While many cloud providers charge extra to deploy virtual machines with public IP addresses, Vultr has always included them at no additional cost. This has provided simplicity and ease of connectivity for cloud workloads. Some private applications, however, do not require access to the public internet.
Vultr is excited to announce that Vultr NAT Gateways and Vultr VPC-Only Instances are now available, delivering a significant evolution in how Vultr instances connect to each other and the internet, and making it possible to deploy virtual machines without public IP addresses.
A single point of access control
Vultr NAT Gateways provide a single exterior IP address per Vultr Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), allowing instance IP addresses within the VPC to remain private. By controlling public internet connectivity at the VPC level, Vultr NAT Gateways are powerful tools that simplify network oversight, enhance security by reducing the number of items that require configuration, and shrink the network attack surface. As a managed service, Vultr NAT Gateways are fully scalable and adjust to meet varying demand, ensuring consistent connectivity even during peak periods.
By default, NAT Gateways disallow unrequested outside connections, ensuring that inbound traffic is only permitted when explicitly configured for specific instances within the VPC. This makes them well-suited for private workloads that require internet access but shouldn’t be accessible to unknown connections, including use cases such as payment processing applications, IoT deployments, logging and monitoring databases, and more. They work well for systems that require inbound connectivity for processes such as software updates, while automatically rejecting other requests.
Instances for private workloads
Vultr VPC-Only Instances are now also available, providing customers with the option to deploy without public IP addresses. For instances that don’t require public internet activity, such as those hosting internal applications or private databases, these instances provide greater security and a reduced attack surface. Connectivity to other instances can be accomplished through Vultr VPCs, and to the internet through Vultr NAT Gateways.
Deploying private workloads on VPC-Only Instances is accomplished through the same simple deployment experience as traditional Vultr instances, just without the attached public IP address.
Providing more options for private cloud workloads
With Vultr NAT Gateways, Vultr VPC networks are now a more capable part of Vultr Cloud Networking, providing cloud architects with a secure and efficient way to connect cloud instances to the public internet. Combined with Vultr VPC-Only Instances, which provide deployments without public IP addresses for enhanced security for private workloads, Vultr customers now have greater flexibility and more granular control over configuring workload connectivity.
To get started and learn more, visit the Vultr VPC page for additional details.