Multi-Cloud Connectivity

This tutorial builds a complete multi-cloud network: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud interconnected through a Megaport Cloud Router. Traffic between clouds stays on the private Megaport fabric — no cloud egress fees, no public internet exposure.

Scenario

A company runs:

AWS — primary compute workloads (ap-southeast-2)
Azure — AI/ML workloads (australiaeast)
Google Cloud — data analytics (australia-southeast1)

All three need to communicate over private connectivity. An on-premises data centre in Sydney also needs access to all clouds.

Full architecture

🔌PortNextDC S1 · ASN 65001

↓VXC 2G

🌐MCRCloud Router SYD · ASN 64512 · 10 Gbps

↓VXC 1G

☁️AWSDirect Connect

↓

VPC 10.1.0.0/16

↓VXC 1G

☁️AzureExpressRoute

↓

VNet 10.2.0.0/16

↓VXC 1G

☁️Google CloudInterconnect

↓

VPC 10.3.0.0/16

What you'll build

MCR as the transit hub
VXC from MCR → AWS Direct Connect
VXC from MCR → Azure ExpressRoute
VXC from MCR → Google Cloud Interconnect
Prefix filter lists for per-cloud route control

Step 1 — Provision the MCR

Use a JSON file so the config is version-controlled and reproducible.

mcr-config.json:

json

{
  "name": "Cloud Router SYD",
  "locationId": 3,
  "portSpeed": 10000,
  "term": 12,
  "marketPlaceVisibility": false,
  "mcrAsn": 64512
}

bash

megaport-cli mcr buy --json-file ./mcr-config.json

Extract the UID for use in subsequent steps:

bash

# Buy commands output human-readable text, not JSON — look up the UID afterwards
megaport-cli mcr buy --json-file ./mcr-config.json
MCR_UID=$(megaport-cli mcr list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "Cloud Router SYD") | .uid')
echo "MCR: $MCR_UID"

Step 2 — Connect to AWS

ℹ️

Prerequisite

See the Connect to AWS tutorial for full AWS-side setup (Direct Connect gateway, virtual interface, etc.).

aws-vxc.json (replace aEndUid with your MCR UID):

json

{
  "name": "MCR → AWS Direct Connect",
  "rateLimit": 1000,
  "term": 12,
  "aEndUid": "<MCR-UID>",
  "aEndVlan": 100,
  "bEndPartnerConfig": {
    "connectType": "AWS",
    "ownerAccount": "123456789012",
    "type": "private",
    "connectionName": "megaport-syd-prod",
    "asn": 65000
  }
}

bash

megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file ./aws-vxc.json
AWS_VXC=$(megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "MCR → AWS Direct Connect") | .uid')
echo "AWS VXC: $AWS_VXC"

Step 3 — Connect to Azure

ℹ️

Prerequisite

Create your Azure ExpressRoute circuit first to get the service key. See Connect to Azure.

azure-vxc.json:

json

{
  "name": "MCR → Azure ExpressRoute",
  "rateLimit": 1000,
  "term": 12,
  "aEndUid": "<MCR-UID>",
  "aEndVlan": 200,
  "bEndPartnerConfig": {
    "connectType": "AZURE",
    "serviceKey": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
  }
}

bash

megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file ./azure-vxc.json
AZ_VXC=$(megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "MCR → Azure ExpressRoute") | .uid')
echo "Azure VXC: $AZ_VXC"

Step 4 — Connect to Google Cloud

ℹ️

Get your GCP pairing key

In the GCP Console, go to Hybrid Connectivity → Interconnect → VLAN Attachments → Create. Choose Partner attachment type and copy the Pairing Key before continuing here.

First, find Google's partner ports at your location:

bash

megaport-cli partners list --company-name "Google" --location-id 3

gcp-vxc.json:

json

{
  "name": "MCR → Google Cloud Interconnect",
  "rateLimit": 1000,
  "term": 12,
  "aEndUid": "<MCR-UID>",
  "aEndVlan": 300,
  "bEndPartnerConfig": {
    "connectType": "GOOGLE",
    "pairingKey": "your-gcp-pairing-key"
  }
}

bash

megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file ./gcp-vxc.json
GCP_VXC=$(megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "MCR → Google Cloud Interconnect") | .uid')
echo "GCP VXC: $GCP_VXC"

Once the VXC is LIVE, return to the GCP Console and activate the VLAN attachment.

