Recommend a load-balancing and routing solution

A crucial aspect of designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions is selecting an appropriate load-balancing and routing solution. Load balancing helps distribute network traffic efficiently across multiple servers, ensuring high availability and scalability. Routing enables intelligent handling of incoming requests and ensures they reach the appropriate destination. In this article, we will explore Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Application Gateway as recommended solutions for load balancing and routing in Azure.

Azure Traffic Manager

Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based global traffic load balancer that can distribute incoming traffic across multiple endpoints in different Azure regions. It provides automatic failover and intelligent routing capabilities. Here’s how to set it up:

Step 1: Create an Azure Traffic Manager profile:

az network traffic-manager profile create --resource-group --name --routing-method --unique-dns-name --monitor-path


• : The name of the resource group.
• : The name for the Traffic Manager profile.
• : The routing method, such as ‘Priority’, ‘Weighted’, or ‘Performance’.
• : The unique DNS name for the profile.
• : The endpoint path for monitoring health.

Step 2: Add endpoints to the Traffic Manager profile:

az network traffic-manager endpoint create --resource-group --profile-name --name --type --target-resource-id --endpoint-status


• : The name of the resource group.
• : The name of the Traffic Manager profile.
• : The name for the endpoint.
• : The type of endpoint, such as ‘AzureEndpoints’, ‘ExternalEndpoints’, or ‘NestedEndpoints’.
• : The resource ID of the endpoint.
• : The status of the endpoint.

Azure Application Gateway

Azure Application Gateway is a web traffic load balancer that operates at the application layer (Layer 7) and provides advanced routing capabilities. It supports SSL termination, URL-based routing, cookie affinity, and more. Let’s see how to configure it:

Step 1: Create an Application Gateway:

az network application-gateway create --name --resource-group --location --vnet-name --subnet --sku --http-settings-cookie-based-affinity

• : The name for the Application Gateway.
• : The name of the resource group.
• : The Azure region.
• : The name of the virtual network.
• : The name of the subnet.
• : The SKU name, such as ‘Standard_v2’, ‘WAF_v2’, or ‘Standard_Small’.
• : Enable or disable cookie-based affinity.

Step 2: Configure backend pools and HTTP settings:

az network application-gateway address-pool create --gateway-name --resource-group --name --servers
az network application-gateway http-settings create --gateway-name --resource-group --name --port --probe --protocol --cookie-based-affinity

• : The name of the Application Gateway.
• : The name of the resource group.
• : The name for the backend pool.
• : IP addresses of the backend servers.
• : The name for the HTTP settings.
• : The port used by backend servers.
• : The name for the health probe.
• : The protocol used by backend servers.
• : Enable or disable cookie-based affinity.

These are simplified examples for setting up Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Application Gateway. It’s essential to consult the Azure documentation for a comprehensive understanding of their configuration options and features.

In conclusion, Azure Traffic Manager and Azure Application Gateway are recommended load-balancing and routing solutions for designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions. They provide scalability, high availability, intelligent routing, and various advanced features that cater to diverse application requirements. By leveraging these solutions, you can optimize the performance and reliability of your Azure infrastructure.