Virtual Private Cloud Vs Subnets — Understanding the nitty gritty of how they work.
Tags: cloud, vpc, networking, subnet
Published: 2022-06-12 21:03:25


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/em18dbdfw5vvwi2cjhlb.png)

Back when I was learning VPC and Subnets, I was on the verge of quitting because I couldn’t figure out how the various concepts of VPC and Subnets worked together.

I eventually gained a rudimentary knowledge of how they function after watching multiple tutorial videos and reading blog entries.

Since then, I’ve opted to put together this tutorial in order to assist newcomers or those who are having trouble grasping the ideas of VPC and Subnets.

Before we go any further, I’d like to make it clear that there are a few things you should know.

1. You must first comprehend what an IP address is.

2.You must comprehend the fundamentals of networking.

So, without further ado, let’s begin.

**What is a Virtual Private Cloud, and how does it work?**

> According to Wikipedia, a Virtual Private Cloud is an on-demand configurable pool of shared resources allocated within a public cloud environment that provides a level of isolation between the many companies (referred to as users hereafter) who use the resources.

From the perspective of an organization, I would describe the concept of VPC.

VPC can be compared to an organizational structure that holds all of your resources, including the people that work there (staff from various departments collaborating and sharing resources), the computers that are used, and all other resources.

It’s also worth noting that all of the organization’s resources (staff) can communicate with one another.

**What is a Subnet?**

> Also According to Wikipedia, A Subnet can be defined as a logical subdivision of an IP network.
Looking from our organization standpoint,The Subnet can be compared to different Departments of the Company. For example, A bank can be made up of the Marketing department, IT department, Sales department, Transaction Service Group Department, Logistics department, HR Department and the Security department.

The combination of the above mentioned departments make up the whole Organization.

Simply put, the Subnet is a logical departmentalisation of the Organization.

Subnets are divided into two types:
1. Public Subnet: A public subnet is one that is linked to a route table and has a route to an internet gateway.
From an organizational standpoint, these are departments that have been tasked with communicating with the company’s customers, for example (Human Resource department, Transaction Service Group departments ).

2. Private Subnet: A subnet that is associated with a route table but lacks a route to an internet gateway. From an organizational standpoint, these are departments that do not have authority to contact with the company’s customers. e.g (Audit Department, IT Department)

Now that we’ve established what VPC and Subnets are, let’s examine the definitions of a few key phrases that we can’t avoid using while discussing VPC and Subnets.

Note: All of the terms will be discussed using our organization as an example.

- **Internet Gateway**: A computer that sits between different networks or applications i.e they are departments that transfer informations from the organization(Public Subnets) to the Customers e.g The Public Relations Department

- **VPCs CIDR Block**: This is similar to an Id number generating field where the organization generates a unique identifier for its resources.
It features a framework that is comparable to that of other organizations, as well as a range.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7mbr7tvr6orb1fymmh0g.png)

- **Subnets IP Range (CIDR Block)**: This is the Id Block that generates numbers unique to persons in the same department.
The format of resources from the same department is the same, yet they differ from resources from other departments.


We’ve reached the conclusion of the tutorial. Please contact me if you have any more questions.
Keep an eye on this space as I will be posting more simple to grasp articles in the coming days.

Thank you very much.