All Products
Search
Document Center

Virtual Private Cloud:Connect a data center to a VPC

Last Updated:Mar 04, 2024

This topic provides an overview of connecting a data center to a virtual private cloud (VPC) by using VPN Gateway, Express Connect, and Smart Access Gateway (SAG).

Overview

You can establish private connections between a data center and a VPC to build a hybrid cloud. You can connect your on-premises IT infrastructure to Alibaba Cloud. This way, you can handle workload spikes and improve application stability by using cloud resources of Alibaba Cloud, such as compute, storage, network, and Content Delivery Network (CDN) resources.

You can connect a data center to a VPC by using VPN Gateway, Express Connect, and SAG. You can also use Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) to connect your networks around the world.

Solutions

Solution

Description

VPN gateway

You can use VPN gateways to establish IPsec-VPN connections between your data centers and VPCs. By default, VPN Gateway supports the active-standby mode in which two VPN gateways are used. In this mode, the system performs failovers when one VPN gateway becomes faulty.

IPsec-VPN connections are established over the Internet. Therefore, the network latency and availability are based on the Internet. If you do not require low network latency, we recommend that you use VPN gateways.

For more information, see Connect a VPC to a data center in single-tunnel mode.

Express Connect

You can use an Express Connect circuit to connect your data center to an Alibaba Cloud access point. You can also apply for dedicated Express Connect circuits.

Connections over Express Connect circuits provide low network latency and high bandwidth. We recommend that you use Express Connect circuits if you require low network latency.

For more information, see Create and manage a dedicated connection over an Express Connect circuit.

SAG

SAG is a one-stop solution for connecting private networks to Alibaba Cloud. You can use SAG to connect private networks to Alibaba Cloud over the Internet. The connections established by SAG are secure and reliable.

SAG is easy to use and cost-effective. To connect multiple on-premises branch sites to Alibaba Cloud, we recommend that you use SAG.

For more information, see Deploy an SAG device in inline mode.

Standby Express Connect circuit

You can establish high-quality and reliable connection between your data center and Alibaba Cloud by using standby Express Connect circuits. You can use up to four Express Connect circuits to achieve equal-cost multi-path routing (ECMP).

For more information, see Establish active/active connections between a data center and Alibaba Cloud.

Active/standby connection

You can use an Express Connect circuit and a CEN instance to connect a data center to VPCs in different regions.

For more information, see Establish active/standby connections between a data center and Alibaba Cloud.

Express Connect circuit and standby connection

  • After you connect your data center to Alibaba Cloud over an Express Connect circuit, you can use SAG to establish a standby connection. This ensures the high availability of your hybrid cloud.

    For more information, see Use SAG to set up standby network connections.

  • After you connect your data center to Alibaba Cloud over an Express Connect circuit, you can use a VPN gateway to establish a standby IPsec-VPN connection. This ensures the high availability of your hybrid cloud.