Create Virtual Network Azure to Enhance Cloud Networking

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Posted Oct 29, 2024

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Creating a Virtual Network in Azure is a great way to enhance cloud networking. With Azure Virtual Network, you can create a virtual network that's isolated from the internet and other networks.

To create a Virtual Network, you can use the Azure portal or Azure CLI. The Azure portal provides a user-friendly interface for creating and managing Virtual Networks.

A Virtual Network in Azure is a logical isolation of a network in the cloud. It allows you to create a virtual network that's separate from your on-premises network.

You can create a Virtual Network with a specific address space, subnet, and IP address. For example, you can create a Virtual Network with an address space of 10.0.0.0/16 and a subnet of 10.0.1.0/24.

By creating a Virtual Network, you can improve network security, reduce latency, and increase network scalability.

What Is Azure Virtual Network?

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

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An Azure Virtual Network is a network or environment that can be used to run VMs and applications in the cloud.

You can define VNets in the Azure cloud, and VNets can also communicate with the Internet and on-premises resources.

By default, all VNet resources can communicate outbound to the Internet.

Azure Virtual Network is your private network within Azure, commonly abbreviated as “vnet.”

To allow inbound communication from the Internet, you can create rules to allow Internet traffic or add a public IP or Load Balancer.

Here are the key characteristics of an Azure Virtual Network:

  • A private network within Azure
  • Can be used to run VMs and applications in the cloud
  • Can communicate with the Internet and on-premises resources
  • Requires rules or public IP or Load Balancer for inbound communication from the Internet

Advantages of Azure Virtual Network

Creating a virtual network in Azure is a crucial step in setting up a secure and scalable infrastructure for your applications. Azure Virtual Network (VNet) provides an isolated environment for your applications.

One of the major advantages of using Azure VNet is that it provides an isolated environment for your applications. This means that your applications are not exposed to the public internet, reducing the risk of security breaches.

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A subnet in a VNet can access the public internet by default, which is a convenient feature for many use cases. This allows your applications to communicate with external services and resources.

We can easily direct traffic from resources using Azure VNet, which is a powerful feature for managing network traffic. This can be particularly useful for load balancing and routing traffic to different resources.

Azure VNet is a highly secure network, thanks to its isolated environment and other security features. This provides a high level of protection for your applications and data.

Here are some of the key advantages of using Azure VNet:

  • Provides an isolated environment for your applications
  • A subnet in a VNet can access the public internet by default
  • We can easily direct traffic from resources
  • It is a highly secure network
  • It has high network connectivity
  • It builds sophisticated network topologies in a simple manner

Creating and Configuring VNet

Creating a virtual network in Azure is a straightforward process. You can create a virtual network using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI.

To create a virtual network, you need to specify the name, resource group, location, and IP address prefix. You can also create subnets within the virtual network. For example, you can create a subnet named "subnet-1" with an address prefix of "10.0.0.0/24" using the "Add-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig" cmdlet in Azure PowerShell.

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Here's a table summarizing the methods to create a virtual network and subnets:

Components

Creating a virtual network involves several components that work together to provide a secure and efficient way to connect resources. A virtual network, or VNet, is a virtualized network that allows you to create a private network in the cloud.

A VNet consists of multiple subnets, which are smaller segments of the virtual network that can be used to organize and manage resources. Subnets can be private or public, with private subnets using a NAT (Network Address Translation) gateway to access the internet and public subnets allowing direct access to the internet.

Subnets can be further divided into smaller segments using address prefixes. Multiple address prefixes on a subnet allow customers to add and remove IP address spaces as needed, making it easier to scale resources. This feature is currently in public preview and is offered free of charge.

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Virtual machines can be created within a VNet and can connect to each other using private IP addresses. Virtual machines can also connect to each other if they're in different subnets, without the need to configure a gateway or use public IP addresses.

Here are the methods you can use to create a virtual network and subnets:

The components of Azure Networking include subnets, routing, and Network Security Groups. These components work together to provide a secure and efficient way to connect resources in the cloud.

Groups

Creating and Configuring VNet involves working with Network Security Groups (NSGs), which are like firewalls that protect your virtual machine by limiting network traffic. They restrict inbound and outbound network traffic depending upon the destination IP addresses, port, and protocol.

A Network Security Group contains a list of Access Control List (ACL) rules that allow or deny network traffic to subnets, NICs, or both. These rules are crucial in filtering traffic in and out of a virtual network.

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Each NSG contains two sets of rules, inbound and outbound, with unique priorities within each set. The priority for a rule must be unique within each set.

Here are the methods to create a network security group:

Each rule has properties such as protocol, source and destination port ranges, address prefixes, direction of traffic, priority, and access type. These properties are essential in defining the traffic that is allowed or denied.

