Table of Contents
This functionality ensures that the traffic between your services and the service it accesses does not go over the public internet, thereby improving security by reducing exposure to threats.
Azure Private Link provides a secure connection to Microsoft services like Azure Storage and Azure SQL Database, as well as to customer or partner services. It creates private endpoints in your virtual network, effectively bringing the service into your VNet. Private endpoints use a private IP address from your VNet, ensuring that data transit is confined to the network, which significantly enhances security.
To set up Private Link, you must create a private endpoint. Here’s an example of setting up a private endpoint to an Azure SQL Database:
Once the endpoint is created, it will provision a private IP in your virtual network for accessing the service.
Feature | Azure Private Link | Azure Service Endpoints | VPNs/Gateway |
---|---|---|---|
Traffic Originates From VNet | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Traffic over Azure Backbone | Yes | No (Local Azure Region) | No |
Expose PaaS on Public Internet | No | No | No |
Private DNS Integration | Yes | Yes | N/A |
Cross-Tenant Access | Supported (via cross-tenant links) | Not supported | Supported |
Azure Private Link differs from service endpoints in that it allows cross-tenant access and all traffic is routed over the Azure backbone network. With VPNs, the traffic does not stay within the Azure network and it’s not as streamlined nor isolated as with Private Link.
By adopting Azure Private Link, you effectively mitigate the risk of exposed data while ensuring a more reliable and predictable networking experience. Private Link can be an essential tool in building a comprehensive security posture within the Azure ecosystem, as advocated in AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies exam topics. Whether you manage critical applications or deal with highly sensitive data, the enhanced security that comes along with Azure Private Link makes it a worthy investment in your cloud infrastructure.
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Azure Private Link allows you to access Azure PaaS services and your own Service over a private endpoint in your virtual network, ensuring that data is transferred over the Microsoft backbone network, isolating it from the public internet.
Answer: A) Securely connecting to PaaS services from on-premises networks, C) Accessing PaaS services privately from a virtual network, D) Exposing your service to other Azure customers
Explanation: Azure Private Link is designed for secure and private access to Azure services. It is not used for distributing content via CDNs, which is a separate use case.
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Azure Private Link ensures that traffic between your virtual network and the service traverses the Microsoft backbone network, never touching the public internet.
Answer: D) All of the above
Explanation: Azure Private Link supports various Azure services including Azure Storage, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure SQL Database, and more.
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Azure Private Link offers an SLA-backed service, which provides a fully managed, private connection to Azure services, ensuring reliable connectivity and performance.
Answer: C) Private Endpoint
Explanation: Private Endpoints are a core component of Azure Private Link. They provide a secure connection to Azure services over a private IP within the customer’s VNet.
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Azure Private Link can be used to access Azure PaaS services and your own services hosted on Azure via private endpoints.
Answer: B) False
Explanation: While Azure Private Link provides a secure way to connect to PaaS services, it’s not the only method. Other options include VPNs, ExpressRoute, and Network Security Groups (NSGs).
Answer: C) Private IP address
Explanation: A private endpoint uses a private IP address from the VNet to enable private access to Azure PaaS services, effectively bringing the service into the customer’s VNet.
Answer: B) False
Explanation: You can monitor the data flowing through a private endpoint using Azure Monitor and other diagnostic settings, providing insight into the traffic.
Answer: A) A private DNS zone is automatically created for you.
Explanation: When you create a private endpoint, a private DNS zone is automatically created and linked to your virtual network to facilitate the name resolution to the private IP address.
Answer: A) True
Explanation: Azure Private Link provides secure and private access to Azure Data Lake Storage, and it is global in nature, allowing access from any Azure region.
Azure Private Link is a network-level private connectivity that allows you to securely access Azure services over a private endpoint in your virtual network.
Azure Private Link maps the private IP address of a private endpoint to the public IP address of the Azure service. This allows traffic to be sent to the private endpoint over the Azure backbone network, rather than over the internet.
Some benefits of using Azure Private Link include increased security by eliminating public internet exposure, reduced data exfiltration risks, and improved performance by reducing latency and improving network availability.
Azure Private Link is supported by many Azure services, including Azure Storage, Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Key Vault, and many more.
A private endpoint is a network interface that connects your virtual network to an Azure service over a private IP address.
You can create a private endpoint for an Azure service by configuring it in the Azure portal or by using Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI.
A private link service is a service that can be connected to via a private endpoint.
You can create a private link service by creating a resource in the Azure portal and configuring it to support private endpoints.
Private Link Center is a centralized location in the Azure portal where you can manage your private link resources, including private endpoints and private link services.
You can enable Private Link for an existing service by creating a private endpoint and configuring the service to support private endpoints.
If this material is helpful, please leave a comment and support us to continue.