10 Azure ExpressRoute Best Practices

Azure ExpressRoute is a secure, private connection between an organization’s on-premises infrastructure and Microsoft’s cloud services. It provides a reliable, high-speed connection that is not subject to the variability of the public internet.

ExpressRoute is a great way to ensure that your organization’s data is secure and that your applications are running smoothly. However, there are certain best practices that should be followed when setting up and managing an ExpressRoute connection. In this article, we will discuss 10 Azure ExpressRoute best practices that will help you get the most out of your connection.

1. Use ExpressRoute for your critical workloads

ExpressRoute provides a private connection between your on-premises network and Azure, which means that you don’t have to worry about the security of your data as it travels over the public internet.

ExpressRoute also offers higher bandwidth than traditional internet connections, so you can move large amounts of data quickly and reliably. This makes ExpressRoute ideal for applications that require low latency or high throughput, such as streaming media services or online gaming.

Finally, ExpressRoute is more reliable than an internet connection because it’s not subject to outages due to congestion or other factors. This makes it perfect for mission-critical workloads that need to be available 24/7.

2. Consider using a single ExpressRoute circuit per region

Using a single ExpressRoute circuit per region allows you to take advantage of the cost savings associated with larger bandwidths. Additionally, it simplifies your network architecture and makes it easier to manage. It also reduces latency by allowing traffic to be routed directly between Azure regions without having to traverse the public internet. Finally, using a single ExpressRoute circuit per region ensures that all of your traffic is encrypted and secure.

3. Use multiple ExpressRoute circuits to provide redundancy and increase bandwidth

Using multiple ExpressRoute circuits provides redundancy in case one of the circuits fails. This ensures that your applications and services remain available even if there is an outage on one of the circuits. Additionally, using multiple ExpressRoute circuits allows you to increase bandwidth by combining the capacity of each circuit. This can be especially useful for applications or services that require a large amount of bandwidth.

4. Use BGP routing with Microsoft peering

BGP routing is a protocol that allows you to exchange routes between two networks. This means that when you use BGP with Microsoft peering, your network can communicate directly with the Azure cloud without having to go through an intermediary.

This direct connection provides more reliable and secure communication than using public internet connections. Additionally, it also reduces latency and improves performance for applications running in the cloud. Finally, by using BGP routing with Microsoft peering, you can take advantage of features like route filtering and traffic engineering, which allow you to customize how data flows between your on-premises network and the Azure cloud.

5. Use the same service key across all ExpressRoute circuits in an Azure region

Using the same service key across all ExpressRoute circuits in an Azure region ensures that traffic is routed optimally and securely. It also helps to reduce complexity, as you don’t have to manage multiple keys for each circuit. Additionally, it allows you to easily scale up or down your ExpressRoute connections without having to reconfigure your network settings.

6. Use private peering when possible

Private peering allows you to connect your on-premises network directly to the Microsoft cloud, bypassing the public internet. This provides a more secure connection and better performance than using the public internet.

Private peering also gives you greater control over how traffic is routed between your on-premises environment and Azure. You can configure routing tables to ensure that only specific types of traffic are sent through the ExpressRoute circuit. This helps improve security by limiting access to sensitive data.

Finally, private peering reduces latency and improves throughput compared to public peering. This makes it ideal for applications that require low latency or high bandwidth.

7. Enable route filters on both public and private peering

Route filters are used to control the traffic that is allowed to pass through an ExpressRoute circuit. By enabling route filters, you can ensure that only authorized traffic is allowed to traverse your network and prevent malicious actors from accessing sensitive data or resources.

Enabling route filters on both public and private peering also helps improve performance by reducing the amount of unnecessary traffic that needs to be routed over the ExpressRoute circuit. This reduces latency and improves overall throughput.

8. Configure VNet-to-VNet connections over a site-to-site VPN connection

When you configure VNet-to-VNet connections over a site-to-site VPN connection, it allows for secure communication between two virtual networks in different regions. This is especially important if your organization has multiple Azure subscriptions and needs to communicate across them.

By configuring VNet-to-VNet connections over a site-to-site VPN connection, you can ensure that all traffic is encrypted and secure. Additionally, this configuration will help reduce latency and improve performance since the data does not have to travel through the public internet.

9. Ensure that you have sufficient IP addresses available in your on-premises network

When you set up an ExpressRoute connection, your on-premises network must have enough IP addresses to accommodate the traffic that will be sent over the connection. If there are not enough IP addresses available, then some of the traffic may be dropped or blocked. This can lead to poor performance and reliability issues for applications running in Azure.

To ensure that you have sufficient IP addresses available, it is important to plan ahead and make sure that you have enough IPs allocated for the ExpressRoute connection. You should also monitor your usage regularly to ensure that you don’t run out of IPs as your usage increases.

10. Use the Standard SKU for ExpressRoute circuits

The Standard SKU offers the highest performance and reliability, with a 99.95% SLA for both latency and packet loss. It also provides access to all Azure services, including those that are not available on the Basic SKU.

The Standard SKU is more expensive than the Basic SKU, but it’s worth the extra cost if you need the higher performance and reliability. Additionally, the Standard SKU allows you to scale up your ExpressRoute circuit as needed, so you can easily increase bandwidth or add additional connections without having to purchase a new circuit.