In an NSG, all rules must have a unique priority, and the priority is given based on the direction of traffic. The default rules in an NSG have the lowest priority and cannot be deleted or overridden.

Nat Gateway

Azure NAT Gateway simplifies outbound-only Internet connectivity for virtual networks. It allows all outbound connectivity to use your specified static public IP addresses, making it possible without a load balancer or public IP addresses directly attached to virtual machines.

Outbound connectivity can be defined for each subnet with NAT, and multiple subnets within the same virtual network can have different NATs. A subnet is configured by specifying which NAT gateway resource to use.

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All UDP and TCP outbound flows from any virtual machine instance use a NAT gateway, which is fully managed and highly resilient. This makes it easier to manage and maintain your network.

NAT is compatible with standard SKU public IP address resources or public IP prefix resources, or a combination of both. You can use a public IP prefix directly or distribute the public IP addresses of the prefix across multiple NAT gateway resources.

Here are the methods you can use to create a NAT gateway resource:

NAT Gateway automatically processes all outbound traffic without any customer configuration, making it a convenient option for managing your network.

Bastion

Creating a Bastion Host is a great way to securely manage your virtual machines in a virtual network. Azure Bastion is deployed to provide secure management connectivity to virtual machines in a virtual network.

You can create an Azure Bastion deployment using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, or a template. The Azure portal creates a virtual network, subnets, public IP, bastion host, and virtual machines.

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Azure Bastion enables connections without exposing a public IP on the VM. Connections are made directly from the Azure portal, without the need of an extra client/agent or piece of software.

You can use standard SKU public IP addresses with Azure Bastion. Hourly pricing starts from the moment that Bastion is deployed, regardless of outbound data usage.

Here's a quick reference on how to create an Azure Bastion deployment:

Pricing

Creating a virtual network is free of charge, but be aware that creating a peering connection between different virtual networks incurs charges for inbound and outbound data transfers.

You can create up to 50 virtual networks per subscription, which is a generous limit.

Peering between two virtual networks in the same region charges $0.01 per GB for inbound and outbound data transfers.

Creating a peering connection between networks in different regions incurs an extra charge, so be mindful of your region when setting up peering.

You can view more pricing information for your specific regions on the virtual network pricing page.

Return

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When you're done configuring your VNet, it's essential to remember that a continuous block of IP Address is used to create multiple subnet networks within it. This helps keep your network organized and efficient.

To ensure your VNet is secure, Azure provides various protection methods, including network security tools that can be used to safeguard your service.

A Virtual Network is a private network with interconnected Azure Resources, which enables communication between various Azure Resources via the Internet.

IP Addressing Basics

IP addresses identify each device on a network uniquely, and IANA manages and assigns them in the world. There are two main types of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6, but we'll focus on IPv4 as it's the most used.

An IPv4 address contains 32 binary bits divided into 4 equal octets (8-bit blocks). Each octet is separated by a decimal and ranges from 0 to 255.

There are two types of IP addresses: private and public. Private IP addresses are accessed only within a network, like a school network with a LAN connection, while public IP addresses are accessed globally via the Internet.

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Here's a table showing the private IP address range assigned by IANA:

In Azure, the two types of IP addresses used are Public IP and Private IP. Private IP addresses allow communication between resources within the Azure resource group, while public IP addresses allow Azure resources to communicate with public-facing Azure services via the Internet.

IP addresses can be allocated dynamically or statically. Dynamic IP addresses are automatically assigned from the subnet's address range and can change over time, while static IP addresses are custom allocated and remain fixed.

Routing and Peering

Routing in Azure is a crucial aspect of creating a virtual network. It delivers the information by choosing an appropriate path from source to destination.

For each subnet, the virtual network automatically routes traffic and creates a routing table. This means that Azure takes care of the routing process, making it easier for you to manage your virtual network.

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You can implement route tables to control where Azure routes traffic for each subnet. For example, you can deploy a hub-and-spoke network and force all subnet traffic to go to a central hub first.

There are two types of Virtual Network Peering: Regional VNet Peering and Global VNet Peering. Regional VNet Peering is used when the two networks needed to peer are in the same region, while Global VNet Peering is used when the two networks are from different regions.

Here are the key differences between Regional and Global VNet Peering:

Virtual WAN in Azure allows creating a web of multiple networks that are interconnected to each other. It brings multiple networking, security, and routing functionalities together to provide a new single operational interface.

Azure automatically connects subnets in the same virtual network together, but routing between different virtual networks requires network peering. Virtual network peering connects multiple VNets together, and the virtual networks appear as one for connectivity purposes.

Ann Predovic

Lead Writer

Ann Predovic is a seasoned writer with a passion for crafting informative and engaging content. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for research, she has established herself as a go-to expert in various fields, including technology and software. Her writing career has taken her down a path of exploring complex topics, making them accessible to a broad audience.

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