Building Secure and Reliable Networks for the Cloud Cloud networks enable fast deployments, but security and reliability must be built in from day one. In practice, teams design with defense-in-depth, strong identity controls, and automated operations to handle scale and failures.
Design principles Zero trust network mindset: verify every access request, no implicit trust inside the network. Microsegmentation: split networks by workload and apply strict rules between segments. Least privilege: give services and users only the permissions they need. Encrypt data in transit and at rest; use TLS everywhere; rotate keys frequently. Redundancy and regional diversity: deploy across zones, with automatic failover. Continuous visibility: collect logs, metrics, and health checks to spot issues quickly. Key controls Network topology: use private subnets for app tiers, public subnets for gateways; separate databases behind restricted access. Security groups and firewalls: define explicit allow lists; deny by default. Identity and access: enforce MFA, strong IAM roles, and service principals with limited scope. Perimeter protection: WAF, DDoS protection, and shielded load balancers. Secure connectivity: VPN or dedicated interconnects for on-premises; end-to-end TLS for services. Monitoring and incident response: centralized SIEM, alerting, runbooks, simulated drills. Backups and disaster recovery: regular backups, cross-region replication, and tested RTO/RPO. Practical example Imagine a three-tier app: front-end in a public subnet, business logic in a private subnet, and a data store in a restricted private subnet. An application load balancer terminates TLS, routes to microservices, while security groups allow traffic only from the load balancer. NAT gateways keep outbound traffic private. A WAF protects the public edge, and logs feed a monitoring system to trigger alerts if latency spikes or failed health checks appear.
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