Q&A

Our project for a disconnected sovereign cloud – marketed via the Clarence joint venture – is part of European efforts to encourage the digitization of Europe, while retaining control over the protection of European citizens’ data and a degree of digital autonomy.

The European Union’s ambition is to be at the forefront of technological advances, while maintaining control over the flow and security of data generated within the Union.
With regard to the cloud: It is essential to accelerate the use of sovereign clouds, both at institutional level and for the critical infrastructures of our States. This will enable us to maintain control over the integrity of our data and access to it, but also, from an operational point of view, to ensure that these operations are carried out on our soil and subject only to European jurisdiction.

The sovereign cloud solves the dilemma between innovation and compliance. By combining the best of both worlds, it facilitates access to technological innovations while ensuring compliance and the protection of sensitive data.

This unique disconnected sovereign cloud solution is dedicated to governments, regulated companies, international organizations and businesses with sensitive data in Europe. The aim is to offer an innovative solution while guaranteeing the confidentiality and security of information, and offering complete autonomy of operation.

The platform is entirely installed and managed locally. This totally disconnected configuration guarantees total control over the location of data and who has access to it.

Entirely subject to European jurisdictions for the control, security and risk management of our data globally, it will leverage the inescapable know-how of third-country technologies. This partnership ensures total autarky and sovereignty, offering innovative functionalities hitherto only available in a Public Cloud.

The solution we are proposing is a unique initiative in Luxembourg and in Europe. At the crossroads of the EU’s major economies, Luxembourg is a central gateway to Europe. In parallel with the growth of its ICT sector, Luxembourg has pioneered major innovations in data protection, data ownership in the cloud and regulation of infrastructure deployment.

The Sovereign Cloud lets you know where your data is at all times, and guarantees that it never leaves Luxembourg. By offering you cloud-native solutions on our sovereign cloud, you benefit from the best of both worlds: private cloud and public cloud.

Yes. When it comes to data sovereignty, the operational and legal aspects are important.

Our sovereign cloud platform, for example, is entirely installed and managed locally. This totally disconnected configuration guarantees total control over where data is stored and who has access to it.

Yes, Distributed Cloud is a fully disconnected, air-gapped solution. It does not depend on a connection to Google Cloud.

No, Distributed Cloud is a converged solution consisting of hardware and software.

A “hosted” POC is a short-term POC intended for customers to test Distributed Cloud services without shipping and installing hardware. Customers can remotely sign in to a Distributed Cloud instance and evaluate service performance and capabilities.

An “on prem” POC is for customers that want a more hands-on experience where hardware is shipped to and installed at a trusted customer facility. This POC allows users to assess how Distributed Cloud hardware and software will interact with their current infrastructure, test non-production workloads, and familiarize IT operators with the system.

A production Distributed Cloud system can run on as few as four racks of hardware and can be scaled up as the customer needs additional capacity.

Read our Distributed Cloud documentation to find out more. If you want to know more, contact us.

Distributed Cloud can be fully managed by Google or managed by a trusted partner. Google provides full support to our operating partners, and those partners provide support to their end users.

No, Distributed Cloud is designed to operate using industry standard racks and equipment, ensuring the customers have access to a global, trusted, supply chain.

Yes. End users will consume cloud services provided by Distributed Cloud as managed cloud services. Distributed Cloud includes a full suite of operations tools, runbooks, and processes, to help ensure that customers have a quality cloud experience, regardless if it’s delivered directly by Google, or by a trusted local operating partner.

Distributed Cloud Marketplace enables software vendors to distribute certified software in air-gapped environments. Get started with the Distributed Cloud software certification program by contacting us at gdc-hosted-isv-cert@google.com.

We just signed our first partnership agreement with Proximus in Belgium and Luxembourg, and expect more to be announced later this year. More generally, we collaborate with best-of-breed operators on a country-by-country basis based on the needs of our customers in that market. Customers generally choose an operating partner based on regulatory or sovereignty requirements.