Azure Networking Choices Explained

Azure offers a range of networking choices to meet diverse needs, from secure and scalable to high-performance and cost-effective.

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) is a fundamental component of Azure networking, allowing you to create a virtual network for your Azure resources.

Azure supports multiple networking models, including Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and classic, with ARM being the recommended choice.

Azure Load Balancer is a key component for distributing traffic across multiple virtual machines, ensuring high availability and scalability.

With Azure, you can choose from multiple virtual network peering options, including VNet peering and Azure Virtual Network Service Endpoints.

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) is a fundamental building block for creating your network within the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. It provides a secure way for services and Virtual Machines to interact with each other.

A VNet is like a traditional network you'd operate in your own data center, but with the added benefits of Azure's scalable infrastructure. It provides isolation, segmentation, and control, enabling you to launch and manage Azure resources securely.

To create a VNet, you're essentially carving out a piece of the Azure cloud that's dedicated to your use. You have complete control over its IP address range, subnets, and network settings.

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) is a fundamental building block for creating your network within the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

Azure Virtual Networks (VNet) provide isolation, segmentation, and control, enabling you to launch and manage Azure resources securely. A VNet is analogous to a traditional network that you’d operate in your own data center, but with the added benefits of Azure’s scalable infrastructure.

To create a VNet, you're carving out a piece of the Azure cloud that's dedicated to your use. This network is entirely under your control, from defining its IP address range to configuring its subnets and network settings.

Here are some key features of Azure Virtual Networks:

Azure Virtual Network Manager is a management service that enables you to group, configure, deploy, and manage virtual networks globally across subscriptions.

IP addresses are the unique addresses assigned to devices on a network, and Azure uses two main methods for allocating them: Dynamic IP and Static IP. Dynamic IP is the default method, where Azure automatically assigns an available IP address from a subnet's address range.

Azure also supports Static IP allocation, which allows you to assign a specific IP address from a subnet's address range.

CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) is a method for allocating IP addresses by applying a subnet mask. This mask defines the number of bits used for the network and the host.

A subnet mask of 28, like in the example 192.168.1.30/28, creates 16 subnets with 14 hosts each.

Here's a breakdown of the first four subnets created with a subnet mask of 28:

The first and last IP address in each subnet are reserved for the network and broadcast, respectively.

Azure Load Balancer provides high-performance, low-latency Layer 4 load-balancing for all UDP and TCP protocols, managing inbound and outbound connections. It's available in Standard, Regional, and Gateway SKUs.

Azure Load Balancer automatically reconfigures itself when admins scale an instance, and its monitoring features can close connections to an instance that is not performing well. The service costs $0.025 per hour for the first five rules and $0.01 per every additional rule per hour.

Azure Load Balancer can be configured to perform internet-facing public load balancing, balancing incoming traffic from the internet among Azure VMs, as well as internal load balancing, which manages traffic among VMs in a VPN.

Endpoints are a crucial part of Azure Networking, allowing you to secure and control access to your Azure resources. They provide a direct connection between your virtual network and Azure services, keeping your traffic private and secure.

Service Endpoints extend your virtual network private address space and identity to Azure services, over a direct connection. This allows you to secure critical Azure service resources to only your virtual networks.

You can restrict many Azure services to selected virtual network subnets using Service Endpoints, providing a higher level of security. Regional virtual network integration enables your function app to reach Azure services secured with Service Endpoints.

To access a secured Service Endpoint, you need to configure regional virtual network integration with your function app to connect to a specific subnet, and then configure Service Endpoints against the integration subnet in the destination service.

Azure Private Link enables you to access Azure PaaS Services and Azure-hosted customer-owned/partner services over a private endpoint in your virtual network. This eliminates the need to expose your service to the public internet.

Here are the steps to create a private link service in your virtual network:

Azure Private Endpoint is a network interface that connects you privately and securely to a service powered by Azure Private Link. It uses a private IP address from your virtual network, effectively bringing the service into your virtual network.

Azure Route Server simplifies dynamic routing between your network virtual appliance (NVA) and your virtual network. It allows you to exchange routing information directly through Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol between any NVA that supports the BGP routing protocol and the Azure Software Defined Network (SDN) in the Azure Virtual Network (VNet) without the need to manually configure or maintain route tables.

