> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nscale.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# VPC Networks
A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is an isolated network boundary for your resources. Instances, clusters, and filesystems inside a VPC can communicate with each other but are isolated from resources in other VPCs. You need at least one VPC before you can create instances. VPCs are project-scoped and region-bound.
**Prerequisite:** You need an existing project before creating a VPC.
## Summary
This page explains how to create and manage **Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks** in the **nscale Console UI**.
Use this workflow if you:
* Need a private network boundary for workloads in a **specific project**
* Want to prepare networking before creating instances (you need at least one VPC to create instances)
The Console guides you through VPC creation in a short, three-step flow — **Details**, **Network Configuration**, and **Add Routes** — so you can size the network and (optionally) tune its IP allocation before any machines are provisioned.
## Availability
This feature is available for **On-demand** and **Reserved** cloud services.
## Requirements
* A **project** where the VPC will be created (VPCs are project-scoped; you can create multiple VPCs per project)
* Permission and sufficient **quota** to create a VPC
VPCs are project-scoped — you can create and use multiple VPCs within the same project.
Your VPC's workload subnet must have at least a **/24 CIDR block** (256 IP addresses). This is the minimum for any network.
## VPC Lifecycle
| Action | Details |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Create** | Walk through the three-step flow: enter the **details** (name, project, region, nameservers), define the **network configuration** (address, mask, and optional advanced IP reservations), and optionally **add routes**. |
| **Edit** | Update the **name**, **nameservers**, and **routes** at any time after creation. Note: nameserver changes propagate via DHCP and may take up to 24 hours to apply on machines. Reboot the instance or run `dhclient` to force an immediate refresh. |
| **Delete** | Remove a VPC that is no longer needed. |
You **cannot change** the region or the IP address range of a VPC after creation. The IP allocation is permanent — to change it you would need to delete the VPC and reprovision every machine in it. Plan these values carefully.
## Step-by-step
### Create a new VPC
1. In the Console, open your project, then open **Network** in the project sidebar.
2. Select **VPCs**.
3. Click **Create VPC**.
#### Step 1 — Details
4. Fill in the VPC details:
* **Name**: Enter a name for your network. It can only contain lowercase alphanumeric characters and dashes (e.g. `ml-platform-vpc`).
* **Project**: Choose the project where the VPC should exist.
* **Region**: Select the region for the VPC.
* **Nameservers**: Optionally add one or more DNS server IPs.
If you leave **Nameservers** blank, Nscale-provided DNS defaults are used.
Adding an explicit DNS server **bypasses internal hostname resolution** — instances in the VPC will not be able to resolve each other by hostname. Use with caution.
5. Click **Next: Network Configuration**.
#### Step 2 — Network Configuration
6. Define the VPC's address range:
* **Network Address**: The base network address (e.g. `10.0.0.0`). This must be the network base address — the host bits below the mask must be zero.
* **Network Mask**: The prefix length, from `/8` to `/24`. This sets the total number of IP addresses available in the network.
**Sizing examples:** `/16` gives you 65,536 addresses (a large VPC), while `/24` gives you 256. Choose a `/16` or `/20` if you expect to scale.
This IP allocation is permanent. To change it, you'd need to delete this VPC and reprovision all your machines.
7. (Optional) Turn on **Advanced Configuration** to control how the network's IP space is divided. See [Advanced Configuration (IP reservations)](#advanced-configuration-ip-reservations) below.
8. Click **Next: Add Routes**.
#### Step 3 — Add Routes
9. (Optional) Add static routes for the VPC:
* **Prefix**: The destination CIDR block (e.g. `192.168.0.0/24`).
* **Next hop**: The IP address traffic for that prefix should be forwarded to.
* Click **Add Route** to add it to the list. Repeat for additional routes.
Routes are optional — you can add or change them later by editing the VPC.
10. Click **Create VPC**.
11. Verify the result — the new VPC appears in the **VPC list** for the selected project and begins provisioning.
## Advanced Configuration (IP reservations)
By default, nscale automatically divides your VPC's IP space between the addresses handed to your machines (the **DHCP pool**) and a block reserved for **Nscale services** and **network services** (gateway, DNS, and metadata). Most VPCs never need to change this.
**Advanced Configuration** lets you tune that split. On the **Network Configuration** step, toggle **Advanced Configuration** on to reveal two controls and a live allocation preview:
* **Define your reservation block**: The block of IPs set aside for Nscale services and network services — these are unavailable for DHCP.
* **Define network services**: Your portion within the reservation block for gateway, DNS, and metadata. The remainder of the reservation block goes to Nscale services.
The selections always nest as **network ⊇ reservation block ⊇ network services**, and the **Network Allocation** summary updates live to show how many IPs go to **Network Services**, **Nscale Services**, and the **DHCP** pool.
Advanced Configuration is optional. If you leave it off, nscale applies a sensible default reservation and the rest of your network is available to the DHCP pool.
## Quotas
To check your current network quota, go to the **Resource Usage** section on the **Dashboard**. The dashboard shows your provisioned and total limits for networks alongside GPU, servers, clusters, and filesystem quotas.
## Common Issues / Troubleshooting
* **Symptom:** You can't find a VPC you expect to see in the Console.
**Likely cause:** The Console is currently scoped to a different **project**. VPC networks are **project-scoped**, so you'll only see VPCs created in the selected project.
**Fix:** In the Console, switch to the correct **project**, then return to **Network → VPCs** and check the list again.
* **Symptom:** Your DNS server IPs changed after the VPC was created.
**Likely cause:** DNS servers can change over time (for example, if your upstream DNS changes), and the VPC still has the older nameservers configured.
**Fix:** Go to **Network → VPCs**, select the VPC, and update the **Nameservers**. You can return later at any time to edit them.
* **Symptom:** The **Region** list is missing the region you expect.
**Likely cause:** VPCs can only be created in regions that support them, so other region types are filtered out of the picker.
**Fix:** Choose one of the regions shown. If the region you need is missing entirely, contact support to confirm availability.
***
## Related Resources
Create compute instances inside your VPC
Control traffic rules for resources in your VPC
Attach shared persistent storage within your VPC
Manage VPCs programmatically via the Networking and Storage API