Google Distributed Cloud Hosted (GDC Hosted is a fully managed, air-gapped cloud solution designed for organizations with stringent data sovereignty, security, and privacy requirements. It enables the deployment, operation, and scaling of cloud services within a completely isolated environment, without the need for connectivity to Google Cloud or the public internet. This ensures that sensitive data remains secure and compliant with regulatory standards. Key Features and Functionality: - Full Isolation: GDC Hosted operates in an air-gapped environment, eliminating the need for external connectivity to manage infrastructure, services, APIs, or tooling. This design supports strict compliance with standards such as NIST SP 800-53-FedRAMP High security controls. - Integrated Cloud Services: The platform delivers advanced Google Cloud services, including data analytics and machine learning technologies. Users can leverage built-in AI solutions like Translation API, Speech-to-Text, and optical character recognition (OCR within the isolated environment. - Open Ecosystem: Built on the Kubernetes API and utilizing leading open-source components, GDC Hosted promotes an open cloud strategy. This approach accelerates developer adoption by leveraging existing expertise and tools, avoiding the need to learn new proprietary systems. - Flexible Hardware Options: GDC Hosted offers flexibility in hardware configurations, including general-purpose compute and GPUs. Organizations can start with as few as four racks and scale up to hundreds as their workloads grow, ensuring a fully redundant, high-availability architecture for mission-critical systems. - Configurable Operations: The operating model of GDC Hosted can be tailored to meet each organization's unique specifications and regulatory requirements. It can be operated by Google, a trusted partner, or a combination of both, with customizable elements like operator citizenship and clearance requirements. Primary Value and Problem Solved: GDC Hosted addresses the critical need for organizations to modernize their IT infrastructure while maintaining complete control over sensitive data. By providing a fully isolated, air-gapped cloud environment, it ensures compliance with stringent regulatory and security requirements, making it ideal for sectors such as government, financial services, healthcare, and utilities. Organizations can leverage advanced cloud services and AI capabilities without compromising data sovereignty or security, enabling innovation and operational efficiency within a secure and compliant framework.