How to Use Azure Global Load Balancer for Scalable Applications

To use Azure Global Load Balancer for scalable applications, start by creating a load balancer. This involves specifying the front-end IP configuration and the back-end address pool.

The front-end IP configuration can be a public IP address or an internal IP address. You can also configure a probe to check the health of your backend instances.

For a scalable application, you'll want to configure multiple backend instances. This can be done by creating a load balancer rule that directs traffic to a specific backend pool.

Azure Global Load Balancer supports multiple load balancer rules, allowing you to direct traffic to different backend pools based on different criteria. This can be useful for applications with different traffic patterns.

To get started with Azure Global Load Balancer, you'll need to meet some prerequisites. You'll need an Azure subscription, which you can create for free if you don't already have one.

To deploy Azure Load Balancers, you'll need two standard sku Azure Load Balancers with backend pools deployed in two different Azure regions. This is a requirement regardless of whether you're using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell.

You can install and use the Azure CLI locally, but you'll need to have version 2.0.28 or later. If you need to upgrade, you can follow the instructions in the Azure CLI documentation.

Alternatively, you can use Azure Cloud Shell, which eliminates the need for local installation. If you do choose to use Cloud Shell, you'll still need to sign in with az login to create a connection with Azure.

You can also use Azure PowerShell, but you'll need to have version 5.4.1 or later. You can check the installed version by running Get-Module -ListAvailable Az. If you need to upgrade, you can follow the instructions in the Azure PowerShell documentation.

To use Azure PowerShell locally, you'll also need to run Connect-AzAccount to create a connection with Azure.

To configure the load balancer, you'll need to store the regional load balancer information in variables using Get-AzLoadBalancer and Get-AzLoadBalancerFrontendIpConfig.

These commands retrieve the necessary information for the load balancer, which you'll use to create the backend address pool configuration.

To create the backend address pool configuration, use New-AzLoadBalancerBackendAddressConfig.

This command allows you to define the configuration for the load balancer's backend address pool.

To add the regional load balancer frontend to the cross-region backend pool, use Set-AzLoadBalancerBackendAddressPool.

This command enables you to integrate the regional load balancer with the cross-region backend pool.

Here are the key steps to configure the load balancer:

A resource group is a logical container for Azure resources, and it's essential to understand this concept when working with Azure Global Load Balancer. You can create a resource group using the Azure portal, az group create, or New-AzResourceGroup.

To create a resource group, you'll need to provide a name and location. For example, you can create a resource group named myResourceGroupLB-CR in the westus location.

A resource group can contain multiple resources, and it's a way to organize and manage your Azure resources. By creating a resource group, you can easily manage and monitor your resources, and it's a best practice to create a resource group for each Azure project or application.

A cross-region load balancer is a crucial component in Azure Load Balancer, and its creation is a multi-step process.

You can create a cross-region load balancer using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell.

To create a cross-region load balancer, you'll need to create a frontend pool, a backend pool, and a load balancer rule, among other resources.

A frontend pool is a collection of virtual machines or instances that receive incoming requests.

You can create a frontend pool with a public IP address or a private IP address.

A backend pool consists of virtual machines or instances responsible for serving incoming requests.

You can add multiple load balancers to a backend pool.

A load balancer rule defines how incoming traffic is distributed to instances within the backend pool.

Load balancer rules map a specific frontend IP configuration and port to multiple backend IP addresses and ports.

Here are the essential components of an Azure Load Balancer:

A resource group is a logical container where Azure resources are deployed and managed.

You can create one using the command `az group create`, specifying a name and location. For example, you can create a resource group named `myResourceGroupLB-CR` in the `westus` location.

To create a resource group, you can use either `az group create` or `New-AzResourceGroup`.

In Azure Global Load Balancer, rules and settings are crucial for directing traffic and ensuring smooth operations.

A load balancer rule defines the frontend IP configuration, backend IP pool, source and destination port, and protocol.

You can create a load balancer rule with the command az network cross-region-lb rule create, specifying the rule name, frontend pool, backend address pool, protocol, and ports.

Here are the key components of a load balancer rule:

The Rule is a crucial part of load balancing, defining how traffic flows through your setup. It's created using the az network cross-region-lb rule create command.

A load balancer rule defines the frontend IP configuration, backend IP pool, source and destination port, and protocol. This is where you specify the details of how you want your traffic to be routed.

To create a load balancer rule, you'll need to specify a name, frontend pool, backend address pool, source and destination port, and protocol. For example, you can create a rule named myHTTPRule-CR that listens on Port 80 in the frontend pool myFrontEnd-CR and sends load-balanced network traffic to the backend address pool myBackEndPool-CR using Port 80.

Here are the key components of a load balancer rule:

The Azure Load Balancer has some fantastic features that make it a great tool for scaling applications and creating highly available services. Scalable layer 4 load balancing of both internal and external traffic to VMs and VM scale sets is a key feature.

This feature allows you to distribute incoming requests across multiple backend resources, increasing the availability of your services. Increased availability through zone redundancy is also a key feature.

Zone redundancy helps ensure that your services remain available even if one zone goes down. Outbound connectivity and SNAT support for VMs without public IP addresses is another important feature.

This feature allows VMs without public IP addresses to connect to the internet, making it a great option for internal VMs. Health monitoring and automatic failover with health probes is also a key feature.

With health probes, you can monitor the health of your backend resources and automatically failover to a healthy resource if one becomes unavailable. Port forwarding to access VMs directly is another feature of the Azure Load Balancer.

