Azure Networking Services

Azure Networking Services provide secure, scalable, and high-performance networking solutions to connect, protect, and optimize applications and resources across cloud and hybrid environments.

Azure Networking Services

1️⃣ Connectivity Services

These services enable secure communication between Azure resources, on-premises networks, and the internet.

• Azure Virtual Network (VNet) – A private network in Azure for secure communication between resources.

• Azure ExpressRoute – A dedicated, private connection between on-premises networks and Azure.

• Azure VPN Gateway – Secure site-to-site or point-to-site VPN connections.

• Azure Virtual WAN – Simplifies large-scale branch-to-branch and branch-to-Azure connectivity.

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2️⃣ Load Balancing & Traffic Management

These services distribute traffic for high availability and scalability.

• Azure Load Balancer – Distributes incoming traffic across multiple VMs for high availability.

• Azure Application Gateway – A Layer 7 load balancer with built-in Web Application Firewall (WAF).

• Azure Traffic Manager – DNS-based global traffic distribution for multi-region deployments.

• Azure Front Door – Global, secure traffic routing with DDoS protection and acceleration.

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3️⃣ Security & Protection

Azure provides built-in security services to protect networks from cyber threats.

• Azure Firewall – Managed stateful firewall for filtering traffic across VNets.

• Azure DDoS Protection – Protects against Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.

• Azure Private Link – Secure access to Azure services without exposing them to the internet.

• Network Security Groups (NSGs) – Control inbound/outbound traffic to VMs and subnets.

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4️⃣ Content Delivery & Optimization

These services improve network performance, reliability, and acceleration.

• Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) – Caches content globally for faster access.

• Azure Route Server – Simplifies BGP routing between network appliances and Azure VNets.

• Azure Peering Service – Optimized internet connectivity between enterprises and Microsoft

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) :

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) is a logically isolated network in Azure that enables secure communication between Azure resources, on-premises networks, and the internet. It allows subnetting, custom routing, private IP allocation, and security control using NSGs. VNet Peering connects two VNets within the same or different regions, enabling low-latency, high-speed, private communication over Azure’s backbone without requiring public IPs or VPNs. Peered VNets can share resources, support multi-tier applications, and facilitate hybrid cloud architectures while maintaining security and performance.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) :

Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a globally distributed network of servers that caches and delivers web content, such as images, videos, and scripts, to users based on their geographic location for reduced latency and improved performance. It accelerates websites, optimizes bandwidth usage, and enhances security by protecting against DDoS attacks and caching static assets closer to users. Azure offers three CDN options—Azure CDN from Microsoft, Azure CDN from Akamai, and Azure CDN from Verizon—allowing businesses to choose based on their performance, caching, and security needs.

Azure Load Balancer:

Azure Load Balancer is a highly available and scalable Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) load balancing service that distributes incoming traffic across multiple virtual machines (VMs) or resources to ensure high availability and reliability. It supports inbound and outbound traffic balancing, automatic failover, and health probes to monitor resource status. It comes in two types: Public Load Balancer for distributing internet traffic and Internal Load Balancer for private network traffic within Azure. It also supports NAT rules, high availability ports, and zone redundancy for resilient application deployments.

Azure Application Gateway :

Azure Application Gateway is a Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) load balancer that enables intelligent traffic management for web applications. It supports URL-based routing, SSL termination, session affinity, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) for security. Unlike Azure Load Balancer, which operates at Layer 4, Application Gateway routes requests based on HTTP headers, hostnames, and URLs, making it ideal for hosting multiple websites on the same gateway. It also integrates with Autoscaling, zone redundancy, and end-to-end SSL encryption, ensuring high availability, performance, and protection against web attacks.

Azure VPN gateway :

Azure VPN Gateway is a cloud-based network gateway that enables secure site-to-site, point-to-site, and VNet-to-VNet connections between Azure Virtual Networks and on-premises networks over an IPsec/IKE VPN tunnel. It supports both policy-based and route-based VPNs, integrates with Azure ExpressRoute for hybrid networking, and provides Active-Active mode for high availability. VPN Gateway also supports BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) for dynamic routing and can be used for secure remote access by individual users connecting to Azure resources.