Recipe
I was required to write an email to a colleague explaining what Hybrid Architecture is about and various options to implement the same in Microsoft Azure. I didn’t want this compiled information to be buried in an email so thought of publishing that as a blog.
Some of you might be already aware of this though! 🙂
My colleague’s client has an Oracle DB Server sitting on-prem behind the organization’s firewall and his client wants to use that as a data source in the Azure deployments, without migrating the database to Azure.
Ingredients
I suggested to him that, if you are looking to connect Azure deployments to on-prem resources there are two well-documented and neat approaches that Microsoft recommends.
Using VPN Gateway
VPN gateway is a virtual network gateway that sends encrypted traffic between the Azure virtual network and an on-premises location. Traffic goes over the public Internet though.
Pros
- Cheaper compared to the Express Route
- Simpler to configure
Cons
- Slower compared the Express Routes
- Requires an on-premises VPN device
- 99.9% SLA covers only the VPN gateway and not the network connection to the gateway.
Using Express Route
ExpressRoute connections use a private, dedicated connection that uses a third-party connectivity provider. The private connection extends the on-premises network to Azure.
It is perfect for applications running mission-critical workloads that have particularly high bandwidth requirements.
Pros
- Fast
- Higher bandwidth available; up to 10 Gbps
- Supports dynamic scaling of bandwidth to help reduce costs
- 99.9% availability SLA across the entire connection
Cons
- Expensive
- Complex to set up and configure. Creating an ExpressRoute connection requires working with a third-party connectivity provider
- Needs high-bandwidth routers available on-premises
Let’s Cook!
Pick your poison to implement the Hybrid Architecture – where some of the resources are deployed in Azure, while some of them are required to be deployed to the on-prem datacentre.
Shiny Objects 