Ultra-Secure, Air-Gapped Google Cloud – Hosted by T-Systems

T-Systems announced that it will offer and manage Google Distributed Cloud Hosted (GDC Hosted) for customers in Germany with the highest sovereignty requirements. GDC Hosted is a disconnected cloud solution from Google Cloud. The platform runs on servers which are physically separate (“air-gapped”) from Google Cloud’s international backbone and the public internet. This allows customers from industries in which an air gap is necessary, due to stringent data sovereignty requirements, to benefit from Google Cloud’s extensive feature-set of cloud services. T-Systems will manage the service on behalf of its customers, who can choose between on-premise servers, or hosting within a T-Systems data center. GDC Hosted is flexible and scalable. Customers can start with just four data racks, upgradeable as workloads increase. Customers may apply now for a proof-of-concept phase, in order to gauge the suitability of the solution for their business needs.

GDC Hosted is fully integrated into T-Systems’ existing Google Cloud offering. Customers will find it easy to operate GDC Hosted by T-Systems and Google Cloud side by side. This addresses the requirements of customers in the most strictly regulated industries. The solution is built on Kubernetes API, in keeping with Google Cloud’s proven track-record of open-source IT.

A local control plane means the platform can be configured without a connection to Google Cloud’s global backbone. This allows adherence to the very strictest security and privacy requirements. GDC Hosted is based on Google Cloud-native architecture of Anthos and Kubernetes, with software updates managed by T-Systems, through personnel located in Germany. The most sensitive workloads can benefit from the latest technologies, with a feature-set of Google Cloud tools, including artificial intelligence and Kubernetes.

Greg Hyttenrauch, Senior Vice President for Cloud Services at T-Systems, says: “At T-Systems, we are very pleased to become a provider of Google Distributed Cloud Hosted in Germany. This valuable addition to our cloud portfolio lets us deliver Google Cloud’s powerful cloud solutions to our customers, combined with the very highest security and data-residency requirements. This underscores our commitment to providing truly hybrid cloud landscapes, tailored to the individual needs of each customer. We invite our customers to take part in a proof-of-concept phase and gauge how GDC Hosted helps meet their business needs.”

“Google Cloud is committed to helping customers accelerate their digital transformations on their own terms – even when faced with stringent sovereignty and security requirements,” said Sachin Gupta, VP & GM, Infrastructure Solutions Group at Google Cloud. “With Distributed Cloud Hosted, T-Systems can now provide the functionality, flexibility, and scalability of the cloud without customers needing to connect to the public internet.”

Source: T-Systems media announcement