CoreQ Academy1.3 Explain cloud networking concepts.
Cloud networks are software-defined, but the same ideas apply: segments, routes, gateways and firewalls. Most cloud breaches involve a networking or identity misconfiguration.
Public and private connections to the cloud
- Virtual private network (VPN)
- Encrypted tunnel over the internet between on-premises and the cloud, or for remote users. Quick and cheap; bandwidth and latency vary.
- Dedicated connections
- Private circuits to the provider (Direct Connect, ExpressRoute, Interconnect) for consistent bandwidth and latency. Not encrypted by default; add encryption if required.
Network functions, components, and services
- Application load balancer
- Layer 7 load balancer that routes by HTTP host, path or headers; can terminate TLS and integrate a WAF.
- Network load balancer
- Layer 4 load balancer for TCP/UDP at very high throughput and low latency.
- Application gateway
- A managed Layer 7 entry point combining routing, TLS termination and often WAF for web apps.
- Content delivery network (CDN)
- Edge caches that serve content close to users, reduce origin load and absorb DDoS.
- Firewalls
- Cloud-native or virtual firewalls filtering traffic between networks and the internet.
Virtual private cloud (VPC)
- Virtual private cloud (VPC)
- Your logically isolated network in the cloud with your own IP ranges, subnets and routing.
- Peering
- Direct private connection between two VPCs. Not transitive: A-B and B-C does not give A-C.
- Transit gateway
- A hub that connects many VPCs and on-premises networks with central routing, replacing a mesh of peerings.
- Subnets
- IP ranges within a VPC, usually public (with an internet route) or private (no direct internet access).
Routing and switching
- Virtual local area network (VLAN)
- Layer 2 segmentation on shared switching, common in private cloud and hybrid edges.
- Software-defined network (SDN)
- Network behaviour controlled centrally by software and APIs, which is how cloud networks work.
- Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
- The routing protocol used to exchange routes between your network and the provider over VPN or dedicated links.
- Static routes
- Manually defined routes; simple and predictable, but do not adapt to failures.
- Route tables
- Rules attached to subnets that decide where traffic goes (internet gateway, NAT, peering, VPN).
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Original CoreQ Academy material, mapped to objective 1.3 of the publicly available CompTIA Cloud+ CV0-004 exam objectives (Exam objectives V4, document version 5.0). Not affiliated with or endorsed by CompTIA. Contains no exam questions.