Updated on 2024-07-02 GMT+08:00

Overview

An enterprise router is a high-specification, high-bandwidth, and high-performance router that connects virtual private clouds (VPCs) and on-premises networks to build a central hub network. Enterprise routers use the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to learn, dynamically select, or switch between routes, thereby significantly improving the network scalability and O&M efficiency and ensuring the service continuity.

You can use enterprise routers together with other Huawei Cloud services to flexibly construct different networks. This document provides best practices of typical networking for your reference.

Table 1 Scenarios

Networking

Scenario

Cloud Service

Description

Cross-region network

Connecting VPCs Across Regions Using Enterprise Router and Central Network

  • Enterprise Router
  • Cloud Connect (central network)
  • VPC
  • ECS
For nearby access, an enterprise runs workloads in regions A, B, and C. The VPCs in each region need to communicate with each other. To achieve this, you can:
  1. Create an enterprise router in each region: ER-A in region A, ER-B in region B, and ER-C in region C.
  2. Create a central network and add ER-A, ER-B, and ER-C to the central network as attachments so that the three enterprise routers can communicate with each other.
  3. In region A, attach VPC-A01 and VPC-A02 to ER-A so that the two VPCs can communicate with each other. Perform the same operations in regions B and C. In this way, the VPCs in the three regions can communicate with each other over the central network.

Intra-region network

Using Enterprise Router to Isolate VPCs in the Same Region

  • Enterprise Router
  • VPC
  • ECS
There are four VPCs in a region of Huawei Cloud, with service A, service B, and service C respectively in VPC 1, VPC 2, and VPC 3, and common service in VPC 4. The network requirements are as follows:
  1. VPC 1, VPC 2, and VPC 3 need to be isolated from each other.
  2. VPC 1, VPC 2, and VPC 3 need to communicate with VPC 4.

Intra-region network

Using a Third-Party Firewall to Protect VPCs Connected by Enterprise Routers

  • Enterprise Router
  • VPC
  • ECS

There are three VPCs in a region of Huawei Cloud, with service A and service B respectively in VPC 1 and VPC 2, and the third-party firewall in VPC 3. For security purposes, the traffic to service A and service B must be filtered by the firewall in VPC 3.

Hybrid cloud network

Using Enterprise Router and a Transit VPC to Allow an On-Premises Data Center to Access Service VPCs

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (virtual gateway)
  • VPN
  • VPC
  • ECS

You can use enterprise routers to build a central network and to simplify the network architecture. There are two typical networking schemes. One is to attach the service VPCs to the enterprise router. The other is to use a transit VPC to build a network, together with VPC Peering and Enterprise Router. Compared with scheme 1, scheme 2 costs less and eliminates some restrictions.

Hybrid cloud network

Setting Up a Hybrid Cloud Network Using Enterprise Router and Direct Connect Global DC Gateway

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (global DC gateway)
  • VPC
  • ECS

Suppose your enterprise has deployed two VPCs in a region. The two VPCs need to communicate with each other and communicate with your on-premises data center through a global DC gateway.

Hybrid cloud network

Setting Up a Hybrid Cloud Network Using Enterprise Router and a Pair of Direct Connect Connections (Global DC Gateway)

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (global DC gateway)
  • VPC
  • ECS

Direct Connect establishes a dedicated, secure, stable, and high-speed network connection between your on-premises data center and VPCs. Direct Connect now provides global DC gateways that allow you to build a large-scale hybrid cloud network globally.

To improve the performance and reliability of the hybrid cloud network, your enterprise uses two Direct Connect connections to connect your on-premises data center to the VPCs. The two Direct Connect connections work in load balancing mode. When both connections are working normally, network transmission is greatly improved. If one connection is faulty, the other connection ensures the normal running of the hybrid cloud network and thereby prevents service interruptions caused by a single connection
  • The two VPCs can communicate with each other and communicate with the on-premises data center over two Direct Connect connections and an enterprise router.
  • When one Direct Connect connection is faulty, the two VPCs can communicate with the on-premises data center over the normal connection.

Hybrid cloud network

Setting Up a Hybrid Cloud Network Using Enterprise Router, VPN, and Direct Connect (Global DC Gateway)

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (global DC gateway)
  • VPN
  • VPC
  • ECS

Direct Connect establishes a dedicated, secure, stable, and high-speed network connection between your on-premises data center and VPCs. Direct Connect now provides global DC gateways that allow you to build a large-scale hybrid cloud network globally.

VPN establishes a secure, encrypted communication tunnel between your on-premises data center and your VPC. Compared with Direct Connect, VPN is cost-effective and can be quickly deployed.

