Essential Azure Networking Services: A Guide to 12 Core Services You Must Understand

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Networking is a crucial element of any cloud infrastructure, as IT teams need to establish connections between resources and optimize application performance. Microsoft Azure offers a range of networking services to help manage resources in the cloud, monitor network traffic, perform load balancing, and ensure secure connections for users.

Choosing the right networking services for a cloud deployment project can be challenging. Here are 12 essential Azure networking services, along with pricing information based on Azure US Central region pricing:

1. Azure Application Gateway: Provides application layer load balancing, URL-based content routing, and multisite hosting. It offers diagnostic tools, monitoring features, and a web application firewall for protection against web-based attacks. Pricing starts at $0.246 per gateway hour.

2. Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN): Delivers high-bandwidth content through caches located in edge locations worldwide. Pricing starts at $0.081 per GB up to the first 10 TB per month.

3. Azure Domain Name System (DNS): Hosts domains on a global network of Azure DNS name servers and supports Internet-connected DNS domains and private DNS zones. Pricing starts at $0.5 per zone per month for the first 25 zones.

4. Azure ExpressRoute: Private networking service that connects on-premises infrastructure to the Microsoft public cloud through a third-party connectivity provider. Pricing starts at $55 per month for 50 Mbps of circuit bandwidth.

5. Azure Front Door: Application delivery CDN focused on security and global load balancing. Pricing starts at $35 per month for the standard plan.

6. Azure Load Balancer: Layer 4 load balancer for high availability. Pricing starts at $0.025 per hour for the first five rules.

7. Azure Network Watcher: Monitors deployed Azure network services and provides tools for tracking resources, diagnosing problems, viewing metrics, and analyzing logs.

8. Azure Private Link: Provides private endpoints in the enterprise virtual network for accessing Azure PaaS offerings and customer-owned services. Charges $0.01 per hour for a private endpoint.

9. Azure Traffic Manager: Distributes user traffic for Azure virtual machines, cloud services, and web applications. Pricing starts at $0.54 per million queries.

10. Azure Virtual Network (VNet): Isolated network within the Azure cloud for securely connecting cloud resources. Pricing for VNet peering starts at $0.01 per GB.

11. Azure Virtual WAN: Integrates networking, security, and routing functions into a single interface. Pricing for the standard Virtual WAN Hub starts at $0.25 per deployment hour.

12. Azure VPN Gateway: Network gateway service for encrypted traffic across different networks or virtual sites. Pricing starts at $0.04 per hour for the basic version.

In conclusion, Azure offers a comprehensive suite of networking services to help IT teams establish secure and efficient connections in the cloud. These services cater to various needs, from load balancing and content delivery to domain name system hosting and private connectivity options. By choosing the right combination of Azure networking services, organizations can ensure optimal performance and security for their cloud deployment projects.

Article Source
https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/feature/Words-to-go-Microsoft-Azure-networking-services