What device is typically used to establish secure connectivity between an on-premises network and a cloud environment?

• A. NAT device
• B. Load balancer
• C. VPN gateway
• D. DNS server

Answer: (C)

Connecting an on‑premises network to a cloud environment securely relies on a VPN gateway. This device terminates VPN connections and creates an encrypted tunnel between the two networks, typically using IPsec or TLS. It handles authentication, key exchange, and tunnel management, ensuring data in transit is confidential and protected from tampering as it moves across the shared network. Cloud providers offer VPN gateway services precisely for this purpose, enabling site-to-site or remote access connections to a virtual network.

Other options don’t establish this kind of secure inter-network link: a NAT device translates IP addresses, a load balancer distributes traffic to servers, and a DNS server resolves domain names.