> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gcore.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# About GPU Cloud networking

Configure networking for GPU cluster nodes using public and private networks, routers, floating IPs, and security groups.

## Network interfaces on a cluster node

Each node in a GPU cluster can have multiple network interfaces attached simultaneously:

| Interface type  | Purpose                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Public network  | Direct internet connectivity. Nodes are accessible from the internet via their public IP.                                                                                                                                     |
| Private network | Internal connectivity between cluster nodes and other Cloud resources in the same region. No direct internet access by default — attach a router for outbound connectivity or assign a floating IP to expose a specific node. |
| VAST network    | A dedicated third network, available after a VAST file share is created. Required for mounting VAST NFS file shares.                                                                                                          |

Private networks use VxLAN on Virtual GPU clusters and VLAN on Bare Metal GPU clusters.

## Connect cluster nodes to a private network

A [private network](/cloud/networking/create-and-manage-a-network) with a [subnet](/cloud/networking/create-and-manage-a-subnetwork) isolates cluster nodes and provides a fixed IP address range. Without a [router](/cloud/networking/create-and-manage-a-router) attached to the subnet, nodes cannot initiate outbound connections — attach one when nodes need to reach package repositories, object storage, or external APIs.

For inbound SSH access, assign a [floating IP](/cloud/networking/ip-address/create-and-configure-a-floating-ip-address) to the head node and use a [security group](/cloud/networking/add-and-configure-a-firewall) to allow SSH only from trusted IP addresses.

## Use a public network

A public network interface assigns each node a direct public IP, so no router or floating IP is needed. Use this when all nodes must pull external resources independently — container images, datasets, or model weights on each node separately.

## Connect VAST file shares

After creating a [VAST file share](/edge-ai/storage/create-and-manage-file-shares), a dedicated network interface becomes available in the node's network settings. Attach it to each node that needs to mount the share — this interface does not appear until the file share exists.

## Cluster networking and GPU interconnect

Multi-node GPU communication uses [InfiniBand](/edge-ai/networking/about-infiniband) on supported configurations and is set up automatically when the cluster is created. This interconnect is separate from the Cloud networking described above — it does not appear in network settings and requires no manual configuration.