Question 1

What’s the difference between Cloud Router and Cloud VPN?

Accepted Answer

Cloud VPN creates the encrypted tunnel between your network and Google Cloud. Cloud Router doesn’t encrypt traffic; it uses BGP to automatically exchange routes over that tunnel (or over Cloud Interconnect). In practice, Cloud VPN is the “secure pipe,” while Cloud Router is the “dynamic route advertisement and learning” that tells each side which IP ranges are reachable.

Question 2

When should I use Cloud Router?

Accepted Answer

Use Cloud Router when you need dynamic routing (BGP) between a VPC and another network—most commonly with Cloud VPN or Cloud Interconnect. It’s especially useful if your on-prem routes change, you have multiple tunnels/links for high availability, you want automatic failover, or you need to scale to many prefixes without managing static routes manually.

Question 3

How much does Cloud Router cost?

Accepted Answer

Cloud Router is billed as a managed networking service, typically based on the number of Cloud Router instances and the number of BGP sessions (peering connections). Your total cost also depends on the connectivity you use with it (for example, Cloud VPN tunnel charges, Cloud Interconnect port/VLAN attachment charges, and data transfer/egress). Check the Google Cloud pricing page for current rates and regional pricing.

Cloud Router

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