Azure Private Link

Azure Private Link provides the ability to access Azure Platform as a Service (PaaS) and customer-owned/partner services, hosted on Azure, over a private endpoint in your virtual network. Traffic between your virtual network and the service travels the Microsoft backbone network, eliminating exposure to the public internet.

What is Azure Private Link?

Azure Private Link simplifies network connectivity for Azure services. It uses private endpoints, which are network interfaces that bring Azure services into your virtual network. Private Link provides:

• Secure Connectivity: Access Azure services securely without exposing them to the public internet.
• Simplified Architecture: Reduce the need for complex network configurations like VPNs or ExpressRoute for service access.
• High Availability: Leverage Azure's robust backbone for reliable service access.
• Granular Control: Manage access to services at a granular level within your network.

Key Components

Azure Private Link involves a few core components:

• Private Endpoint: A network interface that connects privately and securely to a service. It's deployed within your virtual network.
  

  Note: A private endpoint gets a private IP address from your virtual network's address space.

• Private Link Service: A service that you expose to consumers via Azure Private Link. This is typically used for services hosted in your own subscription.
• Azure Private Link Center: A centralized hub for managing private endpoints and private link services.

How it Works

When you create a private endpoint for a supported Azure service (like Azure Storage, Azure SQL Database, or Azure Key Vault), Azure assigns a private IP address to that endpoint within your virtual network. When applications within your virtual network connect to the service using its private endpoint, the traffic is routed directly over the Microsoft backbone network to the service's private endpoint.

Benefits

• Enhanced Security: Protects sensitive data by keeping traffic within the Azure network.
• Simplified Network Management: Eliminates the need to manage public IP addresses or complex firewall rules for service access.
• Consistent Connectivity: Provides a consistent way to access both Azure PaaS and customer-hosted services privately.
• Compliance: Helps meet regulatory and compliance requirements by restricting data exposure.

Use Cases

• Connecting to Azure SQL Database privately.
• Accessing Azure Storage accounts securely.
• Enabling private connectivity to Azure Key Vault for secrets management.
• Providing private access to custom applications hosted on Azure.
• Securing communication between services in different VNets.

Learn More

For detailed setup instructions, configuration options, and advanced scenarios, please refer to the official Azure documentation:

• Azure Private Link Overview
• Create a Private Endpoint