This feature allows you to access VMs directly, making it a great option for debugging and troubleshooting. Support for IPv6 scenarios is also a key feature.

The Azure Load Balancer supports IPv6 scenarios, making it a great option for organizations that need to support IPv6 traffic. Low latency and high throughput routing of TCP and UDP flows is another feature of the Azure Load Balancer.

This feature allows the Azure Load Balancer to handle a large volume of traffic with low latency and high throughput. Scaling to millions of flows across multiple IPs and ports is also a key feature.

The Azure Load Balancer can scale to handle millions of flows across multiple IPs and ports, making it a great option for large-scale applications. Migration across Azure regions is another feature of the Azure Load Balancer.

This feature allows you to migrate your load balancer across Azure regions, making it a great option for organizations that need to move their applications to a different region. Chaining to other Azure load balancers like Application Gateway is also a key feature.

The Azure Load Balancer can be chained to other Azure load balancers like Application Gateway, making it a great option for complex application architectures. Insights and diagnostics for monitoring and troubleshooting is another feature of the Azure Load Balancer.

This feature provides crucial visibility into the health and performance of load-balanced workloads, making it a great option for monitoring and troubleshooting.

The pricing for our services is straightforward, and the Basic Load Balancer is offered at no charge.

You don't have to worry about a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Basic Load Balancer since it has no SLA.

Testing and Verification is a crucial step in setting up an Azure Global Load Balancer. You can test the load balancer by connecting to its public IP address in a web browser.

To find the public IP address, you can use the az network public-ip show command, which is shown in the example: az network public-ip show --resource-group myResourceGroupLB-CR --name PublicIPmyLoadBalancer-CR --query ipAddress --output tsv. The default page of IIS Web server is displayed on the browser when you paste the public IP address into the address bar.

You can also use the Get-AzPublicIpAddress cmdlet to get the public IP address of the load balancer, as shown in the example. Copy the public IP address and paste it into the address bar of your browser to see the default page of IIS Web server.

To test the failover, stop the virtual machines in the backend pool of one of the regional load balancers. Refresh the web browser and observe the failover of the connection to the other regional load balancer.

Here are the steps to test the load balancer in a concise format:

Now that you've set up your Azure Global Load Balancer, here's what to do next:

To ensure your load balancer is properly configured, create a cross-region load balancer. This will allow you to distribute traffic across multiple regions.

You'll also want to add regional load balancers to the backend pool of the cross-region load balancer. This will enable you to route traffic to specific regions.

Next, create a load-balancing rule to determine how traffic is distributed. This rule will dictate which backend pool to use based on factors like region and traffic volume.

Finally, test the load balancer to ensure everything is working as expected. This will give you a chance to catch any issues before they affect your users.

Azure Global Load Balancer is a powerful tool for distributing traffic across multiple regions. It's designed to handle global traffic with low latency, making it ideal for applications that require high availability and scalability.

For internal and external traffic distribution, Azure Load Balancer is a great choice. It supports any TCP/UDP protocol and can be used for outbound NAT for virtual machines.

Azure Application Gateway, on the other hand, is perfect for web apps and APIs that require layer 7 routing. It supports HTTP/HTTPS protocols and can be used for multi-site hosting and secure web apps.

Here's a comparison of the two:

In terms of cost, Azure Load Balancer is generally lower than Azure Application Gateway, especially for basic use cases. However, the cost difference is worth it for the advanced capabilities offered by Application Gateway, such as web application firewall and end-to-end encryption.

Azure Global Load Balancer is a powerful tool that allows you to scale your applications and create highly available services. It supports both inbound and outbound scenarios.

With Azure Load Balancer, you can load balance internal and external traffic to Azure virtual machines. This helps ensure that your applications are always available and responsive.

Azure Load Balancer provides low latency and high throughput, making it suitable for all TCP and UDP applications. It can scale up to millions of flows, ensuring that your applications can handle a large number of users.

Some key benefits of using Azure Load Balancer include:

These features make Azure Load Balancer an essential tool for anyone looking to create highly available and scalable applications in the cloud.

As you've set up your load balancer, you're probably wondering what's next. Created a cross-region load balancer.

To ensure your load balancer is working correctly, it's essential to test it. Tested the load balancer.

Here are the next steps to take:

Azure Load Balancer is a powerful tool that can help you scale your applications and create highly available services. It supports both inbound and outbound scenarios.

With Azure Load Balancer, you can distribute resources within and across zones to increase availability. This is especially useful for applications that require high uptime and reliability.

One of the key benefits of Azure Load Balancer is its ability to provide low latency and high throughput. This means that your applications can handle a large number of requests quickly and efficiently.

Azure Load Balancer can handle millions of flows for all TCP and UDP applications, making it a great choice for large-scale applications.

Azure Application Gateway is a layer 7 load balancer designed specifically for web applications, allowing for smart traffic routing decisions based on details in the HTTP requests themselves.

It's a game-changer for web applications, enabling you to route requests to different server pools based on aspects of the incoming URLs like path or host headers. For example, requests containing /images in the path could be sent to a pool optimized for image processing.

Application Gateway offers features like URL path-based routing, host header support, and session cookie affinity, making it a robust tool for managing web traffic.

Here are some of the key features of Application Gateway:

With these features, Application Gateway is designed to assist with scaling and securing even the largest cloud web application deployments on Azure.