Azure Virtual WAN

Virtual WAN diagram

The following benefits are provided by virtual WAN:

• Hub and spoke systems with integrated connectivity: Automate connection and site-to-site configuration between on-premises locations and an Azure hub.
• Automated spoke configuration and setup: Your virtual networks and workloads may be connected to the Azure hub effortlessly.
• Using Azure, you can view the end-to-end flow and utilize this knowledge to take the necessary measures.

Virtual WAN resources

To configure an end-to-end virtual WAN, you create the following resources:

• Virtual WAN: Comprised of many resources, the virtual WAN resource represents a virtual overlay of your Azure network. It includes links to any virtual hub you want to have inside the virtual WAN. Virtual WAN resources are separate from one another and cannot share a seat. Virtual hubs spread out over a virtual WAN don't talk to one another.
• Hub: A virtual hub is a network that Microsoft controls. To allow the connection, the seat has a variety of service endpoints. You may connect to a VPN gateway within the virtual hub from your on-premises network (VPN site), link ExpressRoute circuits to a virtual hub, or even connect mobile users to a point-to-site gateway inside the virtual corner. Your network in a given area is centered around the nucleus. The same site can host many virtual hubs.
• The virtual network gateway you use for ExpressRoute and VPN Gateway is not the same as a hub gateway. For instance, when utilizing Virtual WAN, you wouldn't establish a site-to-site link from your on-premises site to your VNet. Instead, a site-to-site connection to the hub is established. The hub gateway receives all incoming traffic. As a result, your VNets are not required to have their virtual network gateway. Virtual WAN enables your VNets to easily benefit from scalability through the virtual hub and the virtual hub gateway.
• Virtual network connection for a hub: The hub's smooth connection to your virtual network is made possible by the hub virtual network connection resource. There can only be one virtual hub per virtual network.
• Hub-to-hub connectivity: A virtual WAN connects every hub to every other hub. This suggests that a branch, user, or VNet linked to a local hub may be able to interact with another chapter or VNet by utilizing the whole mesh architecture of the connected hubs. Using the hub-to-hub linked architecture, you may connect VNets that are transiting via a physical hub and VNets located on different corners.
• Hub route table: It is possible to build a virtual hub route and use it with the table of virtual hub routes. The virtual hub route table allows for the application of numerous ways.

Additional Virtual WAN resources

Site: This resource is solely used to link sites. VPN site is the site resource. It displays the settings for your on-premises VPN device. You have a built-in method to automatically export this data to Azure by working with a Virtual WAN partner.

Connectivity

Site-to-site VPN connections

A site-to-site IPsec/IKE (IKEv2) connection can be used to access your Azure services. See Create a site-to-site link using Virtual WAN for further details.

A VPN or Virtual WAN Partner device is necessary for this connection. The ability to export device information into Azure, download the Azure configuration, and create access to the Azure Virtual WAN hub are all provided by virtual WAN partners as automation for connectivity. Visit the article on virtual WAN partners, regions, and locations to list the sites and partners offered. Use the detailed steps in the article "Create a site-to-site connection using Virtual WAN" to set up the connection if your VPN/SD-WAN device provider isn't included in the link mentioned earlier.

User VPN (point-to-site) connections

You can use IPsec/IKE (IKEv2) or OpenVPN to connect to your Azure resources. For this connection, a VPN client must be set up on the client's computer. Create a point-to-site link for further details.

ExpressRoute connections

You may establish a secure connection between your on-premises network and Azure using ExpressRoute. See Create an ExpressRoute link using Virtual WAN to get started.

ExpressRoute traffic encryption

Your ExpressRoute traffic may be encrypted using Azure Virtual WAN. Without using the public internet or IP addresses, the method offers an encrypted transit between the on-premises networks and Azure virtual networks using ExpressRoute.

Transit connectivity

Transit connectivity between VNets

Transit communication between VNets is made possible by virtual WAN. VNets use a virtual network connection to join a virtual hub. Including a router in each virtual corner enables transit communication between the VNets in Standard Virtual WAN. When the virtual seat is first constructed, this router is instantiated.

Four possible routing states exist for a hub router: provisioned, provisioning, failed, or none. You may find the Routing status there by going to the Virtual Hub page in the Azure portal.

