Q: Your company is running a data science platform on Google Cloud that needs to query real-time transactional databases hosted in AWS us-east-1. Routing petabytes of data over the public internet exposes security risks and introduces high latency. How do you design and configure a dedicated private interconnect between AWS and GCP without traversing on-premises data centers?
Architectural design for establishing a high-throughput, private, sub-5ms cross-cloud backbone between AWS VPCs and GCP VPCs using cloud exchange routers (Megaport / Equinix) with dual BGP peering.
#Multi-Cloud #AWS #GCP #Direct Connect #Cloud Interconnect #BGP #Megaport
🎙️ Candidate Opening & Architectural Context
"Traversing the public internet between AWS and GCP incurred high data egress costs and unpredictable latency jitter (45-80ms). We engineered a dedicated cloud-to-cloud private transit architecture using Megaport Cloud Router (MCR) to connect AWS Direct Connect and Google Cloud Interconnect directly."
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🛠️ Production Runbook & Step-by-Step Resolution
1️⃣
Deploy Virtual Cloud Routing Engine on Cloud Fabric Exchange
Establish a carrier-neutral virtual Layer 3 routing instance in the target metro area:
- Deploy MCR: Provisioned a Megaport Cloud Router (MCR) in the Ashburn metro region with 10 Gbps switching capacity and private ASN 65010.
- Zero Physical Hardware: MCR executes virtual routing inside colocation facilities directly adjacent to AWS and Google Cloud on-ramps, achieving sub-2ms network latency.
Pro Tip: Using a virtual cloud router (MCR / Equinix Fabric) eliminates the need to lease physical cage space or install on-premises physical hardware.
2️⃣
Provision AWS Direct Connect Hosted Connection & Direct Connect Gateway
Connect the AWS environment to the virtual cloud router:
- Hosted VIF: Created a Virtual Cross Connect (VXC) from MCR to AWS Direct Connect, provisioning a Transit Virtual Interface (VIF).
- Direct Connect Gateway: Attached Transit VIF to an AWS Direct Connect Gateway (DXGW) associated with the AWS Transit Gateway (TGW) in us-east-1.
- BGP Peering: Established BGP session between MCR (ASN 65010) and AWS DXGW (ASN 64512), advertising AWS VPC subnets (
172.16.0.0/16).
Pro Tip: Direct Connect Gateway allows a single Direct Connect circuit to peer with multiple AWS Transit Gateways across multiple AWS regions.
3️⃣
Provision GCP Partner Interconnect & Cloud Router
Connect Google Cloud VPC to the same virtual cloud exchange:
- Interconnect Attachment: Created Google Cloud Partner Interconnect VLAN attachment in
us-east4(Ashburn) paired with Cloud Router (ASN 16550). - Pairing Key Activation: Bound the Google pairing key in Megaport to provision the matching VXC to MCR.
- BGP Peering: Configured BGP session exchanging Google Cloud VPC subnets (
10.200.0.0/16) with MCR.
Pro Tip: Google Cloud Router uses dynamic BGP to automatically advertise custom subnet routes across the Interconnect attachment.
4️⃣
Optimize MTU, Security Groups, and End-to-End Throughput
Ensure jumbo frames and secure perimeter routing across clouds:
- Jumbo Frames: Tuned MTU to
8500on AWS Direct Connect and1500/8896on GCP to maximize TCP throughput. - Firewall Lockdown: Restricted security groups and GCP VPC firewall rules to allow bidirectional traffic only between designated database ports (TCP 5432) and BigQuery connector subnets.
- Performance Telemetry: Measured round-trip ping latency of 2.4ms with sustained 8.5 Gbps bandwidth.
Pro Tip: Data transfer over private interconnect receives discounted cross-cloud egress pricing compared to raw public internet egress rates.
💡 The Senior SRE Gold Nugget (Key Architectural Takeaway)
"Megaport Cloud Router establishes a low-latency, private, dedicated BGP peering bridge directly between AWS Direct Connect and GCP Cloud Interconnect without traversing physical on-premises infrastructure."
⚡ 60-Second Elevator Pitch Talking Points
- Deploy Megaport Cloud Router (MCR) in a shared metro exchange facility (Ashburn).
- Connect AWS via Direct Connect Gateway and Transit VIF with dynamic BGP.
- Connect GCP via Partner Interconnect VLAN Attachment and Cloud Router.
- Achieve sub-3ms private cross-cloud latency and discounted egress rates.
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