One-Pager · 17 Services

Azure Networking at a Glance

Every Azure networking service on one page — connectivity, load balancing, security, and DNS. A quick reference for architects building network architectures.

Connectivity

Virtual Network
Foundation of Azure networking. Isolated address space, subnets, NSGs, route tables. Every workload starts here.
FoundationFreeRFC 1918
VPN Gateway
Encrypted tunnels over public internet. Site-to-site, point-to-site, and VNet-to-VNet. Up to 10 Gbps with VpnGw5.
HybridS2S / P2SIPsec/IKE
ExpressRoute
Private dedicated connection to Azure. Bypasses public internet. 50 Mbps to 100 Gbps. Requires connectivity provider.
Enterprise hybridLow latencyPrivate peering
Virtual WAN
Hub-and-spoke at global scale. Unified connectivity for VPN, ExpressRoute, and branch offices. Microsoft-managed routing.
Global WANBranch officesManaged hubs

Load Balancing & Delivery

Load Balancer
Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) load balancing. Ultra-low latency, millions of flows. Internal and public SKUs.
L4 trafficHA portsRegional
Application Gateway
Layer 7 load balancer with WAF. URL-based routing, SSL termination, session affinity, autoscaling.
Web appsWAF v2Regional
Front Door
Global Layer 7 load balancer + CDN + WAF. Anycast routing, SSL offload, caching, URL rewrite.
Global appsCDN + WAFEdge PoPs
Traffic Manager
DNS-based global traffic routing. Priority, weighted, geographic, performance, and subnet methods.
DNS failoverMulti-regionDNS-level

Network Security

Azure Firewall
Managed stateful firewall. FQDN filtering, threat intelligence, network/application rules. Standard and Premium SKUs.
Centralized FWFQDN filteringManaged
DDoS Protection
Volumetric attack mitigation at the Azure edge. Always-on detection, adaptive tuning, cost protection guarantee.
DDoS mitigationAlways-onCost protect
Private Link
Access Azure PaaS services over a private endpoint in your VNet. Traffic stays on Microsoft backbone, no public exposure.
Private PaaSZero trustNo public IP
Bastion
Fully managed jump host. RDP/SSH to VMs without public IPs. Browser-based, no client needed, audit logging.
Secure accessNo public IPBrowser RDP

DNS & Monitoring

Azure DNS
Host DNS zones on Azure infrastructure. Public and private zones, alias records, DNSSEC support.
DNS hosting100% SLAAlias records
Private DNS Zones
Name resolution inside VNets without custom DNS servers. Auto-registration for VMs, cross-VNet linking.
Internal DNSAuto-registerVNet-linked
Network Watcher
Monitor, diagnose, and gain insights into your network. NSG flow logs, packet capture, connection troubleshoot.
DiagnosticsFlow logsTopology
NAT Gateway
Managed outbound internet connectivity for VNets. Static public IPs, SNAT port exhaustion prevention.
Outbound NATStatic IPNo SNAT issues

Quick Comparison — Load Balancing

ServiceLayerScopeWAFBest For
Load BalancerL4Regional—TCP/UDP, HA ports, internal traffic
Application GatewayL7Regional✓ v2Web apps, URL routing, SSL offload
Front DoorL7Global✓Global apps, CDN, multi-region failover
Traffic ManagerDNSGlobal—DNS-based failover, geo-routing