Network endpoint groups overview

A network endpoint group (NEG) is a configuration object that specifies a group of backend endpoints or services. A common use case for this configuration is deploying services in containers. You can also distribute traffic in a granular fashion to applications running on your backend instances.

You can use NEGs as backends for some load balancers and with Traffic Director.

Types of NEGs

Use the following tables to decide which type of NEG you need for your deployment.

• Zonal NEG
• Internet NEG
• Serverless NEG
• Hybrid connectivity NEG
• Private Service Connect NEG

Zonal NEG

Features	Details
Purpose	One or more internal IP address endpoints that resolve to either Compute Engine VM instances or GKE Pods. For detailed information about this NEG and its use cases, see Zonal NEGs overview.
NetworkEndpointType API name	GCE_VM_IP IP only: resolves to the primary internal IP address of a Compute Engine VM's NIC OR GCE_VM_IP_PORT IP:Port: resolves to either the primary internal IP address of a Google Cloud VM's NIC or an alias IP address on a NIC; for example, Pod IP addresses in VPC-native clusters.
Number of endpoints	1 or more
Health checks for NEGs attached to backend services	Centralized health checks for NEGs with GCE_VM_IP_PORT and GCE_VM_IP endpoints.
Scope	Zonal
Routing	VPC network
Google Cloud products that use this NEG	Internal TCP/UDP Load Balancing (GCE_VM_IP endpoints): Set up zonal NEGs for internal TCP/UDP load balancers Internal regional TCP proxy load balancer (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) Set up zonal NEGs for internal regional TCP proxy load balancers Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) Global external HTTP(S) load balancer (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) Global external HTTP(S) load balancer (classic) (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) Regional external HTTP(S) load balancer (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) External TCP Proxy Load Balancing (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) External SSL Proxy Load Balancing (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) Traffic Director (GCE_VM_IP_PORT endpoints) Related documentation: Set up Zonal NEGs

Internet NEG

Features	Details
Purpose	A single internet-routable endpoint that is hosted outside of Google Cloud. For detailed information about this NEG and its use cases, see Internet NEGs overview.
NetworkEndpointType API name	INTERNET_IP_PORT IP:Port, where IP must not be a RFC 1918 address. OR INTERNET_FQDN_PORT FQDN:Port
Number of endpoints	1
Health checks for NEGs attached to backend services	Not applicable
Scope	Global
Routing	Internet
Google Cloud products that use this NEG	Cloud CDN (INTERNET_IP_PORT or INTERNET_FQDN_PORT endpoint): Set up Cloud CDN with an external backend Global external HTTP(S) load balancer (classic) (INTERNET_IP_PORT or INTERNET_FQDN_PORT endpoint): Set up an external HTTP(S) load balancer with a custom origin Internet NEGs are not supported with the global external HTTP(S) load balancer or the regional external HTTP(S) load balancer.. Traffic Director (INTERNET_FQDN_PORT endpoint): Traffic Director with Internet NEGs overview Set up Traffic Director with an external backend

Serverless NEG

Features	Details
Purpose	A single endpoint within Google's network that resolves to an App Engine, Cloud Functions, API Gateway, or Cloud Run service. For detailed information about this NEG and its use cases, see Serverless NEGs overview.
NetworkEndpointType API name	SERVERLESS FQDN belonging to an App Engine, Cloud Functions, API Gateway, or Cloud Run service.
Number of endpoints	1
Health checks for NEGs attached to backend services	Not applicable
Scope	Regional
Routing	To Google APIs and Services
Google Cloud products that use this NEG	External HTTP(S) Load Balancing: Set up a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with an App Engine, Cloud Functions, or Cloud Run backend Set up a global external HTTP(S) load balancer (classic) with an App Engine, Cloud Functions, or Cloud Run backend Set up a regional external HTTP(S) load balancer with a Cloud Run backend Get started with HTTP(S) Load Balancing for API Gateway Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing (Cloud Run only): Set up an internal HTTP(S) load balancer with a Cloud Run backend

Hybrid connectivity NEG

Features	Details
Purpose	One or more endpoints that resolve to on-premises services, server applications in another cloud, and other internet-reachable services outside Google Cloud.
NetworkEndpointType API name	NON_GCP_PRIVATE_IP_PORT IP:Port belonging to a VM that is not in Compute Engine and that must be routable using hybrid connectivity.
Number of endpoints	1 or more
Health checks for NEGs attached to backend services	Centralized health checks when you use this NEG with a supported load balancing product. Envoy distributed health checks for NEGs used with Traffic Director
Scope	Zonal
Routing	to an on-premises network or another Cloud provider network by way of Cloud Interconnect VLAN attachment, Cloud VPN tunnel, or Router appliance VM in a VPC network
Google Cloud products that use this NEG	External HTTP(S) Load Balancing, Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing, External TCP Proxy Load Balancing, and External SSL Proxy Load Balancing: Set up a global external HTTP(S) load balancer with hybrid connectivity Set up a global external HTTP(S) load balancer (classic) with hybrid connectivity Set up a regional external HTTP(S) load balancer with hybrid connectivity Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing Set up an internal HTTP(S) load balancer with hybrid connectivity External TCP Proxy Load Balancing External SSL Proxy Load Balancing Traffic Director: Traffic Director with hybrid connectivity network endpoint groups Set up network edge services for multi‑environment deployments

Private Service Connect NEG

Features	Details
Purpose	A single endpoint that resolves to one of the following: A Google-managed regional API endpoint A managed service published using Private Service Connect
NetworkEndpointType API name	PRIVATE_SERVICE_CONNECT
Number of endpoints	1
Health checks for NEGs attached to backend services	Not applicable
Scope	Regional
Routing	Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing: To Google APIs and services External HTTP(S) Load Balancing: VPC network
Google Cloud products that use this NEG	Internal regional TCP proxy load balancer Use Private Service Connect to publish services using internal IP addresses in your VPC network Internal HTTP(S) Load Balancing: Access Google APIs using Private Service Connect with consumer HTTP(S) service controls Global external HTTP(S) load balancer: Access managed services using Private Service Connect with consumer HTTP(S) service controls Private Service Connect NEGs are not supported by the global external HTTP(S) load balancer (classic). Regional external HTTP(S) load balancer