Azure ExpressRoute Overview

Azure ExpressRoute allows you to create private connections between Azure datacenters and your infrastructure, which are either in a co-location facility or on-premises. ExpressRoute connections do not go over the public Internet. This offers higher security, reliability, and speeds, with lower latencies and greater consistency than typical Internet connections.

Key Benefits of ExpressRoute:

Reliability: ExpressRoute provides redundant network paths and high availability, ensuring your connectivity is always operational.
Speed: Choose from a range of bandwidths, from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps, to meet your specific performance needs.
Security: Your traffic travels over a private connection, bypassing the public internet and enhancing your security posture.
Consistency: Experience predictable network performance with lower latency and reduced packet loss.
Cost-Effectiveness: Potentially reduce your data egress costs from Azure by routing traffic over ExpressRoute.

How ExpressRoute Works:

ExpressRoute works by connecting your network to an ExpressRoute partner, who then facilitates the connection to the Azure backbone network. You can choose from several connectivity models:

Cloud Exchange Co-location: Connect to Azure through a cloud exchange provider at a co-location facility.
Provider-based: Connect to Azure through a network service provider’s Ethernet VPN.
Any-to-Any (IPVPN) Networks: Connect to Azure through an existing IPVPN network from a supported WAN partner.

Once connected, you can peer your private, Microsoft, and public address spaces with Azure. This allows for direct access to Azure services, as well as Microsoft 365 services.

Use Cases:

ExpressRoute is ideal for scenarios such as:

Migrating and running workloads in Azure that require high performance and low latency.
Hybrid cloud scenarios where seamless connectivity between on-premises and cloud resources is critical.
Data warehousing and large-scale data transfers.
Disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

Key Components:

Circuit: A logical connection between your network and Azure, provisioned with a specific bandwidth.
Peering: The process of establishing connectivity between your network and Azure, including Private Peering (for Azure IaaS and PaaS), Microsoft Peering (for Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365), and Public Peering (for legacy scenarios).
Virtual Network Gateway: A resource in Azure that you use to send encrypted traffic between your Azure virtual network and your on-premises network.

Example Configuration Snippet (Conceptual):

                    
                        # This is a conceptual representation and not executable code.
                        # Configuration details vary based on peering type and provider.

                        # In Azure Portal (or via CLI/PowerShell):
                        # 1. Create an ExpressRoute circuit.
                        # 2. Create a Virtual Network Gateway of type ExpressRoute.
                        # 3. Link the ExpressRoute circuit to the Virtual Network Gateway.
                        # 4. Configure routing and peering with your chosen partner.
                    
                

Next Steps:

To learn more about implementing ExpressRoute, explore the following resources: