Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Google Distributed Cloud is a portfolio of hardware and software solutions
that extend Google Cloud infrastructure to the edge and into your data
centers.
Workloads such as cellular network infrastructure, facial recognition, and other
latency-sensitive, processing-intensive applications exceed the latency and
bandwidth capabilities of a traditional cloud service. For such workloads,
Distributed Cloud connected offers fully integrated hardware
and software solutions that bring the capabilities of Google Cloud directly
to your premises. Google provides, deploys, operates, and maintains the dedicated
Distributed Cloud connected hardware and software.
Google Distributed Cloud connected
Distributed Cloud connected is an integrated hardware and software
solution that runs general-purpose and specialized network function-enabled
workloads. A Distributed Cloud connected rack deployment consists
of 6 to 24 physical machines, two top-of-rack (ToR) switches, and two aggregator
switches that interconnect the machines with your local network and optional expansion
racks. You can connect up to 3 expansion rack to a base rack set in each deployed
Distributed Cloud connected zone.
The Distributed Cloud connected hardware runs worker nodes grouped
into node pools, which you assign to clusters within your Distributed Cloud
connected Google Cloud project. You can run workloads in containers and virtual machines.
Google Distributed Cloud software only
Google Distributed Cloud software extends Google Cloud's infrastructure and
services into your data center, with Google-provided software running on your
own hardware. Google Distributed Cloud software is based on
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE),
with its own Kubernetes package that extends GKE for use in an
on-premises environment. With Distributed Cloud you can create, manage, and
upgrade GKE clusters on your own premises while using
Google Cloud features, and deploy and operate containerized applications on your
clusters at scale using Google's infrastructure.
Google Distributed Cloud software can be installed on either VMware or bare
metal:
Google Distributed Cloud for bare metal runs on physical machines, instead
of virtual machines, so you can manage application containers on a wide
variety of performance-optimized hardware types, like GPUs. Running
Google Distributed Cloud on bare metal also allows for direct application
access to hardware.
Google Distributed Cloud for VMware runs on your premises in a vSphere
environment. vSphere
is VMware's virtualization platform.
[[["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."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Distributed Cloud extends Google Cloud infrastructure to edge locations and data centers, offering hardware and software solutions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDistributed Cloud connected provides integrated hardware and software, managed by Google, for latency-sensitive workloads with rack deployments that scale from 6 to 24 physical machines and include networking capabilities.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDistributed Cloud software, built on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), extends Google Cloud services into user data centers, allowing the creation, management, and upgrades of GKE clusters on-premises.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDistributed Cloud software can be deployed on either bare metal hardware, enabling direct hardware access and management of diverse hardware types, or within a VMware vSphere environment.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Google Distributed Cloud overview\n\nGoogle Distributed Cloud is a portfolio of hardware and software solutions\nthat extend Google Cloud infrastructure to the edge and into your data\ncenters.\n\nWorkloads such as cellular network infrastructure, facial recognition, and other\nlatency-sensitive, processing-intensive applications exceed the latency and\nbandwidth capabilities of a traditional cloud service. For such workloads,\nDistributed Cloud connected offers fully integrated hardware\nand software solutions that bring the capabilities of Google Cloud directly\nto your premises. Google provides, deploys, operates, and maintains the dedicated\nDistributed Cloud connected hardware and software.\n\n### Google Distributed Cloud connected\n\nDistributed Cloud connected is an integrated hardware and software\nsolution that runs general-purpose and specialized network function-enabled\nworkloads. A Distributed Cloud connected rack deployment consists\nof 6 to 24 physical machines, two top-of-rack (ToR) switches, and two aggregator\nswitches that interconnect the machines with your local network and optional expansion\nracks. You can connect up to 3 expansion rack to a base rack set in each deployed\nDistributed Cloud connected zone.\n\nThe Distributed Cloud connected hardware runs worker nodes grouped\ninto node pools, which you assign to clusters within your Distributed Cloud\nconnected Google Cloud project. You can run workloads in containers and virtual machines.\n\n### Google Distributed Cloud software only\n\nGoogle Distributed Cloud software extends Google Cloud's infrastructure and\nservices into your data center, with Google-provided software running on your\nown hardware. Google Distributed Cloud software is based on\n[Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)](/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/kubernetes-engine-overview),\nwith its own Kubernetes package that extends GKE for use in an\non-premises environment. With Distributed Cloud you can create, manage, and\nupgrade GKE clusters on your own premises while using\nGoogle Cloud features, and deploy and operate containerized applications on your\nclusters at scale using Google's infrastructure.\n\nGoogle Distributed Cloud software can be installed on either VMware or bare\nmetal:\n\n- Google Distributed Cloud for bare metal runs on physical machines, instead\n of virtual machines, so you can manage application containers on a wide\n variety of performance-optimized hardware types, like GPUs. Running\n Google Distributed Cloud on bare metal also allows for direct application\n access to hardware.\n\n- Google Distributed Cloud for VMware runs on your premises in a [vSphere\n environment](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/index.html). vSphere\n is [VMware's](https://www.vmware.com) virtualization platform."]]