Step 5 — Add prefix filter lists

Control which routes each cloud receives. Create a separate filter list per cloud for granular control.

bash

# AWS: only receive the 10.1.0.0/16 VPC range
megaport-cli mcr create-prefix-filter-list $MCR_UID \
  --description "Routes to AWS VPC" \
  --address-family IPv4 \
  --entries '[{"action":"permit","prefix":"10.1.0.0/16"},{"action":"deny","prefix":"0.0.0.0/0"}]'

# Azure: only receive the 10.2.0.0/16 VNet range
megaport-cli mcr create-prefix-filter-list $MCR_UID \
  --description "Routes to Azure VNet" \
  --address-family IPv4 \
  --entries '[{"action":"permit","prefix":"10.2.0.0/16"},{"action":"deny","prefix":"0.0.0.0/0"}]'

# GCP: only receive the 10.3.0.0/16 VPC range
megaport-cli mcr create-prefix-filter-list $MCR_UID \
  --description "Routes to GCP VPC" \
  --address-family IPv4 \
  --entries '[{"action":"permit","prefix":"10.3.0.0/16"},{"action":"deny","prefix":"0.0.0.0/0"}]'

# View all filter lists
megaport-cli mcr list-prefix-filter-lists $MCR_UID

Step 6 — Verify the architecture

bash

# MCR details (BGP sessions, connected VXCs)
megaport-cli mcr get $MCR_UID

# All VXCs and their status
megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq '[.[] | {name, status, rateLimit}]'

# Check for any non-LIVE resources
megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq '.[] | select(.status != "LIVE") | {name, status}'

Full automation script

The complete build in a single script. Store your JSON templates in version control and run this in CI/CD.

bash

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

echo "=== Building multi-cloud network ==="

# 1. Provision MCR
echo "Provisioning MCR..."
megaport-cli mcr buy --json-file ./mcr-config.json
MCR_UID=$(megaport-cli mcr list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "Cloud Router SYD") | .uid')
echo "MCR: $MCR_UID"

# 2. Inject MCR UID into VXC templates
jq --arg uid "$MCR_UID" '.aEndUid = $uid' aws-vxc-template.json > aws-vxc.json
jq --arg uid "$MCR_UID" '.aEndUid = $uid' azure-vxc-template.json > azure-vxc.json
jq --arg uid "$MCR_UID" '.aEndUid = $uid' gcp-vxc-template.json > gcp-vxc.json

# 3. Create VXCs
echo "Creating AWS VXC..."
megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file aws-vxc.json
AWS_VXC=$(megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "MCR → AWS Direct Connect") | .uid')

echo "Creating Azure VXC..."
megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file azure-vxc.json
AZ_VXC=$(megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "MCR → Azure ExpressRoute") | .uid')

echo "Creating GCP VXC..."
megaport-cli vxc buy --json-file gcp-vxc.json
GCP_VXC=$(megaport-cli vxc list --output json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "MCR → Google Cloud Interconnect") | .uid')

echo ""
echo "=== Network provisioned ==="
echo "MCR:       $MCR_UID"
echo "AWS VXC:   $AWS_VXC"
echo "Azure VXC: $AZ_VXC"
echo "GCP VXC:   $GCP_VXC"
echo ""
echo "Next steps:"
echo "  1. Accept the Direct Connect connection in AWS Console"
echo "  2. Confirm ExpressRoute provisioned in Azure Portal"
echo "  3. Activate VLAN attachment in GCP Console"

Teardown script

Delete in the correct order — VXCs first, then MCR.

bash

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

echo "=== Tearing down multi-cloud network ==="

megaport-cli vxc delete "$AWS_VXC" --now
echo "AWS VXC deleted"

megaport-cli vxc delete "$AZ_VXC" --now
echo "Azure VXC deleted"

megaport-cli vxc delete "$GCP_VXC" --now
echo "GCP VXC deleted"

megaport-cli mcr delete "$MCR_UID" --now
echo "MCR deleted"

echo "=== Teardown complete ==="

⚠️

Delete VXCs before MCR

Always delete VXCs before deleting the MCR. Deleting the MCR while VXCs are attached leaves dangling connections on the cloud provider side.

What's next?

Automation & Scripting — templates, CI/CD pipelines, and bulk operations
MCR Routing — deep dive into prefix filter lists and BGP configuration
Connect to AWS — detailed AWS Direct Connect setup

💡

For Sales demos

This entire three-cloud network can be built in under 15 minutes with a script. Show the automation script to customers — the ability to script multi-cloud connectivity is a major differentiator versus provisioning each connection manually through cloud provider portals.