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VPN Gateway

A VPN Gateway enables secure, encrypted communication between your Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and another network (e.g., on-premises data center or another VPC). It is a vital component for establishing site-to-site VPN connections, allowing secure traffic flow between your private networks over the public internet.

What is a VPN Gateway?​

A VPN Gateway is a virtualized network component within your VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) that enables secure, encrypted communication between your cloud-hosted resources and external networks over the public internet. It acts as an endpoint for IPSec-based Site-to-Site VPN tunnels, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected in transit.

This is particularly useful when connecting:

  • On-premises data centers to your cloud infrastructure.

  • Two or more geographically separated VPCs.

  • Third-party or partner networks with restricted access controls.

Key Components of a VPN Setup​

A functional VPN setup within the Cloud Management Portal consists of the following components:

1. VPN Gateway​

  • The cloud-side endpoint of the VPN tunnel.

  • Automatically created using the Source NAT IP of the VPC router.

  • There can be only one VPN Gateway per VPC.

2. Customer Gateway​

  • Represents the external/remote network configuration.

  • Includes details such as:

    • Public IP address of the remote gateway device (e.g., a firewall or router).

    • Remote subnet(s) to be routed through the VPN.

    • Encryption settings (IKE and ESP).

    • IPSec preshared key (shared secret).

3. VPN Connection​

  • Defines the actual tunnel configuration between the cloud’s VPN Gateway and the Customer Gateway.

  • Specifies which encryption and tunneling parameters to use.

  • Once a connection is successfully established, both networks can communicate securely.

How VPN Gateway Works​

Here’s how the VPN Gateway facilitates secure communication:

  • Initialization**: Once the VPN Gateway is created, it becomes available to link with one or more customer gateways.

  • Handshake and Key Exchange: The tunnel is established using the IKE (Internet Key Exchange) protocol, where both sides authenticate each other using the pre-shared key.

  • Tunnel Establishment: A secure IPSec tunnel is formed.

  • Traffic Encryption: Any data passing through the tunnel is encrypted using the agreed-upon ESP settings.

  • Routing: Network routes are configured to direct traffic from the cloud subnet(s) to the remote network via the VPN tunnel.

1. Accessing the VPC Section :​

  • Log in to your Cloud Management Portal using your authorized credentials.

  • From the left navigation pane, go to:

    Network → VPC

  • You will see a list of all existing VPC networks associated with your cloud account.

  • Click on the VPC name to view its details.

2. Enter VPC Configuration :​

  • On the VPC details page, click the Configure button.
  • This action will take you to the VPC Configuration Dashboard.

3. Enable the VPN Gateway :​

  • In the VPC configuration page, scroll to the Router section.

  • Click on the link labeled Site-to-Site VPN Lists.

Note: If this is the first time you are enabling VPN for this VPC, a pop-up dialog will appear with the message:
"Please confirm to create S2S VPN gateway for this VPC."

  • Click OK to confirm and create the VPN Gateway.

4. VPN Gateway Creation Confirmation :​

  • Once the VPN Gateway is created, you will be redirected to the VPN Gateway Configuration Page.

  • The VPN Gateway is automatically associated with the default Source NAT IP that was allocated during VPC creation.

5. Add a New VPN Connection :​

  • Navigate to the VPN Connection tab within the VPN Gateway configuration page.

  • Click on the Add button to start configuring a new connection.

6. Select a Customer Gateway :​

  • A pop-up window will appear prompting you to select a Customer Gateway.

  • Use the drop-down list to select the appropriate Customer Gateway that matches your external VPN device settings.

  • Click OK to initiate the VPN connection setup.

7. Post-Configuration :​

  • Once the VPN connection is established, the tunnel status will be reflected in the VPN Connection tab.

  • Status indicators (e.g., Connected, Disconnected) help you monitor the health of the connection.

  • The tunnel is ready for secure traffic exchange between your cloud VPC and the specified remote network.