Private Link Overview

Microsoft Azure Private Link provides the ultimate networking capability by enabling you to access Azure Platform as a Service (PaaS) and customer-owned/partner services hosted in Azure over a private endpoint from your Azure Virtual Network (VNet).

Traffic between your VNet and the service travels the Microsoft backbone network, eliminating exposure to the public internet. This offers enhanced security, compliance, and a simplified network architecture.

Key Concepts

Private Endpoint: A network interface that uses a private IP address from your virtual network, effectively bringing the service into your virtual network.
Service Provider: The Azure PaaS service (e.g., Azure SQL Database, Azure Storage) or a customer/partner-hosted service that you want to access privately.
Private Link Service: A resource that represents your own service (e.g., a custom application running on Azure VMs) that you want to expose to other Azure consumers securely over Private Link.

Benefits of Using Private Link

Enhanced Security: Traffic does not traverse the public internet, significantly reducing the attack surface.
Simplified Network Architecture: Eliminates the need for complex network setups like VPNs or ExpressRoute for accessing Azure services privately.
Compliance: Helps meet strict compliance requirements by keeping sensitive data within your private network boundaries.
Consistent Networking: Provides a unified approach to accessing various Azure services and your own hosted services privately.

Important Note: When using Private Link to access Azure services, ensure your DNS resolution is configured correctly to point to the private IP address of the private endpoint.

Use Cases

Securely accessing Azure SQL Database or Azure Cosmos DB from an application within your VNet.
Connecting to Azure Storage Accounts without exposing them to the public internet.
Enabling secure access to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) private clusters.
Exposing your own custom applications hosted in Azure to other Azure consumers privately.

How it Works

Azure Private Link utilizes private endpoints that are deployed in your VNet. These endpoints get a private IP address from your VNet's address space. When you send traffic to the service, it is routed through this private endpoint to the Microsoft backbone network and then to the target service.

The service provider exposes its endpoint to the Private Link service, allowing it to be discoverable and connectable via private endpoints.

Getting Started

To get started with Azure Private Link:

Navigate to the Azure portal.
Search for "Private Link".
Create a private endpoint and associate it with the desired Azure service.
Configure your application's connection strings or endpoints to use the private IP address assigned to the private endpoint.

For more detailed guidance and configuration steps, please refer to the official Azure Private Link documentation.