Tame Multi-Cloud Chaos with Mesh Networking

This is the first installment of a multi-part blog series tackling real-life networking challenges in enterprise environments.

Networking in the modern enterprise environment is evolving. Storing data in multiple clouds is now a necessity, rather than an option. Today, 80% of enterprises are using multiple-cloud environments — and for good reason. Some aim to optimize costs, while others focus on boosting reliability. In some cases, companies inherit a multi-cloud setup through mergers, acquisitions, or data residency requirements.

But what exactly is a multi-cloud environment? Simply put, it’s a modern approach to managing data and company assets across multiple cloud providers, such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.

There are many ways an enterprise might use a multi-cloud environment. Here are a few examples:

A smart building IoT company that manages automated systems across multiple properties might have the following multi-cloud structure:

• AWS IoT Greengrass to control HVAC, lighting, and security systems locally.
• Google Cloud AI to analyze energy usage and optimize efficiency.
• Microsoft Azure Digital Twins to create virtual models of buildings for real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance.

An auto manufacturer might utilize a multi-cloud environment to streamline production, manage vehicle connectivity and supply chain:

• AWS IoT Core to monitor and manage connected vehicle telemetry.
• Google Cloud storage for securely archiving design and manufacturing data.
• Microsoft Azure DevOps to coordinate software updates and deployment across their global production facilities.

A hospital’s multi-cloud environment might be used to enhance patient care, data security, and operational efficiency and could follow a similar structure to this:

• AWS HealthLake to store and process patient records.
• Google Cloud BigQuery to analyze hospital performance metrics and optimize resource allocation.
• Microsoft Azure Sentinel to strengthen cybersecurity and ensure compliance with healthcare.

Multi-Cloud = Multi-Challenge

While Multi-cloud setups allow companies to use the best tools for data storage, analytics, and security, they also add complexity in integrating and managing these different cloud services. Managing multiple-cloud environments creates significant hurdles in network configuration, visibility, and security.

Complexity
Each cloud provider operates with unique networking models, APIs, and firewall rules, making continuous connectivity difficult to establish and maintain. This forces IT teams to spend countless hours troubleshooting and reconfiguring complex setups, taking focus away from other strategic initiatives.

Fragmentation
Another pain point is the fragmented nature of multi-cloud visibility and management. Admins have to log into multiple dashboards to view and modify network connections — making it time consuming and less effective to manage cloud configurations.

Vulnerability
A lack of centralization is not only inefficient, but also increases security risks by widening the attack surface. It’s easy to misconfigure network filtering protocols, firewalls or other network security tools when dealing with so many different platforms. Plus, inconsistent encryption and access management discrepancies can make securing data across clouds a challenge.

Inconsistent encryption is particularly common in multi-cloud environments. Common deployments of private cloud networks decrypt data as it enters the cloud environment. The data is then passed around in plain text format within the cloud environment. In other instances cloud servers might encrypt data at rest, but that same data might be unencrypted in transit or be decrypted when passing through another cloud server.

The aforementioned challenges slow down operations, create security risks, and cause instability in connections. Traditional networking solutions have attempted to address multi-cloud connectivity, but these solutions — such as VPCs, VPNs and SD-WAN — come with significant drawbacks.

Cloud-specific connections like VPCs only work within the same provider, limiting interoperability. VPNs, while a common solution, are often slow, complex, and built on outdated security models that make them difficult to scale and maintain. SD-WAN, while offering flexibility, is expensive and introduces another layer of vendor lock-in, contradicting the fundamental goal of multi-cloud adoption.

A Multifaceted Solution: Mesh Network Overlay

Looking for a solution that lets you unlock all the benefits of multi-cloud while solving the problems it introduces? Enter mesh networking, the easiest, most streamlined solution for a multi-cloud environment. But what is a mesh network? Simply put, a mesh network is a type of network where multiple devices, or nodes, are connected directly to each other — removing the complexities of individual cloud infrastructures.

Simpler
Mesh networking simplifies configurations and allows seamless connectivity across multiple cloud providers. The network overlay builds a bridge across Firewalls, VPCs, and gateways making it easy to connect devices directly to each other. These connections can adapt to changes in internet service and location, which reduces time spent troubleshooting and minimizes IT burden.

Unified
Mesh networking also provides centralized visibility and management, consolidating network oversight into a single, intuitive dashboard. This approach saves time and strengthens security.

Secure
With secure end-to-end encryption, the mesh network protects data in transit. This reduces the risk caused by inconsistent encryption. Authentication to each network is controlled by unique cryptographic IDs, ensuring only trusted devices can become a network member. Mesh network solutions can also keep access control policies consistent across all cloud environments, reducing security risks.

Unlike VPNs and SD-WAN, mesh networking offers true flexibility and cost efficiency. It eliminates vendor lock-in, works across any cloud, ISP, or hardware, and significantly reduces the complexity of multi-cloud networking.

ZeroTier is the ideal solution for enterprises managing multi-cloud environments, offering a secure, software-defined networking (SDN) approach that simplifies connectivity across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and on-premise infrastructure. By creating a unified virtual network that works on any networking hardware, ZeroTier eliminates cloud-provider lock-in and streamlines communication. ZeroTier also ensures encrypted, peer-to-peer connections, improving security posture in heterogeneous mult-cloud environments. Unlike traditional VPNs and SD-WANs, ZeroTier requires minimal setup and no additional hardware, making network management a cost-effective breeze.

Ready to learn how ZeroTier can help you optimize your multi-cloud networking strategy? Request a demo today.