Azure Route Server is particularly useful for scenarios where you have a network virtual appliance that needs to communicate with your virtual network. This eliminates the need for manual configuration and maintenance of route tables.

To use Azure Route Server, your NVA must support the BGP routing protocol. This allows for seamless communication with the Azure SDN in your VNet.

Azure Route Server is a powerful tool for managing dynamic routing in Azure. By automating the process, you can reduce the complexity and improve the reliability of your network.

NAT Gateway simplifies outbound-only Internet connectivity for virtual networks.

This means you can set up a subnet with NAT Gateway and all outbound connectivity will use your specified static public IP addresses.

All outbound connectivity is possible without a load balancer or public IP addresses directly attached to virtual machines.

NAT Gateway provides a simple and efficient way to manage outbound Internet connectivity.

This is especially useful for virtual networks where you need to allow outbound traffic but don't want to assign public IP addresses directly to virtual machines.

By using NAT Gateway, you can simplify your network configuration and reduce the complexity of managing public IP addresses.

Configuring Azure networking components can be a complex task, but with the right guidance, you can ensure a smooth and secure setup.

To create a Load Balancer in Azure, you need to specify details like the name, region, SKU (Basic or Standard), and whether it's public or internal. This involves several key steps, including creating the load balancer resource, configuring backend pools, health probes, and load balancing rules.

Setting up a Site-to-Site VPN connection requires creating a Virtual Network (VNet) and a dedicated subnet for the gateway, as well as a public IP address for external connectivity. You can then create the VPN Gateway, set up the S2S connection, and monitor the VPN for optimal performance.

Network Security Groups (NSGs) can be configured to control network access to and from your Azure resources. This involves creating the NSG resource, defining security rules, and associating the NSG with specific subnets or network interfaces.

Here are the steps to manage NSGs using Azure CLI:

By following these steps and utilizing the Azure CLI, you can establish a strong security posture for your Azure resources and ensure that only authorized traffic can enter or leave your network.

Azure DNS is a service that hosts a domain and enables admins to manage its records. Admins can manage DNS records through the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, and Azure CLI.

Azure DNS hosts domains on a global network of Azure DNS name servers. It supports internet-facing DNS domains and private DNS zones.

With Azure Private DNS, IT teams can use custom domain names to adjust VNet architecture to suit their needs. This is especially useful for on-premises systems that burst, migrate, and fail over to the cloud.

The first 25 public and private zones hosted in Azure DNS are priced at $0.5 per zone per month. This is a great option for small to medium-sized businesses or individuals who need a basic DNS service.

Azure DNS private zones allow apps to use the same DNS server as their virtual network, making it easier to integrate with virtual networks. This is a key feature for businesses that rely on virtual networks for their infrastructure.

Azure Traffic Manager integrates with Azure DNS to provide a range of traffic-routing methods, including priority, weighted, performance, geographic, multi-value, and subnet. This enables admins to distribute user traffic to the optimal endpoint for high availability and responsiveness.

Azure offers two main types of load balancers: Basic and Standard. Each serves different use cases and comes with its own set of features and pricing models.

The Basic Load Balancer is ideal for development and testing environments, supporting smaller-scale applications and providing a cost-effective option for scenarios that don't require advanced features. It's a great choice for those just starting out with Azure or testing new applications.

The Standard Load Balancer, on the other hand, is designed for production workloads, offering enhanced capabilities such as high availability across zones, greater scale, and a comprehensive suite of security and management features.

Here's a comparison of the two:

Azure Firewall Manager is a security management service that provides central security policy and routing management for cloud-based security perimeters. It can deploy multiple Azure Firewall instances across Azure regions and subscriptions, implement DDoS protection plans, and integrate with partner security-as-a-service for enhanced security.

Azure Firewall is a managed, cloud-based network security service that protects your Azure Virtual Network resources. You can centrally create, enforce, and log application and network connectivity policies across subscriptions and virtual networks.

To enhance network security, you can use Network Security Groups (NSGs) in Azure, which act as a virtual firewall for your VMs and subnets. Proper management of NSGs is important for maintaining a secure and well-organized network infrastructure.

Azure DDoS Protection provides countermeasures against the most sophisticated DDoS threats, including enhanced DDoS mitigation capabilities and access to DDoS Rapid Response support. It consists of two tiers: DDoS Network Protection and DDoS IP Protection, each offering different value-added services.

