What is Cloud Networking: Definition, Strategy and Types

What is cloud networking?

Cloud networking allows for connectivity between workloads and applications across cloud services, on-premises data centers, and edge networks. It is essential for the performance, security, management, and efficiency of hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments.

Why should you care about cloud networking?

Cloud networking is the new enterprise core. Most applications interact with or leave an organization’s network. Companies that use public cloud services need to design, deploy, and maintain a cloud network for efficiency, agility, security, performance, and security.

Also read: What Is Cloud Optimization and How to Strategize for Cloud Cost Management?

What IT teams are responsible for cloud networking?

Collaboration is required across many IT operations teams (compute, networking and security), applications teams, cloud architects, and business stakeholders.

• NetOps: Creates and maintains network architectures for different teams. This helps to ensure that users have access to the right applications and offers consistent user experiences.
• Data center teams and compute infrastructure teams: Implements application-aware policies to ensure that the network extends between on-premises environments and public clouds.
• SecOps: Protects users and their access to applications and data across multiple networks
• Application teams and DevOps: Uses network architectures and resources in order to deploy applications and improve performance
• Cloud architects: Contributes towards the design of a common strategy for multi-cloud networking

What makes a successful multi-cloud networking strategy?

• Applications: Workloads and microservices for infrastructure deployment, management, scaling, and security easily and consistently
• Access: Users have access to all applications, on-premises or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). They can also access IaaS and SaaS with consistent security, reliability, and performance

Cloud networking types

Cloud networking

Cloud networking is an umbrella term for connection between and among all types of cloud-based services (e.g., IaaS and PaaS), as well as on-premises and edge services.

A well-executed strategy for cloud networking can bring you the following main benefits:

• Simplification in lifecycle management
• User-experience guarantee
• Service rollouts take less time to market
• Lower operating costs
• Applications and data are at lower risk

Also read: Cloud Migration: Cloud Migration Definition, Process, Benefits and Trend

Multicloud networking

Multicloud networking is often used interchangeably to refer to cloud networking. It includes advanced capabilities like application and workload awareness and SaaS-delivered control plan, as well as integrations with public cloud providers. This allows for easier management across multiple clouds and on-premises environments.

These are some of the most common uses for multi-cloud networking:

• SDWAN and ASE are optimized for access to IaaS or SaaS services.
• Multicloud software-defined network (SDN), for consistent, application-aware policy automation among IaaS and on-premises environments
• Hybrid app connectivity between an SD-WAN environment and multiple public clouds/on-premises environments

Hybrid cloud networking

Hybrid cloud networking refers to a subset of cloud and multi-cloud networking. It relates specifically to the connectivity between two clouds such as hosted private, on-premises private, and public. It’s also used to describe the connectivity between an on-premises data center or colocated facility with a public cloud.

Cloud networking and cloud-based networking

Cloud-based networking refers to cloud-based solutions that have their control plane hosted in public clouds. This is different from an on-premises device, or software stack. Modern cloud networking solutions increasingly use a cloud-based management plan.