Azure Private Link Use Cases
Azure Private Link enables you to access Azure PaaS services (like Azure Storage and SQL Database) and Azure hosted customer-owned/partner services or Microsoft services 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.
This section explores common scenarios and benefits of using Azure Private Link.
Key Benefits of Azure Private Link
- Enhanced Security: Data remains within the Azure backbone network, significantly reducing attack surface.
- Simplified Network Architecture: Eliminates the need for complex VNet peering, VPNs, or ExpressRoute for accessing PaaS services privately.
- Consistent Networking Experience: Provides a uniform way to access various Azure services and even your own services.
- Compliance: Helps meet strict data residency and security compliance requirements.
Common Use Cases for Azure Private Link
Secure Access to Azure PaaS Services
Connect securely to Azure services like Azure SQL Database, Azure Storage (Blob, Files, Queues, Tables), Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure Key Vault directly from your virtual network without exposing them to public endpoints. This is crucial for sensitive data storage and application backends.
On-Premises Connectivity to Azure Services
Leverage Azure Private Link in conjunction with Azure ExpressRoute or VPN Gateway to securely access Azure PaaS services from your on-premises network. Your traffic takes a private path from your on-premises network through ExpressRoute/VPN to the Azure backbone and then to the service.
Accessing Customer-Owned/Partner Services
If you offer services hosted on Azure (e.g., SaaS applications), you can use Azure Private Link Service to expose them privately to your customers. Customers can then establish a private connection from their virtual network to your service, ensuring data privacy and security.
Inter-VNet Communication via Private Link Service
While VNet peering is common, Private Link Service can be used as an alternative for specific scenarios, especially when you want to abstract the network details from the consumer and provide a managed private access layer to a service hosted in one VNet from another VNet.
Hybrid Cloud Scenarios
Facilitate secure communication between your on-premises data centers and cloud resources. By using Private Link for Azure services, you can build a hybrid architecture where sensitive data remains on your private network or travels over secure private connections to Azure.
Regulatory Compliance and Data Sovereignty
For organizations operating under strict regulatory frameworks (like GDPR, HIPAA), Private Link ensures that data does not traverse the public internet, helping to meet data residency and privacy requirements by keeping traffic within the Microsoft network.
Technical Considerations
When implementing Private Link, consider the following:
- DNS Resolution: Ensure correct DNS configuration for private endpoints so that your applications can resolve the service FQDN to the private IP address.
- Network Security Groups (NSGs): NSGs can be applied to the subnet where the private endpoint resides, allowing fine-grained control over inbound traffic.
- Private Link Service and Consumer: For customer-owned services, careful planning is needed for the Private Link Service resource and the consumer's Private Endpoint.
- Service Endpoints vs. Private Endpoints: Understand the differences. Service Endpoints provide private connectivity to Azure services but keep the service endpoint in the public Azure IP space. Private Endpoints use private IP addresses from your VNet.