Azure includes a robust networking infrastructure to support your application and repair connectivity requirements. Network connectivity is possible between resources located in Azure, between on-premises and Azure-hosted resources, and to and from the internet and Azure.

Azure Bastion is a service that allows you to connect to a virtual machine using your browser and the Azure portal.

You can deploy Azure Bastion in a virtual network, and it provides secure and seamless RDP/SSH connectivity to your virtual machines directly from the Azure portal over TLS.

Azure Bastion doesn't require a public IP address, agent, or special client software on your virtual machines.

There are various different SKU/tiers available for Azure Bastion, and the tier you select affects the features that are available.

Azure Firewall Manager is a security management service that provides central security policy and routing management for cloud-based security perimeters. It can manage security for two different types of network architecture: secure virtual hub and hub virtual network.

With Azure Firewall Manager, you can deploy multiple Azure Firewall instances across Azure regions and subscriptions. This allows for a more robust and scalable security solution.

Azure Firewall Manager also enables you to implement DDoS protection plans, manage web application firewall policies, and integrate with partner security-as-a-service for enhanced security.

Here are the key benefits of using Azure Firewall Manager:

• Centralized security policy and routing management

• Support for secure virtual hub and hub virtual network architectures

• Ability to deploy multiple Azure Firewall instances across regions and subscriptions

• Implementation of DDoS protection plans

• Management of web application firewall policies

• Integration with partner security-as-a-service for enhanced security

Azure Network Watcher is a powerful tool that helps you monitor and diagnose issues with your Azure network. It provides a comprehensive view of your network resources and services, making it easier to identify and resolve problems.

With Network Watcher, you can view metrics and analyze logs to understand how your network is performing. This is especially useful for troubleshooting issues and identifying potential security threats.

Network Watcher also allows you to enable or disable logs for resources in your Azure virtual network. This helps you keep track of important network events and troubleshoot issues more efficiently.

As a network administrator, I can attest to the importance of having a clear view of your network resources and services. Network Watcher provides this visibility, making it easier to manage and secure your Azure network.

By using Network Watcher, you can ensure that your network is running smoothly and securely, even in high-traffic conditions or during server failures. This is because Network Watcher can help you identify and resolve issues before they impact your application's availability.

Private networking is a game-changer for Azure users. Azure Private Link enables you to access Azure PaaS Services and Azure-hosted customer-owned/partner services over a private endpoint in your virtual network, eliminating the need for public internet exposure.

Traffic between your virtual network and the service travels through the Microsoft backbone network. This is a secure and reliable connection, perfect for sensitive data.

Azure Private Link is free, but you will be charged $0.01 per hour for a private endpoint and $0.01 per GB for processed inbound and outbound data.

Private endpoints are accessible via on-premises VPN tunnels and peered networks. This means you can easily connect your on-premises network to your Azure resources.

To make calls to private endpoints, you must make sure that your DNS lookups resolve to the private endpoint. You can enforce this behavior in one of three ways:

Azure DNS private zones are automatically linked to your virtual network, making it easy to integrate with your existing DNS setup.

Azure Networking Traffic Management is a crucial aspect of Azure Networking Choices. Azure Traffic Manager, a DNS-based traffic load balancer, enables you to distribute traffic optimally to services across global Azure regions, providing high availability and responsiveness.

Traffic Manager offers six types of DNS routing: priority, weighted, performance, geographic, subnet, and multivalue. This allows you to choose the best routing method for your application's needs. For example, priority routing directs traffic to the most available endpoint, while weighted routing distributes traffic based on the weight assigned to each endpoint.

Azure Load Balancer, on the other hand, provides high-performance, low-latency Layer 4 load-balancing for all UDP and TCP protocols. It manages inbound and outbound connections, allowing you to configure public and internal load-balanced endpoints. This makes it ideal for scenarios where high availability and reliability are paramount.

Here's a brief comparison of the two services:

By choosing the right traffic management service, you can ensure your applications remain highly available, responsive, and scalable.

Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based traffic load balancer that enables you to distribute traffic optimally to services across global Azure regions, providing high availability and responsiveness. It offers six types of DNS routing methods to direct user traffic to the optimal endpoint.

