Global vs Regional Cloud Networks: VPC vs VNet

Cloud networking looks similar across providers, but there’s a key architectural difference that often matters at scale. Google Cloud VPC is global by design. A single VPC can span multiple regions, using Google’s private global backbone. Subnets are regional, but routing and firewall rules apply globally, making multi-region architectures simpler and more consistent. AWS VPC is regional. Each VPC belongs to one region, and subnets are tied to individual availability zones. Connecting regions requires additional components such as VPC peering or Transit Gateway, offering strong control but more design effort. Azure VNet is also regional. Subnets span availability zones, and cross-region connectivity is achieved through VNet peering. Azure favors enterprise hub-and-spoke network designs, especially for hybrid environments. In short: GCP offers one global network, while AWS and Azure require region-by-region networking design.