PrivateLink is used to establish private, stable, and secure connections between virtual private clouds (VPCs) and other Alibaba Cloud services. PrivateLink simplifies network architectures and prevents risks that arise from accessing services over the Internet.
Terms
Before you use PrivateLink, we recommend that you learn about the terms that are described in the following table.
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Endpoint | You can connect an endpoint to an endpoint service to establish a PrivateLink connection that allows a VPC to access external services. Endpoints are created and managed by service consumers. |
| Endpoint elastic network interface (ENI) | Endpoint ENIs serve as ingresses for endpoints to access endpoint services. |
| Endpoint security group | Security groups can control the traffic between VPCs and endpoint ENIs. Each endpoint must be added to at least one security group. After an endpoint is added to a security group, all ENIs of the endpoint are associated with the security group. |
| Endpoint service | After you create an endpoint service in a VPC, you can use an endpoint that is deployed in another VPC to access the endpoint service by using PrivateLink. Endpoint services are created and managed by service providers. |
| Service resource | You can use endpoints to access the service resources of endpoint services. Note You can specify Server Load Balancer (SLB) instances as service resources, including Classic Load Balancer (CLB), Application Load Balancer (ALB), and Network Load Balancer (NLB) instances. |
| Service whitelist | The service whitelist of an endpoint service is used to manage users who are allowed to access the service resources. After an endpoint service is created, the ID of the Alibaba Cloud account of the service owner is automatically added to the service whitelist. Users whose account IDs are in the whitelist can query the endpoint service and use endpoints to connect to the endpoint service. If you want to allow a VPC that belongs to another Alibaba Cloud account to access the endpoint service, you must add the ID of the Alibaba Cloud account to the service whitelist. |
| Endpoint connection | The connection between an endpoint and an endpoint service. |
Overview
| Entity | Component |
|---|---|
| Service consumer |
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| Service provider |
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Scenarios
PrivateLink allows you to establish private, stable, and secure connections between endpoint services and VPCs in which endpoints are deployed. PrivateLink facilitates network configuration and meets the requirements of various scenarios.
Share cloud services across VPCs
You can use PrivateLink to enable a VPC to access an SLB instance that serves as the service resource in another VPC.
In the following figure, if you want VPC 1 to access the SLB instance in VPC 2 by using PrivateLink, you must specify the SLB instance as the service resource of the endpoint service in VPC 2, create an endpoint in VPC 1, and then connect the endpoint to the endpoint service in VPC 2.
Share cloud services in a VPC with a data center
You can use PrivateLink to enable a data center to access an SLB instance that serves as the service resource in a VPC.
Benefits
- Low risks
When you access endpoint services by using PrivateLink, requests are forwarded within Alibaba Cloud internal network. This prevents risks over the Internet.
- Security and controllability
When you use PrivateLink to access cloud services, you can add rules to the security group of the ENI that is used to access the services. This ensures higher security and reliability.
- Low latency and high quality
When you use PrivateLink to access cloud services, requests are forwarded within the same zone to reduce network latency.
- Simplified management
PrivateLink allows you to access cloud services that are deployed in another VPC within the same account, or cloud services that belong to another account. This simplifies route and security configurations.