There are a number of external connectivity options to enable customers to reach the workloads on the networks within their tenant environment. Each requires that the IP addresses used externally to access the tenant workloads be known by the customers’ connectivity method, WAN, VPN or other. The addresses that are used to access the solution can be provided by either the service provider or the customer. The details of the addresses used to access the tenant networks can be statically configured on routing devices used for access, but is often distributed using dynamic routing protocols. The configuration of static routing is largely dependent upon the specific routing hardware in question and is therefore beyond the scope of this document. The distribution of routing information using dynamic protocols is, in contrast, a key element of the efficiency gains which the Cloud Service Provider seeks to deliver.

The different methods of sourcing and managing addresses for tenant networks and their advertisement to customer access networks is discussed in the following section.