A Guide to Connect two different VPCs through VPNs in Google Cloud Platform

Introduction to VPCs

VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) in Google Cloud is a virtual network environment that allows you to create and manage resources, such as virtual machines, containers, and load balancers, in a logically isolated and secure environment.

VPCs allow you to define your network topology, including IP address ranges, subnets, and route tables. You can also configure security groups and network access control lists (ACLs) to control inbound and outbound traffic to and from your resources.

With VPCs, you can create multiple subnets in different availability zones within a region. This allows you to distribute resources across multiple data centers for high availability and fault tolerance.

What are VPNs?

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a technology that allows you to establish a secure and encrypted connection between two or more devices over the internet. VPNs are commonly used to provide remote access to private networks, encrypt internet traffic, and bypass internet censorship and content restrictions.

When you use a VPN, your device connects to a VPN server through an encrypted tunnel. All the data you send and receive over the internet is encrypted and transmitted through this tunnel, making it difficult for anyone else to intercept or eavesdrop on your internet traffic.

Architecture Diagram

We are performing this blog using two different projects, GCP-project-1 and GCP-project-2, and created two VPCs, vpc-mumbai, and vpc-us-central, created VPN gateways, and established a tunnel. Below you can see some screenshots with the explanation.

Step-by-Step Guide

Steps 1: Create one virtual machine in vpc-mumbai

Create one virtual machine in vpc-us-central.

Step 2: Create an External Static IP address. It will require creating a gateway.

Step 3: Create a VPN between VPC networks.

For demonstration, I am going for Classic VPN. If you need High-availability, use High-availability (HA) VPN.

Step 4: Creating a gateway for the Mumbai region.

Creating a gateway for the us-central region.

Step 5: Important – Remote peer IP address is-Static-External IP address of US-Central

The Routing option should be Route-based, and the IP range should be VPC-US-Central IP address range then create.

Here, you can see the first handshake is made from the Mumbai region to the us-central region.

Repeat the above steps for the us-central region.

After creating the gateway, you can see that it works when we ping another VPC’s IP and the connection is Established.

Benefits of using VPN

• Security: VPNs provide high security by encrypting your internet traffic, making it difficult for anyone to intercept or eavesdrop on your data.
• Privacy: VPNs can protect your online privacy by hiding your IP address and location, preventing websites and apps from tracking your online activities.
• Access to restricted content: VPNs can bypass geo-restrictions and access websites and online services that may be blocked or restricted in your country or region.
• Remote access: VPNs can provide remote access to a private network, allowing employees to work from home or on the go while maintaining the network’s security.

Overall, VPNs are a powerful tool for protecting your online privacy and security and accessing content and services that may be restricted in your location.

Conclusion

To summarize, connecting two different VPCs through VPNs in the Google Cloud Platform involves creating a VPN gateway in each VPC, creating a VPN tunnel between the gateways, configuring the VPN tunnel settings, and testing the connection between the VPCs. This process allows you to securely connect two VPCs and enable resources within them to communicate over an encrypted connection. This can be useful in scenarios where you have multiple VPCs across different regions or availability zones and need to connect them to facilitate data transfer, application integration, or disaster recovery. 

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