Lab 06 - Implement Traffic Management

Lab introduction

In this lab, you learn how to configure and test a public Load Balancer and an Application Gateway.

This lab requires an Azure subscription. Your subscription type may affect the availability of features in this lab. You may change the region, but the steps are written using East US.

Estimated timing: 50 minutes

Lab scenario

Your organization has a public website. You need to load balance incoming public requests across different virtual machines. You also need to provide images and videos from different virtual machines. You plan on implementing an Azure Load Balancer and an Azure Application Gateway. All resources are in the same region.

Interactive lab simulations

There are interactive lab simulations that you might find useful for this topic. The simulation lets you to click through a similar scenario at your own pace. There are differences between the interactive simulation and this lab, but many of the core concepts are the same. An Azure subscription is not required.

• Create and configure and Azure load balancer. Create a virtual network, backend servers, load balancer, and then test the load balancer.
• Deploy Azure Application Gateway. Create an application gateway, create virtual machines, create the backend pool, and test the gateway.
• Implement traffic management. Implement complete hub and spoke network including virtual machines, virtual networks, peering, load balancer, and application gateway.

Job skills

• Task 1: Use a template to provision an infrastructure.
• Task 2: Configure an Azure Load Balancer.
• Task 3: Configure an Azure Application Gateway.

Task 1: Use a template to provision an infrastructure

In this task, you will use a template to deploy one virtual network, one network security group, and two virtual machines.

1. Download the \Allfiles\Lab06 lab files (template and parameters).

2. Sign in to the Azure portal - https://portal.azure.com.

3. Search for and select Deploy a custom template.

4. On the custom deployment page, select Build your own template in the editor.

5. On the edit template page, select Load file.

6. Locate and select the \Allfiles\Lab06\az104-06-vms-template.json file and select Open.

7. Select Save.

8. Select Edit parameters and load the \Allfiles\Lab06\az104-06-vms-parameters.json file.

9. Select Save.

10. Use the following information to complete the fields on the custom deployment page, leaving all other fields with the default value.

    Setting	Value
    Subscription	your Azure subscription
    Resource group	az104-rg6 (If necessary, select Create new)
    Password	Provide a secure password

    Note: If you receive an error that the VM size is unavailable, select a SKU that is available in your subscription and has at least 2 cores.

11. Select Review + Create and then select Create.

    Note: Wait for the deployment to complete before moving to the next task. The deployment should take approximately 5 minutes.

    Note: Review the resources being deployed. There will be one virtual network with three subnets. Each subnet will have a virtual machine.

Task 2: Configure an Azure Load Balancer

In this task, you implement an Azure Load Balancer in front of the two Azure virtual machines in the virtual network. Load Balancers in Azure provide layer 4 connectivity across resources, such as virtual machines. Load Balancer configuration includes a front-end IP address to accept connections, a backend pool, and rules that define how connections should traverse the load balancer.

Architecture diagram - Load Balancer

Note: Notice the Load Balancer is distributing across two virtual machines in the same virtual network.

1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Load balancers and, on the Load balancers blade, click + Create.

2. Create a load balancer with the following settings (leave others with their default values) then click Next: Frontend IP configuration:

   Setting	Value
   Subscription	your Azure subscription
   Resource group	az104-rg6
   Name	az104-lb
   Region	The same region that you deployed the VMs
   SKU	Standard
   Type	Public
   Tier	Regional

   

3. On the Frontend IP configuration tab, click Add a frontend IP configuration and use the following settings:

   Setting	Value
   Name	az104-fe
   IP type	IP address
   Gateway Load Balancer	None
   Public IP address	Select Create new (use the instructions in the next step)

4. On the Add a public IP address popup, use the following settings before clicking OK and then Add. When completed click Next: Backend pools.

   Setting	Value
   Name	az104-lbpip
   SKU	Standard
   Tier	Regional
   Assignment	Static
   Routing Preference	Microsoft network

   Note: The Standard SKU provides a static IP address. Static IP addresses are assigned with the resource is created and released when the resource is deleted.

5. On the Backend pools tab, click Add a backend pool with the following settings (leave others with their default values). Click + Add (twice) and then click Next: Inbound rules.

