Last updated: October 26, 2023
A virtual network (VNet) is a logical representation of your physical network. It allows you to provision and manage your network resources in a private cloud environment. Virtual networks are fundamental to cloud computing, enabling isolation, security, and connectivity for your applications and services.
A virtual network provides a foundation for building secure and robust cloud-based solutions. It enables you to:
Understanding the core components is crucial for designing and managing effective virtual networks:
A subnet is a range of IP addresses within your virtual network. You divide your VNet into subnets to logically group resources that share similar security and routing requirements. Each subnet is associated with an address range that is a subset of the VNet's address space.
10.0.0.0/16 (VNet)
├── 10.0.1.0/24 (Frontend Subnet)
├── 10.0.2.0/24 (Backend Subnet)
└── 10.0.3.0/24 (DMZ Subnet)Virtual networks use private IP address spaces (RFC 1918). You can assign public IP addresses to resources that need to be accessible from the internet. Dynamic and static IP address assignments are available.
NSGs are firewall-as-a-service capabilities that allow you to filter network traffic to and from Azure resources in an Azure virtual network. You can define rules to allow or deny inbound and outbound traffic based on source/destination IP address, port, and protocol.
By default, Azure virtual networks route traffic between subnets. You can customize routing using route tables to control how traffic flows within your VNet or to external destinations.
Virtual network gateways provide connectivity between your Azure virtual network and other networks, such as your on-premises data center or other Azure virtual networks.
When designing your virtual network, consider factors like IP address allocation, subnetting strategy, security requirements, and connectivity needs. Proper planning upfront can save significant time and effort later.