Cloud Firewall
Globally distributed firewall service.
Overview
Google Cloud Firewall is a stateful firewall service that allows you to enforce network-level access controls for your Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks. You can create rules to allow or deny traffic based on IP addresses, protocols, ports, and service accounts. It is a fundamental tool for network segmentation and for securing the perimeter of your cloud environment.
✨ Key Features
- Stateful firewall inspection
- Globally distributed
- VPC firewall rules
- Hierarchical firewall policies
- Firewall Rules Logging
- Network tags and service account-based rules
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Globally distributed nature (no need to manage per-region)
- Hierarchical firewall policies for organization-wide rules
- Ability to use service accounts for micro-segmentation
Unique Value: Provides a scalable, easy-to-manage, and powerful way to control network traffic and segment workloads in Google Cloud.
🎯 Use Cases (4)
✅ Best For
- Creating a rule to allow SSH traffic from a specific IP range to all VMs with a certain network tag
- Denying all egress traffic from a sensitive project except to specific Google APIs
- Using service accounts to create firewall rules for communication between microservices
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Web Application Firewall (use Cloud Armor)
- Intrusion Detection (use Cloud IDS)
🏆 Alternatives
The hierarchical policy model and the ability to define rules based on service accounts (not just IP addresses) are powerful features for managing security in large, dynamic environments, offering more flexibility than traditional network security groups.
💻 Platforms
🔌 Integrations
🛟 Support Options
- ✓ Email Support
- ✓ Live Chat
- ✓ Phone Support
- ✓ Dedicated Support (Enterprise Support tier)
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
Free tier: VPC firewall rules are a free feature of VPC networks.
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