Google Distributed Cloud is our solution that extends Google Cloud's infrastructure andservices into your data center. We offer Google Distributed Cloud in both connected andair-gapped configurations that run on Google-provided hardware. We also offerGoogle Distributed Cloud as a software-only product that runs on your own hardware.Google Distributed Cloud software can be installed on either VMware or bare metal. Thisguide is for Google Distributed Cloud software that runs on your own hardware in aVMware vSphere environment.

Google Distributed Cloud is based onGoogle Kubernetes Engine (GKE),with its own Kubernetes package that extends GKE for use in anon-premises environment. With Google Distributed Cloud you can create, manage, andupgrade GKE clusters on your own premises while usingGoogle Cloud features, and deploy and operate containerized applicationson your clusters at scale using Google's infrastructure.

Installing Google Distributed Cloud software entitles you to use many Google Cloudfeatures for governing, managing, and operating containerized workloadsat scale. You can find out more about the features available on VMware in theGKE overview.

This page provides an overview of how Google Distributed Cloud works on VMware, givingyou the background you need before going on to a minimal or productioninstallation.

Supported versions

This documentation covers all supported versions of Google Distributed Cloud.Where relevant, we also retain limited information for older, unsupportedversions in this documentation. Version-specific differences in requirements andbehavior are noted in the documentation. Similarly, when a new feature becomesavailable, the supported version for the feature is documented.

For a list of the supported minor versions and available patches, seeVersioning.

Starting with the 1.29 release, we no longer create a directory for the previousminor release. Differences in behavior and are noted in the documentation.Similarly, when a new feature becomes available, the supported version forthe feature is documented.

You can find the complete documentation for an earlier version by adding theminor version number in the following URL:

https://cloud.google.com/anthos/clusters/docs/on-prem/VERSION/

ReplaceVERSION with a minor version from 1.0 to 1.16 andcopy the URL to the address bar in your browser.

How it works

Google Distributed Cloud extendsGKEto let you create GKE clusters in avSphere environmenton your own premises, and manage them in Google Cloud along with regularGKE clusters and clusters in other environments as part of afleet.

Because the Google Distributed Cloud software runs in your data center rather than onGoogle Cloud, it requires you to install some admin and control plane softwarein addition to the GKE software itself. The software that runs inyour data center is downloaded as part of the installation and upgradeprocesses.

The following diagram shows the simplified result of a completed installation.

Key components

The following components make up a software-only installation on VMware ofGoogle Distributed Cloud:

• A user cluster is where the workloads that implement your applications run,like in GKE on Google Cloud. The nodes that run your workloadsare calledworker nodes. A user cluster also has one or more control planenodes. In the preceding diagram, the user cluster has one control plane node.

• The admin cluster manages one or more user clusters. In the preceding diagram,the admin cluster has three control plane nodes.

• The admin workstation is a separate machine that includes the tools thatcluster creators and developers need to manage their installation:

  • Runninggkectl from the admin workstation lets you create and update clusters and perform some other administrative tasks
  • Runningkubectl from the admin workstation lets you interact with your admin and user clusters, including deploying and managing workloads

• The Google Cloud console provides a web interface for your Google Cloud project,including your clusters on VMware. You can perform a subset of administrativetasks, including cluster creation, from the Google Cloud console as analternative to running commands on the admin workstation.

• Cluster admins and developers usekubectl and virtual IP addresses (VIPs)to access the control planes in the admin and user clusters. You configureVIPs during cluster creation. Users and developers calling workloads in youruser clusters use Service and Ingress VIPs. Each node in the installationalso has its own IP address. You can learn more about IP planning forGoogle Distributed Cloud inPlan your IP addresses.

Connecting to the fleet

All Google Distributed Cloud clusters are members of afleet:a logical grouping of Kubernetes clusters. Fleets let your organization uplevel management from individual clusters to entire groups of clusters, and can help your teams adopt similar best practices to those used at Google. You can view and manage fleet clusters together in the Google Cloud console, and use fleet-enabled features to help you manage, govern, and operate your workloads at scale. You can see a complete list of availablefleet features for on-premises environments.

Each fleet cluster's connection to Google Cloud is managed by a Connect Agent, which is deployed as part of the Google Distributed Cloud installation process. You can learn more about how this agent works in theConnect Agent overview.

Fleet membership is also used to manage Google Distributed Cloud pricing, as described in the next section.

Pricing

GKE clusters on-premises created as part of Google Distributed Cloud arebilled per vCPU. You enable billing by enabling theAnthos APIin your Google Cloud project.

For full pricing information, including how to contact sales, seeGKE pricing.

Installing Google Distributed Cloud on VMware

Because the Google Distributed Cloud software runs in your own infrastructure, it ishighly configurable to meet your particular organizational and use case needs:you can choose from a range of supported load balancing modes, vSphereconfigurations, IP addressing options, security features, connectivity options,and more. This means that setting up Google Distributed Cloud involves making decisionsbefore and during installation in consultation with your networking, vSphere,and application teams to ensure that your installation meets your needs. Thisdocumentation set includes guides to help your team make these decisions.

However, if you just need to see Google Distributed Cloud in action, we also provide abasic installation path for a small test installation where we've made a lot ofthese choices for you, letting you quickly get a workload up and running.

In each case, the installation process is as follows:

1. Plan your installation. Minimally this includes ensuring you can meet the resource and vSphere requirements for Google Distributed Cloud, as well as planning your IP addresses.
2. Set up your on-premises environment to support Google Distributed Cloud, including setting up vSphere inventory objects and your connection to Google.
3. Set up Google Cloud resources, including the Google Cloud project you will use when setting up and managing Google Distributed Cloud.
4. Create an admin workstation with the resources and tools you need to create clusters.
5. Create an admin cluster to create, manage, and update user clusters.
6. Create user clusters to run your actual workloads.

What's next?

• To start a minimal proof-of-concept installation, seeSet up minimal infrastructure.
• To review some of the considerations needed to plan a Google Distributed Cloudinstallation, start a production installation, or both, see theinstallation overview.