Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect ExpertDesign infrastructure solutionsEasy
A company is designing a highly available and scalable network architecture for its mission-critical application hosted across multiple virtual machines in an Azure Virtual Network. The application requires even distribution of incoming traffic among healthy backend instances at the transport layer (Layer 4). The solution needs to support both TCP and UDP protocols. Which Azure service is best suited for this requirement?
- AAzure Traffic Manager
- BAzure Load Balancer
- CAzure Front Door
- DAzure Application Gateway
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Azure Load Balancer
Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 (transport layer) and is designed to distribute incoming network traffic across multiple healthy virtual machines within a single Azure region. It supports both TCP and UDP protocols, making it suitable for the specified requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Azure Traffic Manager is a DNS-based global load balancer that routes traffic to different service endpoints across regions, not within a single region at Layer 4.
- C. Azure Front Door is a global, Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) load balancer and WAF, similar to Application Gateway but at a global scale, not for Layer 4 traffic within a region.
- D. Azure Application Gateway operates at Layer 7 (application layer) and is designed for HTTP/HTTPS traffic, not general TCP/UDP at Layer 4.
Azure Load Balancer
An Azure service that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple virtual machines or services within a single Azure region. It operates at Layer 4 (transport layer) and supports both TCP and UDP protocols.
- Operates at Layer 4 (transport layer)
- Distributes traffic within a single Azure region
- Supports TCP and UDP protocols
- Provides high availability for applications
Memory trick: Load Balancer handles the 'L'ayer 4 'B'alance.