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Google Distributed Cloud supports two load balancer options: bundled and manual.
Bundled load balancer mode
If you choose bundled load balancing, the load balancer is provided for you. An
external load balancer is not needed.
There are two types of bundled load balancing:
Layer 2: All load balancer nodes and VIPs must be in the same Layer 2
subnet. The gateway of the load balancer subnet must listen to gratuitous ARP
messages and forward ARP packets to the load balancer nodes. See
Bundled load balancing with MetalLB.
BGP: This load-balancing mode supports the advertisement of ServiceType
LoadBalancer virtual IP addresses (VIPs) through external Border
Gateway Protocol (eBGP) for your clusters. Your cluster network is an autonomous
system, which interconnects with another autonomous system, an external network,
through peering. See
Bundled load balancing with BGP.
The following diagram shows an example network topology where bundled MetalLB
load balancers are located on the control plane nodes.
Manual load balancer mode
If you choose manual load balancing, Google Distributed Cloud does not deploy load
balancers. This allows more flexibility than bundled load balancing and there
are no L2 network requirements.
You must configure your control plane nodes' VIPs on an external load
balancer before installing the cluster. After installation, you must pick a load
balancing solution for Kubernetes Services and Ingresses.
The following diagram shows an example network topology of a cluster using
manual load balancing mode with an external load balancer.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[],[],null,["Google Distributed Cloud supports two load balancer options: bundled and manual.\n\nBundled load balancer mode\n\nIf you choose bundled load balancing, the load balancer is provided for you. An\nexternal load balancer is not needed.\n\nThere are two types of bundled load balancing:\n\n- **Layer 2** : All load balancer nodes and VIPs must be in the same Layer 2\n subnet. The gateway of the load balancer subnet must listen to gratuitous ARP\n messages and forward ARP packets to the load balancer nodes. See\n [Bundled load balancing with MetalLB](/kubernetes-engine/distributed-cloud/bare-metal/docs/installing/bundled-lb).\n\n- **BGP** : This load-balancing mode supports the advertisement of ServiceType\n LoadBalancer virtual IP addresses (VIPs) through external Border\n Gateway Protocol (eBGP) for your clusters. Your cluster network is an autonomous\n system, which interconnects with another autonomous system, an external network,\n through peering. See\n [Bundled load balancing with BGP](/kubernetes-engine/distributed-cloud/bare-metal/docs/how-to/lb-bundled-bgp).\n\nThe following diagram shows an example network topology where bundled MetalLB\nload balancers are located on the control plane nodes.\n\nManual load balancer mode\n\nIf you choose manual load balancing, Google Distributed Cloud does not deploy load\nbalancers. This allows more flexibility than bundled load balancing and there\nare no L2 network requirements.\n\nYou must configure your control plane nodes' VIPs on an external load\nbalancer before installing the cluster. After installation, you must pick a load\nbalancing solution for Kubernetes Services and Ingresses.\n\nThe following diagram shows an example network topology of a cluster using\nmanual load balancing mode with an external load balancer."]]
