Google Cloud Next 2024: AI networking gets a boost

• Cloud NGFW Enterprise (formerly Cloud Firewall Plus), generally available now, provides network threat protection powered by Palo Alto Networks’ technology, plus network security posture controls for organization-wide perimeter and zero-trust microsegmentation, Sambi stated.

• Identity-based authorization with mTLS “integrates the Identity-Aware Proxy with our internal application Load Balancer to support Zero Trust network access, including client-side and soon back-end mutual [Transport Layer Security],” Sambi wrote.

• In-line network data-loss prevention (DLP), which will be in preview soon, “integrates Symantec DLP into our Load Balancers and Secure Web Proxy using Service Extensions. This will help safeguard sensitive data-in-transit from accidental and malicious exposure,” Sambi wrote.

On the management front, Google Cloud added an AI-based assistant called Gemini Cloud Assist, which offers intelligent help and insights related to network design, operations, and optimization, Sambi stated.  

“Cloud administrators can ask Gemini Cloud Assist to solve a variety of tasks and recommendations such as generate configurations, recommend capacity, correlate changes with issues, identify vulnerabilities, and optimize performance,” Sambi wrote. “In preview, Gemini Cloud Assist expedites network provisioning and management, enabling organizations to deliver business results faster and more reliably.”

IDC weighs in on Cross-Cloud Network

Google Cloud’s Cross-Cloud Network provides a secure, resilient, and high-performance solution for any company looking to deploy hybrid or multicloud resources, according to a recent IDC report, Accelerating the Enterprise AI Journey with Cross-Cloud Network, written by Vijay Bhagavath, research vice president, cloud and datacenter networks, at IDC.

“Cross-cloud networking introduces the concept of leveraging services from multiple clouds and building an application stack that may have different layers hosted by different cloud providers. Google Cloud’s Cross-Cloud Network effectively provides the experience of a single cloud across multiple clouds and simplifies the network to help enterprises accelerate agility,” according to the IDC report.