Table of contents
1.
INTRODUCTION
2.
Monitoring
2.1.
Keep track of the correspondence between a virtual machine and an endpoint.
2.2.
View resources in a virtual network and their relationships
3.
Diagnostics
3.1.
Identify issues with network traffic filtering to or from a VM.
3.2.
Diagnose network routing problems from a VM
3.3.
Diagnose outbound connections from a VM
3.4.
Capture packets to and from a VM
3.5.
Identify issues with connections and an Azure virtual network gateway.
3.6.
Identify the corresponding latencies between Azure regions and ISPs
3.7.
View security rules for a network interface
3.8.
Metrics
4.
Network Monitoring Logs
4.1.
Traffic analytics
4.2.
View diagnostic logs for network resources
4.3.
Network Watcher automatic enablement
5.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.
What is an Azure network watcher?
5.2.
What is network Watcher RG in Azure?
5.3.
How do I open Azure network watcher?
5.4.
What is the network watcher Resource Group in Azure?
5.5.
Is network watcher enabled by default?
6.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Azure Network Watcher

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INTRODUCTION

For resources on an Azure virtual network, Azure Network Watcher offers tools for monitoring, diagnosing, viewing metrics, and enabling or disabling logging. The IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) product class, which comprises virtual machines, virtual networks, application gateways, load balancers, etc., is developed with Network Watcher to monitor and maintain the network health.

Monitoring

Keep track of the correspondence between a virtual machine and an endpoint.

A fully qualified domain name (FQDN), a unified resource identifier (URI), a second virtual machine (VM), or an IPv4 address can all be endpoints. The connection monitor feature keeps track of communication regularly and alerts you to changes in network topology, reachability, and latency between the VM and the endpoint. For instance, you may have a virtual machine web server that talks to a database server virtual machine. Unknown to you, someone inside your company could install a custom route or network security rule to the virtual machine (VM) or subnet hosting the web server or database server.

Connection Troubleshoot notifies you of the cause of an endpoint becoming unreachable. Possible causes include a DNS name resolution issue, a VM's operating system's CPU, RAM, or firewall, a security rule for the VM or subnet of the outgoing connection, or the hop type of a custom route. Learn more about Azure's route hop kinds and security standards.

The lowest, average, and maximum latency recorded over time is also provided via a connection monitor. You could discover that by shifting your Azure resources to various Azure regions, you can reduce the latency for a connection after learning about its latency. Learn more about comparing latencies between Azure regions and ISPs and how to use a connection monitor to track the communication between a VM and an endpoint. Use the connection troubleshoot feature if you'd want to test a contact at a particular moment rather than continuously monitor it as you can with a connection monitor.

You may track network performance between various locations in your network architecture with the aid of Network Performance Monitor, a cloud-based hybrid network monitoring tool. Additionally, it aids in monitoring Azure ExpressRoute performance and a network connection to service and application endpoints. Network performance monitor finds network problems that traditional network monitoring techniques miss, such as routing faults and traffic blackholing. When a network link threshold is exceeded, the solution creates warnings and tells you. Additionally, it guarantees prompt identification of network performance issues and pinpoints the issue's origin to a specific network segment or device.

View resources in a virtual network and their relationships

Understanding what resources are in a virtual network and how they relate to one another can be challenging when more resources are added to the network. Using the topology capabilities, you may create a visual diagram of the resources in a virtual network and their connections. A topology diagram for a virtual network with three subnets and two virtual machines, the graphic below displays network interfaces, public IP addresses, network security groups, route tables, and connections between the resources:

source

Diagnostics

Identify issues with network traffic filtering to or from a VM.

When you launch a VM, Azure automatically applies several security rules that permit or disallow traffic to or from the VM. Azure's default rules can be overridden, or you can add new ones. A security rule may sometimes prevent a VM from interacting with other resources. You may define a source and destination IPv4 address, port, protocol (TCP or UDP), and traffic direction using the IP flow check feature (inbound or outbound). Following a communication test, IP flow verification lets you know if the connection was successful or unsuccessful. If a connection cannot be made, IP flow verify notifies you of the security rule that either permitted or prohibited communication so you may fix the issue.

Diagnose network routing problems from a VM

Azure establishes several standard routes for network traffic when building a virtual network. All resources installed in a virtual network, such as VMs, send outward traffic routed using Azure's default routes. You may modify the default routes in Azure or add new ones. You could discover that a particular way has prevented a VM from connecting to other resources. You can define a source and destination IPv4 address using the next-hop capability. Following a communication test, next-hop notifies you of the kind of next-hop being utilized to route the traffic. You can then remove, modify, or create a route to fix a routing issue. Find out more about the ability to hop to the next hop.

