Question

Difficulty: MediumPlanning Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Networks and Subnets

An organization is designing a Google Cloud networking architecture for a enterprise system requiring workload deployment across two distinct regions: `us-central1` and `europe-west1`. Compute instances in both regions must communicate securely with each other using internal private IP addresses over Google's global network backbone. Which VPC network and subnet design strategy should the cloud engineer implement?

  1. Create a single custom-mode VPC network with individual subnets created in `us-central1` and `europe-west1` using non-overlapping IP address ranges.Answer
  2. B
    Create a single custom-mode VPC network and configure one multi-region subnet that encompasses both `us-central1` and `europe-west1` under a shared CIDR range.
  3. C
    Create two separate custom-mode VPC networks—one for `us-central1` and one for `europe-west1`—and assign identical primary IP CIDR blocks (`10.0.0.0/16`) to both networks to simplify IP management.
  4. D
    Create an auto-mode VPC network and modify the automatically generated subnet in `us-central1` so its primary IP range matches the subnet CIDR in `europe-west1`.

Answer

Create a single custom-mode VPC network with individual subnets created in `us-central1` and `europe-west1` using non-overlapping IP address ranges.
In Google Cloud, a VPC network is a global resource, while subnets are regional resources. Creating a single custom-mode VPC network with distinct, non-overlapping subnets in `us-central1` and `europe-west1` allows compute resources in both regions to communicate privately using internal IP addresses over Google's internal global backbone network without additional routing hardware or public internet exposure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Understand the scope of GCP VPC networks vs. Subnets
Recognize that a VPC network in Google Cloud is a global resource that spans all available regions, while subnets are regional resources tied to specific geographic regions.
This structural distinction defines how multi-region routing operates within GCP.
2
Evaluate inter-subnet communication within a single VPC
Instances in different regional subnets of the same VPC network can route traffic internally across regions using Google's global fiber backbone without needing public IP addresses or VPN tunnels.
VPC routing is inherently global within a single VPC container.
3
Identify subnet CIDR constraints
Ensure each region receives its own regional subnet with a distinct, non-overlapping IPv4 CIDR range.
Overlapping CIDR blocks within the same network topology lead to routing collisions and invalid configuration.

Key Concept

Google Cloud VPC networks are global constructs containing regional subnets that route internally across regions via Google's backbone network.
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