Cloud Pro: Google Cloud Hybrid and Edge: Choose, Compare and Launch

What's inside

1. Level 1: The Hybrid and Edge Map on One PageFree
   Learn where every Google Cloud hybrid and edge service fits by sorting them into six groups: management planes, provider hardware on site, metro and telecom edge, rugged devices, IoT, and data transfer and gateways. Each service is listed with its current and former names.
2. Level 2: The Standard Hybrid ProfileFree
   Build the reusable profile that every later service choice is checked against. It starts with why a cloud region is not enough and covers sites, connectivity, workloads, who maintains the hardware, updates, compliance, team skills and the cost model.
3. Level 3: Google Distributed Cloud Connected
   Work through Google Distributed Cloud connected in nine parts. It is Google-owned and Google-managed racks and servers on your site, running containers and VMs that are managed from Google Cloud.
4. Level 4: Google Distributed Cloud Air-Gapped
   Look at the fully disconnected Google Distributed Cloud deployment built for sovereignty and classified workloads, including how it differs from connected and what running it with no link to Google really involves.
5. Level 5: GDC Software-Only for Bare Metal and VMware
   Run Google Distributed Cloud software on servers you own: bare metal or an existing VMware vSphere estate. You keep the hardware, and Google provides Kubernetes and fleet management.
6. Level 6: GKE Attached Clusters on Other Clouds
   Register existing EKS, AKS or other conformant Kubernetes clusters with Google Cloud so you can manage them from one place without rebuilding them.
7. Level 7: Fleets and Fleet Features
   Use fleets as the management plane that sits over GKE, Google Distributed Cloud and attached clusters. This level covers Config Sync, Policy Controller, service mesh, multi-cluster ingress, fleet identity and how each is billed.
8. Level 8: Bare Metal Solution
   Learn what Bare Metal Solution is: dedicated physical servers in Google-operated facilities next to a region, mainly for Oracle and other workloads that cannot be virtualised or licensed on VMs.
9. Level 9: Transfer Appliance
   Move tens to hundreds of terabytes offline using Google's shipped Transfer Appliance, from ordering through rehydration into Cloud Storage.
10. Level 10: Storage Transfer Service
    Set up managed online transfers from other clouds, HTTP sources and on-premises file systems with Storage Transfer Service and its transfer agents.
11. Level 11: Cloud Interconnect in Brief for Hybrid Sites
    A short refresher on Dedicated, Partner and Cross-Cloud Interconnect, and on HA VPN, covering only what a hybrid or edge service decision depends on.
12. Level 12: IoT Core Retirement and Partner Alternatives
    Understand why IoT Core retired in August 2023 and how device connectivity on Google Cloud now runs through partner platforms and plain building blocks.
13. Level 13: Retired, Renamed and Retiring Services
    Close the catalogue by checking every hybrid and edge name against current status, so that old documentation and old Terraform do not lead a decision astray.
14. Level 14: Choosing a Pattern: Extend, Manage or Move
    Choose between three patterns using the profile: extend the cloud on-premises, manage on-premises and other clouds from Google Cloud, or move the workload into a region.
15. Level 15: Site Readiness for Provider Hardware
    Prepare a site to host GDC connected or air-gapped racks: space, power, cooling, weight, network handoff, physical security and access for Google technicians.
16. Level 16: Designing for Disconnected Operation
    Design workloads and operations to keep working when an edge site loses its link to Google Cloud, or never had one.
17. Level 17: Security Outside the Region
    Secure hybrid and edge clusters and hardware that sit outside Google's data centres: physical threats, identity, encryption keys and policy enforcement.
18. Level 18: Updates and Lifecycle Outside the Region
    Keep hybrid estates current: version skew policies, upgrade windows, support lifecycles and who triggers each upgrade for each service.
19. Level 19: Building a Three-Year Hybrid Cost Model
    Build the cost model structure for hybrid choices: per-server or per-core fees, per-cluster and per-vCPU charges, hardware terms, commitments, links, transfer and staff time.
20. Level 20: Worked Three-Year Cost for Two Sites
    Apply the model to a worked two-site example, comparing GDC connected, software-only on existing hardware and moving to a region over three years.
21. Level 21: Building the Weighted Selection Scorecard
    Turn the standard hybrid profile into a scorecard: pass/fail knockout gates first (residency, disconnected operation, hardware ownership), then weighted criteria with anchored 1-to-5 scoring scales tied to evidence you can check.
22. Level 22: Scoring the Google Cloud Options Against Each Other
    Apply the scorecard to the Google Cloud candidates for one profile (Distributed Cloud connected or air-gapped, attached clusters and fleets, Bare Metal Solution, or moving to a region) using the dated limits, costs and operating split from earlier lessons.
23. Level 23: Mapping Another Cloud's Hybrid Offerings With Evidence
    Pick a second cloud, map its management planes, on-site hardware, edge and data-transfer services against the Google Cloud map from level 1, and record dated evidence for each match. Note where a service is retiring, renamed or has no real equivalent.
24. Level 24: Scoring Google Cloud Against Another Cloud
    Run both providers through the same gates and weighted scorecard on a like-for-like basis, using the evidence log, comparable hardware terms and matched three-year costs, then read what the gap really means.
25. Level 25: Stress-Testing Weights and Assumptions
    Check how far the result depends on the weights and inputs. Shift weights, vary costs and update dates, and find the break-even points where the recommendation flips.
26. Level 26: Final Challenge: Decision Workshop and Selection Record Exam
    Bring the whole course together: take a new hybrid scenario from profile through service map, pattern choice, site and security readiness, three-year cost for two sites, scorecard, cross-cloud comparison and sensitivity check, and finish with a one-page selection record.

Access

The first 2 levels are free with a free account. Every level, the podcast edition and the AI tutor come with All Access at £4.99/month or any Creator plan — see pricing.

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