Diagnose outbound connections from a VM

You may test a connection between a VM and another VM, an FQDN, a URI, or an IPv4 address using the troubleshooting feature. Similar information is supplied by the test when a connection monitor is used. However, the connection is tested at a specific moment rather than being tracked over time, as with a connection monitor. Find out more about connection-troubleshoot and how to troubleshoot connections.

Capture packets to and from a VM

Versatility is provided through sophisticated filtering choices and nuanced controls, such as the capacity to define time and size restrictions. The capture may be kept in Azure Storage, on the disc of the VM, or in both places. The file may then be analyzed using various standard network capture analysis tools.

Identify issues with connections and an Azure virtual network gateway.

Virtual network gateways are used to connect on-premises resources to Azure virtual networks. Monitoring gateways and their connections are essential to ensure communication is not disrupted. Gateways and links may be diagnosed using the VPN diagnostics feature. VPN diagnostics let you know whether gateway and gateway connections are available and the state of the gateway or gateway connection. VPN diagnostics inform you of the cause of any unavailable gateway or connection so you may fix the issue. You may learn more about VPN diagnostics by finishing the Diagnose a communication problem between networks tutorial.

Identify the corresponding latencies between Azure regions and ISPs

For information on latency across Azure regions and among internet service providers, you may query Network Watcher. You can deploy Azure resources to improve network response time if you know latencies across Azure regions and among Internet service providers. Study up on relative latencies.

View security rules for a network interface

A network interface's effective security policies are a culmination of all security policies that have been applied to it and the subnet that it is a part of. The network interface's subnet, the interface itself, and their combined security settings are displayed in the security group view capability. You can add, remove, or update rules if they are already permitting or blocking traffic you wish to change by knowing which rules are applied to a network interface. Become familiar with the security group view.

Metrics

Within an Azure subscription and region, there are restrictions on how many network resources you may establish. If the restrictions are reached, you won't be able to add further resources to the subscription or area. A summary of the number of each network resource that has been deployed in a subscription and location, as well as the resource's limit, is given by the network subscription limit capability.

Network Monitoring Logs

NSGs control whether incoming or outbound traffic to a network interface in a virtual machine is allowed or denied. You may record the source and destination IP addresses, port numbers, protocol, and whether or not an NSG permitted or rejected communication using the NSG flow log capabilities. Numerous tools, including Power BI and the traffic analytics feature, may be used to examine logs. Data sent to NSG flow logs may be richly visualized using traffic analytics.

Traffic analytics

By finishing the lesson on how to deploy traffic analytics and log network traffic to and from a virtual machine, you may learn more about NSG flow logs.

View diagnostic logs for network resources

You may enable diagnostic logging for Azure networking resources, including network security groups, public IP addresses, load balancers, virtual network gateways, and application gateways. For each existing network resource that creates a diagnostic log, the Diagnostic logs capability offers a single interface to activate and stop network resource diagnostic logs. You may inspect diagnostic records using applications like Microsoft Power BI and Azure Monitor logs. See Azure network solutions in Azure Monitor logs for further information on how to analyze Azure network diagnostic logs.

Network Watcher automatic enablement

When you create or update a virtual network in your subscription, Network Watcher will be immediately active in the area of your virtual network. The automatic activation of Network Watcher has no adverse effects on your resources and is free of charge. See Network Watcher create for further details.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Azure network watcher?

For resources on an Azure virtual network, Azure Network Watcher offers tools for monitoring, diagnosing, viewing metrics, and enabling or disabling logging.

What is network Watcher RG in Azure?

IaaS network health may be tracked and fixed using various tools provided by the Azure Network Watcher. Microsoft created Network Watcher for application gateways, load balancers, virtual networks, and virtual machines.

How do I open Azure network watcher?

Go to Network Watcher under All Services > Networking. You may choose any subscription you wish Network Watcher enabled for. Every region that is accessible receives a Network Watcher as a result of this operation.

What is the network watcher Resource Group in Azure?

The backend service for Network Watcher is represented by the Network Watcher resource, which Azure entirely manages. Clients are not required to handle it. The help does not support operations like moving. The resource can be removed, though. Microsoft Docs is the source of this information.

Is network watcher enabled by default?

Network Watcher will now be turned on by default for subscriptions that include virtual networks. The automatic activation of Network Watcher has no adverse effects on your resources and is free of charge. Your network troubleshooting experience will be streamlined and enhanced as a result.

Conclusion

So that's the end of the article. Azure Network Watcher

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