To improve the reliability of the hybrid cloud network, your enterprise uses both Direct Connect and VPN connections to connect your on-premises data center to the VPCs. The Direct Connect connection works as the active connection and a VPN connection works as the standby one. If the active connection becomes faulty, the standby connection automatically takes over, which eliminates network interruptions.
  • Two VPCs (VPC 1 and VPC 2) and a Direct Connect global DC gateway are attached to the enterprise router. VPC1 and VPC 2 can communicate with each other and communicate with the on-premises data center over the Direct Connect connection.
  • A VPN gateway is also attached to the enterprise router. If the Direct Connect connection becomes faulty, VPC 1 and VPC 2 can communicate with the on-premises data center over the VPN connection.

Hybrid cloud network

Setting Up a Hybrid Cloud Network Using Enterprise Router and Direct Connect (Virtual Gateway)

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (virtual gateway)
  • VPC
  • ECS

There are two VPCs in a region. The two VPCs need to access each other and share the same Direct Connect connection to communicate with an on-premises data center.

For this to work, you can create an enterprise router in the region, and attach the two VPCs and the virtual gateway of the Direct Connect connection to the enterprise router. The enterprise router can forward traffic among the attached VPCs and the virtual gateway, and the two VPCs can share the Direct Connect connection.

Hybrid cloud network

Setting Up a Hybrid Cloud Network Using Enterprise Router and a Pair of Direct Connect Connections (Virtual Gateway)

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (virtual gateway)
  • VPC
  • ECS
To improve the performance and reliability of the hybrid cloud network, your enterprise uses two Direct Connect connections to connect your on-premises data center to the VPCs. The two Direct Connect connections work in load balancing mode. When both connections are working normally, network transmission is greatly improved. If one connection is faulty, the other connection ensures the normal running of the hybrid cloud network and thereby prevents service interruption caused by a single connection.
  • The two VPCs can communicate with each other and communicate with the on-premises data center over two Direct Connect connections and an enterprise router.
  • When one Direct Connect connection is faulty, the two VPCs can communicate with the on-premises data center over the normal connection.

Hybrid cloud network

Setting Up a Hybrid Cloud Network Using Enterprise Router, VPN, and Direct Connect (Virtual Gateway)

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (virtual gateway)
  • VPN
  • VPC
  • ECS
To improve the reliability of the hybrid cloud network, your enterprise uses both Direct Connect and VPN connections to connect your on-premises data center to the VPCs. The Direct Connect connection works as the active connection and a VPN connection works as the standby one. If the active connection becomes faulty, the standby connection automatically takes over, which eliminates network interruptions.
  • Two VPCs (VPC 1 and VPC 2), and the Direct Connect virtual gateway are attached to the enterprise router. VPC1 and VPC 2 can communicate with each other and communicate with the on-premises data center over the Direct Connect connection.
  • A VPN gateway is also attached to the enterprise router. If the Direct Connect connection becomes faulty, VPC 1 and VPC 2 can communicate with the on-premises data center over the VPN connection.

Access to the public network from the cloud network

Allowing VPCs to Share an EIP to Access the Internet Using Enterprise Router and NAT Gateway

  • Enterprise Router
  • NAT Gateway
  • Elastic IP
  • VPC
  • ECS

There are four VPCs in region A on Huawei Cloud. VPC 1, VPC 2, and VPC 3 need to communicate with each other, and share an EIP through an SNAT rule of a NAT gateway in VPC 4 to access the Internet.

Network migration

Using Enterprise Router to Migrate the Network Set Up Through VPC Peering

  • Enterprise Router
  • VPC
  • ECS

There are three VPCs (VPC-A, VPC-B, and VPC-C) in region A and connected over VPC peering connections. To improve network scalability and reduce O&M costs, you can use an enterprise router to connect the three VPCs.

Network migration

Using Enterprise Router to Migrate the Network Set Up Through Direct Connect

  • Enterprise Router
  • Direct Connect (virtual gateway)
  • VPC
  • ECS

Your on-premises data center can access VPC-X in region A over a Direct Connect connection that has a virtual gateway (VGW-A) and two virtual interfaces (VIF-A01 and VIF-A02). To improve the reliability of your hybrid cloud network and reduce O&M costs, you can migrate the network by replacing Direct Connect with Enterprise Router.

Network migration

Using Enterprise Router and Central Network to Migrate the Network Set Up Through a Cloud Connection

  • Enterprise Router
  • Cloud Connect (cloud connection)
  • Cloud Connect (central network)
  • VPC
  • ECS

As shown in Figure 1, the VPCs in three regions (region A, region B, and region C) are connected over a cloud connection. To improve the network scalability and simplify maintenance, you can attach the VPCs to enterprise routers and add the enterprise routers to a central network as attachments, so that these VPCs can communicate with each other.