• The virtual hub did not provide the router, as indicated by a None state. This may occur if the virtual corner was set up before the service was made accessible or if the virtual WAN is of the Basic kind.
• A Failed status indicates failure during instantiation. You can find the Reset Router option to instantiate or reset the router by going to the virtual hub Overview page in the Azure portal.

Each virtual hub router supports a combined throughput of up to 50 Gbps.

A maximum total of 2000 VM workloads across all VNets linked to a single virtual hub is assumed by default for connectivity across the virtual network connections. To accommodate more VMs, hub infrastructure components might be modified.

Transit connectivity between VPN and ExpressRoute

Transit link between VPN and ExpressRoute is made possible by virtual WAN. This indicates that remote users or sites linked via a VPN can communicate with sites connected via ExpressRoute. Additionally, it is implicitly assumed that VPN and ExpressRoute connections implement BGP and have the Branch-to-Branch flag enabled. The Azure Virtual WAN settings in the Azure portal are where you may find this flag. The virtual hub router handles all route management and permits transit communication across virtual networks.

Custom routing

Advanced routing improvements are provided via virtual WAN. Possibility of creating custom route tables, optimizing virtual network routing using route association and propagation, logically grouping route tables with labels, and reducing the complexity of many network virtual appliances (NVAs) or shared services routing situations.

Global VNet peering

A method of tying two VNets in various locations together is called global VNet peering. Virtual network connections in virtual WAN join VNets to virtual hubs. Global VNet peering does not require a specific user configuration. VNets connecting to virtual hubs within the same area are charged for VNet peering. International VNet peering fees apply to VNets linked to virtual seats in various regions.

Route tables

Route tables now contain propagation and association functionality. A routing table without these characteristics is one that already exists. If you want to use the new features with current hub routing routes, take these things into account:

• Customers using a standard virtual WAN who already have routes in the hub: If there are any pre-existing routes in the hub's Routing part of the Azure portal, you must first destroy them before trying to create new route tables (available in the Route Tables section for the hub in Azure portal). In a virtual WAN, completing the delete step for every corner is desirable.
• Customers using a basic virtual WAN who already have routes in the virtual hub: You must first erase any pre-existing routes from the hub's Routing area of the Azure portal before upgrading your Basic Virtual WAN to a Standard Virtual WAN. See From Basic to Standard, upgrade a virtual WAN. The delete step should be carried out for all hubs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Azure Virtual WAN in GA?

The Azure Virtual WAN service is indeed generally available (GA). However, some several characteristics and circumstances make up Virtual WAN. Microsoft uses the Preview tag for several Virtual WAN features or situations. In some cases, Preview contains the specified feature or the scenario itself. Regular GA support is applicable if you don't use a unique preview feature.

What client does the Azure Virtual WAN User VPN (point-to-site) support?

Any IKEv2 client, including Azure VPN Client and OpenVPN Client, is supported by Virtual WAN. Azure VPN Client is compatible with Azure AD authentication. Windows 10 client OS version 17763.0 or later is needed as a minimum. Certificate-based authentication may be supported by OpenVPN clients. You'll see the.ovpn* file to download to your device as soon as cart-based auth is chosen on the gateway. IKEv2 supports both certificate-based and RADIUS authentication.

For User VPN (point-to-site)- why is the P2S client pool split into two routes?

The split occurs so that each gateway instance may separately assign client IPs for connected clients. Traffic from the virtual network is directed back to the appropriate gateway instance to prevent inter-gateway instance hop. Each gateway consists of two cases.

What are Virtual WAN gateway scale units?

A scale unit is a unit designed to choose the total throughput of a virtual hub gateway. 500 Mbps is equal to 1 VPN scale unit. ExpressRoute scale units have a team of 2 Gbps. For instance, 500 Mbps * 10 = 5 Gbps would be implied by a VPN scale unit of 10.

How is Virtual WAN supporting SD-WAN devices?

Virtual WAN partners automate IPsec connecting to Azure VPN endpoints. It is assumed that the SD-WAN controller controls automation and IPsec connection to Azure VPN endpoints if the Virtual WAN partner is an SD-WAN provider. You can install the SD-WAN end point in an Azure VNet and coexist with Azure Virtual WAN if the SD-WAN device needs its endpoint rather than Azure VPN for any unique SD-WAN features.

Conclusion

So that's the end of the article. Azure Virtual WAN

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