The SIM-Networks team is proud to announce that SIM-Cloud's set of services continues to grow with the launch of the L2 Gateway. Learn more about the new capabilities this service brings to clients, from the creation of complex hybrid environments to easier data migration.
L2 Gateway now available in SIM-Cloud
What is an L2 gateway and how does it work?
L2, also known as the data link layer, is what allows users to create Local Area Networks (LAN) in which devices communicate directly. Typically, this requires the devices to be in the same location. However, network switches can be used to set up Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN) that create the appearance that servers in different locations are in the same physical LAN.
This is what the L2 Gateway does: it connects devices into a single VLAN regardless of location thanks to the Layer 2 link running between data centers. In SIM-Cloud, the L2 Gateway is a framework that enables the creation, configuration and management of L2 connections between OpenStack Neutron networks and external networks on demand. This includes the user’s local data center, other devices in SIM-Networks' data center or any other data center in the world. L2 Gateway users can choose between 1 Gbit/s and 10 Gbit/s connections depending on the use case.
What can you use the L2 Gateway for?
In practical terms, the most common use cases for the L2 Gateway are the creation of hybrid cloud environments and simplified migration between platforms.
A user may want to connect a SIM-Cloud instance directly to a server running an important database in their office. Without the L2 Gateway, this would typically be solved using a VPN; however, this solution has a number of downsides. For instance, if you have a 1 Gbit/s connection, the VPN itself will use up some of the bandwidth, leaving you with, say, 600 Mbit/s for the actual data transfer. In contrast, a direct L2 connection doesn’t use up any bandwidth and doesn’t change the architecture of your infrastructure because of additional routers required for the connection. This way, your services in the cloud can reach your local database with minimal latency.
The L2 Gateway can also be used to set up connections between different SIM-Networks platforms in the same data center. For example, your business may need the flexibility of the cloud for the frontend of your app. However, your backend may require a specific hardware configuration that can’t be recreated in the cloud environment. With the introduction of the L2 Gateway, you can order a custom dedicated server with any hardware you want and reach out to SIM-Networks engineers to connect it to your cloud.
Finally, many services such as ERPs are bound to specific IP addresses, and cloud migration may cause downtime as virtual machines are assigned new IP addresses in the cloud. However, the L2 Gateway can be used to extend the subnet from the server to the cloud instance. This way, migrated VMs in the cloud can continue communicating with other devices on the network, minimizing the disruption of the user’s business processes.
If you have any questions regarding the new L2 Gateway feature in SIM-Networks' cloud, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Customer Care team via chat; we are available 24/7 and ready to help.
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