   Setting	Value
   Name	az104-be
   Virtual network	az104-06-vnet1
   Backend Pool Configuration	NIC
   Click Add to add a virtual machine
   az104-06-vm0	check the box
   az104-06-vm1	check the box

6. As you have time, review the other tabs, then click Review + create. Ensure there are no validation errors, then click Create.

7. Wait for the load balancer to deploy then click Go to resource.

Add a rule to determine how incoming traffic is distributed

1. In the Settings blade, select Load balancing rules.

2. Select + Add. Add a load balancing rule with the following settings (leave others with their default values). As you configure the rule use the informational icons to learn about each setting. When finished click Save.

   Setting	Value
   Name	az104-lbrule
   IP Version	IPv4
   Frontend IP Address	az104-fe
   Backend pool	az104-be
   Protocol	TCP
   Port	80
   Backend port	80
   Health probe	Create new
   Name	az104-hp
   Protocol	TCP
   Port	80
   Interval	5
   Close the create health probe window	Save
   Session persistence	None
   Idle timeout (minutes)	4
   TCP reset	Disabled
   Floating IP	Disabled
   Outbound source network address translation (SNAT)	Recommended

3. Select Frontend IP configuration from the Load Balancer page. Copy the public IP address.

4. Open another browser tab and navigate to the IP address. Verify that the browser window displays the message Hello World from az104-06-vm0 or Hello World from az104-06-vm1.

5. Refresh the window to verify the message changes to the other virtual machine. This demonstrates the load balancer rotating through the virtual machines.

   Note: You may need to refresh more than once or open a new browser window in InPrivate mode.

Task 3: Configure an Azure Application Gateway

In this task, you implement an Azure Application Gateway in front of two Azure virtual machines. An Application Gateway provides layer 7 load balancing, Web Application Firewall (WAF), SSL termination, and end-to-end encryption to the resources defined in the backend pool. The Application Gateway routes images to one virtual machine and videos to the other virtual machine.

Architecture diagram - Application Gateway

Note: This Application Gateway is working in the same virtual network as the Load Balancer. This may not be typical in a production environment.

1. In the Azure portal, search and select Virtual networks.

2. On the Virtual networks blade, in the list of virtual networks, click az104-06-vnet1.

3. On the az104-06-vnet1 virtual network blade, in the Settings section, click Subnets, and then click + Subnet.

4. Add a subnet with the following settings (leave others with their default values).

   Setting	Value
   Name	subnet-appgw
   Starting address	10.60.3.224
   Size	/27

5. Click Save

   Note: This subnet will be used by the Azure Application Gateway. The Application Gateway requires a dedicated subnet of /27 or larger size.

6. In the Azure portal, search and select Application gateways and, on the Application Gateways blade, click + Create.

7. On the Basics tab, specify the following settings (leave others with their default values):

   Setting	Value
   Subscription	your Azure subscription
   Resource group	az104-rg6
   Application gateway name	az104-appgw
   Region	The same Azure region that you used in Task 1
   Tier	Standard V2
   Enable autoscaling	No
   Minimum instance count	2
   Availability zone	1 (default)
   HTTP2	Disabled
   Virtual network	az104-06-vnet1
   Subnet	subnet-appgw (10.60.3.224/27)

8. Click Next: Frontends > and specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When complete, click OK.

   Setting	Value
   Frontend IP address type	Public
   Public IP address	Add new
   Name	az104-gwpip
   Availability zone	1

   Note: The Application Gateway can have both a public and private IP address.

9. Click Next : Backends > and then Add a backend pool. Specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When completed click Add.

   Setting	Value
   Name	az104-appgwbe
   Add backend pool without targets	No
   Virtual machine	az104-06-nic1 (10.60.1.4)
   Virtual machine	az104-06-nic2 (10.60.2.4)

10. Click Add a backend pool. This is the backend pool for images. Specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When completed click Add.

    Setting	Value
    Name	az104-imagebe
    Add backend pool without targets	No
    Virtual machine	az104-06-nic1 (10.60.1.4)

11. Click Add a backend pool. This is the backend pool for video. Specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When completed click Add.

