Google Cloud Peering

Direct Peering

• Direct Peering establishes a direct peering connection between the on-premises network and Google’s edge network and exchanges high-throughput cloud traffic.
• Direct Peering provides a direct path from the on-premises network to Google services, including Google Cloud products that can be exposed through one or more public IP addresses.
• Traffic from Google’s network to the on-premises network also takes that direct path, including traffic from VPC networks in the projects.
• Google Cloud customers must request that direct egress pricing be enabled for each of the projects after they have established Direct Peering with Google.
• Direct Peering exists outside of Google Cloud.
• Unless you need to access Google Workspace applications, the recommended methods of access to Google Cloud are Dedicated Interconnect or Partner Interconnect.
• Direct Peering doesn’t produce any custom routes in a VPC network.
• Direct Peering does not provide any SLA. For customers who need an SLA, Google recommends Cloud Interconnect.
• Direct Peering helps reduce Internet egress rates to on-premises network from GCP resources.
• Google now recommends using a Verified Peering Provider (VPP) instead of Direct Peering for most Google Cloud customers.
• Google recommends customers who do not use a VPP to privately peer with Google using a private network interconnect (PNI), requiring physical redundancy with at least two separate connections in a single metropolitan area.
• Direct Peering is available at more than 100 locations in 33 countries.

Carrier Peering

• Carrier Peering helps access Google applications, such as Google Workspace, by using a service provider to obtain enterprise-grade network services that connect your infrastructure to Google.
• Carrier Peering exists outside of Google Cloud.
• Carrier Peering doesn’t produce any custom routes in a VPC network.
• Carrier Peering does not provide any SLA.
• Google recommends using Cloud Interconnect instead of Direct Peering, Carrier Peering, and Verified Peering Provider for accessing Google Cloud (these are used only in certain circumstances).

Verified Peering Provider (VPP)

• Verified Peering Provider (VPP) is a program launched in 2024 that identifies ISPs with demonstrated diverse and reliable connectivity to Google.
• VPP is a simpler alternative to Direct Peering — the provider manages all aspects of the peering arrangements with Google.
• Google recommends connecting through a Verified Peering Provider to reach publicly available Google Cloud resources.
• Customers using a VPP do not need to meet Google’s Direct Peering requirements (no need for ASN, /24 address space, etc.).
• VPP has two badge tiers based on technical criteria:
  • Silver — Points of Presence (PoPs) redundancy
  • Gold — Metropolitan-level redundancy (connectivity to Google in multiple distinct metros)
• VPPs must maintain redundant and physically diverse connectivity to Google’s network.
• Google periodically validates enrolled providers against program requirements.
• Google does not offer an SLA for VPP, but the provider may offer an SLA on their network prior to traffic handoff to Google.
• VPP provides access to all Google services reachable over the internet, including Google Workspace, Cloud APIs, Cloud VPN, public IP addresses, and Network Service Tiers.
• VPPs can be viewed at the Google Edge Network.

Google Cloud Peering Policy Change (2025)

• In early 2025 (between Feb-Mar 2025), Google changed from an “Open peering policy” to a “Selective peering policy.”
• Google no longer does bilateral peering over an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) with new networks.
• Google now prefers 100G Private Network Interconnects (PNIs) with networks having at least 10 Gbps peak traffic flow (Google → other network direction).
• This makes Direct Peering harder to establish for smaller networks, further pushing customers toward VPP or Cloud Interconnect.

Cloud WAN (Announced 2025)

• Cloud WAN was announced at Google Cloud Next ’25 (April 2025) as part of Cross-Cloud Network.
• Cloud WAN is a fully managed, reliable, and secure enterprise backbone solution to transform enterprise WAN architectures.
• Provides up to 40% faster performance compared to the public internet.
• Offers up to 40% savings in total cost of ownership (TCO) over customer-managed WAN solutions.
• Leverages Google’s global network spanning 2 million miles of lit fiber, 33 subsea cables, and 202 network edge locations.
• Components include:
  • Network Connectivity Center (NCC) — Hub for managing hybrid connectivity
  • NCC Gateway — Regionally managed spoke that integrates cloud-native security services (e.g., third-party SSE solutions)
  • Cloud Interconnect — Direct, low-latency links from on-premises to Google Cloud
  • Cross-Cloud Interconnect — Multicloud connections (AWS, Azure, Oracle)
  • Cross-Site Interconnect — Layer 2 connectivity between on-premises sites (GA in 2025)
  • Verified Peering Providers — Simplified internet connectivity to Google

Peering Requirements (Direct Peering)

• Publicly routable ASN
• Publicly routable address space (at least one /24 of IPv4 and/or one /48 of IPv6 space)
• ASN record completed in PeeringDB
• 24×7 NOC contact
• Presence at one or more internet exchanges or private peering interconnection facilities listed for Google in PeeringDB
• Up to date Maintainer, ASN, AS-SET, and Route/Route6 objects in an internet routing registry (IRR) used by Google
• New (2025): Google now prefers 100G PNIs with at least 10 Gbps traffic flow; physical redundancy with at least two connections in a metro area is required for private peering.

Network Connectivity Comparison

GCP Certification Exam Practice Questions

• Questions are collected from Internet and the answers are marked as per my knowledge and understanding (which might differ with yours).
• GCP services are updated everyday and both the answers and questions might be outdated soon, so research accordingly.
• GCP exam questions are not updated to keep up the pace with GCP updates, so even if the underlying feature has changed the question might not be updated
• Open to further feedback, discussion and correction.

1. You want to establish a dedicated connection to Google that can access Cloud SQL via a public IP address and that does not require a third-party service provider. Which connection type should you choose?
   1. Carrier Peering
   2. Direct Peering
   3. Dedicated Interconnect
   4. Partner Interconnect
2. A company wants to access Google Cloud services over the internet but does not have the technical capability to manage Direct Peering with Google. What does Google recommend?
   1. Carrier Peering
   2. Partner Interconnect
   3. Verified Peering Provider
   4. Cloud VPN
3. Which of the following are requirements for establishing Direct Peering with Google? (Choose 3)
   1. Publicly routable ASN
   2. 24×7 NOC contact
   3. Cloud Interconnect VLAN attachment
   4. At least one /24 of IPv4 address space
   5. Google Cloud project with billing enabled
4. What is the key advantage of using a Verified Peering Provider (VPP) over Direct Peering?
   1. VPP provides an SLA backed by Google
   2. VPP removes the need to meet Google’s Direct Peering requirements
   3. VPP provides private IP connectivity to VPC networks
   4. VPP creates custom routes in VPC networks
5. A company needs a connection to Google Cloud with an SLA guarantee. Which option should they choose?
   1. Direct Peering
   2. Carrier Peering
   3. Verified Peering Provider
   4. Cloud Interconnect (Dedicated or Partner)
6. Which of the following statements about Google’s peering options is correct? (Choose 2)
   1. Direct Peering, Carrier Peering, and VPP all exist outside of Google Cloud
   2. Carrier Peering produces custom routes in a VPC network
   3. None of the peering options (Direct, Carrier, VPP) provide an SLA from Google
   4. Direct Peering requires a service provider contract

References

• Google Cloud – Direct Peering Overview
• Google Cloud – Carrier Peering
• Google Cloud – Verified Peering Provider Overview
• Google Cloud – Choosing a Network Connectivity Product
• Google Cloud Blog – Verified Peering Provider Simplifies Enterprise Connectivity
• Google Cloud Blog – Premium Tier and Verified Peering Providers Enable Cloud WAN
• Google Cloud Blog – Cloud WAN for the AI Era