that connects a VPC Network to the router is the Router Interface. In the example, for Compute Instance A to communicate with Compute Instance D, the traffic must pass from VPC Network A, through the VPC Router, and into VPC Network B.

3. Communication Between Users and the System: For services like websites or applications, communication occurs over the public internet. This requires a public-facing address, which is the External IP. In the example, for a user to communicate with Compute Instance A, they must know its External IP. A process called NAT (Network Address Translation) then translates this address to allow access to Compute Instance A within its private VPC Network.

Networkig Components

The components of Networking consist of:

1. VPC Networks: Also known as internal networks, these connect processing resources (such as Compute Instances, Load Balancers, and Database Instances) within the same network, allowing them to communicate.

   • Subnet: This resource defines the scope of a VPC Network, including its size and the range of internal IP addresses it supports. On NIPA Cloud Space, there is a one-to-one relationship between a VPC Network and a Subnet, so the terms are often used interchangeably. The size and IP range are defined using CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing).

   • Port: Sometimes called an interface, this is the component that attaches to a resource, giving it access to the VPC Network. It holds the address (internal IP) that other resources use to connect to it.

2. VPC Routers: To connect different VPC Networks, each network must have a Router Interface attached to the same router.

   • Router Interface: The port that connects a VPC Network to a VPC Router.

3. External Network: A special VPC Network shared across the entire NCS platform that provides a gateway to the public internet.

   • External IPs: Public IP addresses that are bound to a port on a resource (like a Compute Instance, Load Balancer, or Database Instance) to serve as its address on the internet.

Read more about Networking

Recommendations

VPC NetworkSecurity GroupExternal IP