    Setting	Value
    Name	az104-videobe
    Add backend pool without targets	No
    Virtual machine	az104-06-nic2 (10.60.2.4)

12. Select Next : Configuration > and then Add a routing rule. Complete the information.

    Setting	Value
    Rule name	az104-gwrule
    Priority	10
    Listener name	az104-listener
    Frontend IP	Public IPv4
    Protocol	HTTP
    Port	80
    Listener type	Basic

13. Move to the Backend targets tab. Select Add after completing the basic information.

    Setting	Value
    Backend target	az104-appgwbe
    Backend settings	az104-http (create new)

    Note: Take a minute to read the information about Cookie-based affinity and Connection draining.

14. In the Path-based routing section, select Add multiple targets to create a path-based rule. You will create two rules. Click Add after the first rule and then Add after the second rule.

    Rule - routing to the images backend

    Setting	Value
    Path	/image/*
    Target name	images
    Backend settings	az104-http
    Backend target	az104-imagebe

    Rule - routing to the videos backend

    Setting	Value
    Path	/video/*
    Target name	videos
    Backend settings	az104-http
    Backend target	az104-videobe

15. Be sure to Save and check your changes, then select Next : Tags >. No changes are needed.

16. Select Next : Review + create > and then click Create.

    Note: Wait for the Application Gateway instance to be created. This will take approximately 5-10 minutes. While you wait consider reviewing some of the self-paced training links at the end of this page.

17. After the application gateway deploys, search for and select az104-appgw.

18. In the Application Gateway resource, in the Monitoring section, select Backend health.

19. Ensure both servers in the backend pool display Healthy.

20. On the Overview blade, copy the value of the Frontend public IP address.

21. Start another browser window and test this URL - http://<frontend ip address>/image/.

22. Verify you are directed to the image server (vm1).

23. Start another browser window and test this URL - http://<frontend ip address>/video/.

24. Verify you are directed to the video server (vm2).

Note: You may need to refresh more than once or open a new browser window in InPrivate mode.

Cleanup your resources

If you are working with your own subscription take a minute to delete the lab resources. This will ensure resources are freed up and cost is minimized. The easiest way to delete the lab resources is to delete the lab resource group.

• In the Azure portal, select the resource group, select Delete the resource group, Enter resource group name, and then click Delete.
• Using Azure PowerShell, Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name resourceGroupName.
• Using the CLI, az group delete --name resourceGroupName.

Extend your learning with Copilot

Copilot can assist you in learning how to use the Azure scripting tools. Copilot can also assist in areas not covered in the lab or where you need more information. Open an Edge browser and choose Copilot (top right) or navigate to copilot.microsoft.com. Take a few minutes to try these prompts.

• Compare and contrast the Azure Load Balancer with the Azure Application Gateway. Help me decide in which scenarios I should use each product.
• What tools are available to troubleshoot connections to an Azure Load Balancer?
• What are the basic steps for configuring the Azure Application Gateway? Provide a high-level checklist.
• Create a table highlighting three Azure load balancing solutions. For each solution show supported protocols, routing policies, session affinity, and TLS offloading.

Learn more with self-paced training

• Improve application scalability and resiliency by using Azure Load Balancer. Discuss the different load balancers in Azure and how to choose the right Azure load balancer solution to meet your requirements.
• Load balance your web service traffic with Application Gateway. Improve application resilience by distributing load across multiple servers and use path-based routing to direct web traffic.

Key takeaways

Congratulations on completing the lab. Here are the key points for this lab.

• Azure Load Balancer is an excellent choice for distributing network traffic across multiple virtual machines at the transport layer (OSI layer 4 - TCP and UDP).
• Public Load Balancers are used to load balance internet traffic to your VMs. An internal (or private) load balancer is used where private IPs are needed at the frontend only.
• The Basic load balancer is for small-scale applications that don’t need high availability or redundancy. The Standard load balancer is for high performance and ultra-low latency.
• Azure Application Gateway is a web traffic (OSI layer 7) load balancer that enables you to manage traffic to your web applications.
• The Application Gateway Standard tier offers all the L7 functionality, including load balancing, The WAF tier adds a firewall to check for malicious traffic.
• An Application Gateway can make routing decisions based on additional attributes of an HTTP request, for example URI path or host headers.