Traffic Manager charges $0.54 per million inquiries up to the first billion inquiries in a month. Health checks begin at $0.36 per Azure endpoint per month, and traffic views cost $2 per million data points processed.

With Traffic Manager, you can distribute user traffic for Azure VMs, cloud services, and web applications, increasing availability and preventing downtime. It's a great solution for on-premises systems that burst, migrate, and fail over to the cloud.

Here are the six types of DNS routing methods offered by Traffic Manager:

Traffic Manager provides continuous endpoint monitoring and automatic failover, ensuring that your applications remain available even in the event of a failure.

Routing in Azure Networking is all about delivering information by choosing the best path from source to destination. This process is automatic for each subnet in your virtual network, creating a routing table to direct traffic.

Azure Route Server simplifies dynamic routing between your network virtual appliance (NVA) and your virtual network, exchanging routing information through Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing protocol.

You can use route tables to route outbound traffic from your app to wherever you want. By default, route tables only affect your RFC1918 destination traffic.

Here are the types of routing methods offered by Azure Traffic Manager:

Azure Traffic Manager charges $0.54 per million inquiries up to the first billion inquiries in a month, and health checks begin at $0.36 per Azure endpoint per month.

Azure Networking Connectivity offers a range of options for secure communication between your on-premises network and Azure, including VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Virtual WAN, and Peering Service.

You can choose from different VPN configurations, such as site-to-site, point-to-site, and VNet-to-VNet VPN connectivity, depending on your needs. Each configuration has its own features and pricing.

The cost of VPN Gateway varies depending on the bandwidth and data transfer rates. For example, the basic version of VPN Gateway costs $0.04 per hour for 100 Mbps of bandwidth, while outbound data traveling between two virtual networks is charged at $0.035 per GB.

Here are some key Azure networking connectivity options:

Azure Front Door is a powerful tool for managing global routing and optimizing performance. It enables you to transform your global applications into robust, high-performance personalized modern applications, APIs, and content.

With Azure Front Door, you can use edge computing to reduce latency for end users globally, just like Azure CDN. This service also provides security and global load-balancing capabilities, targeting app reliability and performance.

Front Door pricing starts at $35 per month for the standard plan, making it an affordable option for businesses. Outbound data transfers from the edge to the client are $0.083 per GB up to the first 10 TB per month, and from the edge to the origin are $0.02 per GB.

Azure Front Door is a CDN focused on application delivery with built-in security, including a WAF, bot protection, and DDoS protection. IT teams can use its reporting analytics feature for granular real-time insights on assets and to monitor CDN traffic.

Here are the key features of Azure Front Door:

Hybrid connectivity in Azure allows you to securely connect your on-premises network to Azure services. This can be achieved through various methods, including VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Virtual WAN, and Peering Service.

Hybrid Connections is a feature of Azure Relay that enables you to access application resources in other networks. It provides access from your app to an application endpoint, but you can't use it to access your application.

To use Hybrid Connections, your function app must run on Windows, as it's not supported on Linux apps. Each hybrid connection correlates to a single TCP host and port combination.

Here's a summary of the different types of hybrid connectivity options in Azure:

These options allow you to connect your on-premises network to Azure services, providing secure and reliable access to cloud resources.

Private Endpoints allow you to access Azure services privately and securely from your virtual network. This is achieved through a network interface that connects to a service powered by Azure Private Link.

Azure Private Endpoint uses a private IP address from your virtual network, effectively bringing the service into your virtual network. You can use Private Endpoint for your functions hosted in the Flex Consumption, Elastic Premium and Dedicated (App Service) plans.

To make calls to Private Endpoints, you must ensure that your DNS lookups resolve to the private endpoint. This can be done by integrating with Azure DNS private zones, managing the private endpoint in the DNS server used by your app, or configuring your own DNS server to forward to Azure DNS private zones.

Here are the ways to enforce DNS lookups to resolve to the private endpoint:

Azure Private Link enables you to access Azure PaaS Services and Azure-hosted customer-owned/partner services over a private endpoint in your virtual network. This eliminates the need for ExpressRoute or VPN connections, gateways, network address translation devices, or public IP addresses.

Azure Private Link charges $0.01 per hour for a private endpoint and begins charging processed inbound and outbound data at $0.01 per GB. Private Endpoints are accessible via on-premises VPN tunnels and peered networks.