The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Hybrid Connectivity

Editor's Notes

1. 10 years ago: very limited options (one?) Now: several options. Confused? Overview of options and guidance on when to use what.
2. This is about real-time connectivity – not integration patterns Focussing on non-network solutions (less IP Pro)
3. Possibly a better title? But not as sexy…
4. Solutions can be categorised into two groups: Options based on network level changes Options that do NOT require network changes
5. Point-to-site virtual private network (VPN):  Established between a single PC connected to your network and the VNet. Uses the SSTP protocol to provide encrypted communication over the Internet between the PC and the VNet. The latency for a point-to-site VPN is less predictable, since the traffic traverses the Internet. Site-to-site VPN: Established between your VPN device and an Azure VPN Gateway. Connection is an IPSec/IKE VPN that provides encrypted communication over the Internet between your on-premises device and the Azure VPN gateway. The latency for a site-to-site connection is less predictable, since the traffic traverses the Internet. Azure ExpressRoute:  Established between your network and Azure, through an ExpressRoute partner. This connection is private. Traffic does not traverse the Internet.
6. VNET Integration only works with apps in a Standard or Premium pricing plan. If your target virtual network already exists, it must have point-to-site VPN enabled with a Dynamic routing gateway before it can be connected to an app. Does not support Static routing. The VNET must be in the same subscription as your App Service Plan(ASP). The apps that integrate with a VNET will use the DNS that is specified for that VNET. By default your integrating apps will only route traffic into your VNET based on the routes that are defined in your VNET.
7. APIM: Caching, security, Agility, Analytics
8. No reliance on IT Ops, Security governance, etc.
9. Michael Stephenson: “Secure router in the sky” Quick Win: Hybrid Integration in a day
10. Service Bus Relay has been “rebranded” as part of Azure Relay (but still basically the same) Hybrid Connections (v2) has been overhauled and improved tremendously
11. Service Bus offered relays almost from the beginning of Azure Built on the WCF capability Security was originally ACS, but now SAS can be consumed by lots of different tech, eg biztalk, soap, rest, crm online and is very reusable
12. Built on Web Sockets so not confined to Windows Examples include Apache Thrift
13. Easy to setup – download the HCM Codeless solution! Lift & shift
14. Multiple instances of the Hybrid Connection Manager can be used on-premises for resiliency and load-balancing.
15. Using the API to manage port bridge connections Can connect almost anything!
16. Watch out for high data usage
17. This is THE solution for PaaS based integrations! 160+ connectors at the Azure side Codeless solution
18. OPDG is just an add-on feature, not an independent service like WCF Relay / Hybrid Connection
19. Primary Solution: Azure Relay Hybrid Connections Super easy to configure Can use multiple HC’s to talk to multiple systems Very inexpensive No network reconfiguration
20. WCF Relay (if need to restrict to a single application/endpoint or wish to use WCF application stack, i.e. Message Security, Reliable Sessions, etc) VNET integration (if cannot identify system by hostname & port number, or if require Active Directory authentication) ExpressRoute w/App Service Environment (massive data / bandwidth / low latency requirements)
21. Primary Solution: Azure Relay Hybrid Connections Port Bridging service in both IaaS and On-Prem server Requires some custom code (mostly from GitHub sample) Deploy a Windows service both on-prem and on IaaS VM
22. WCF Relay (if need to restrict to a single application/endpoint or wish to use WCF stack) Logic App + On-Prem Data Gateway (if supported connector exists for the target on-prem system) S2S VNET (if cannot identify system by hostname & port number OR require Active Directory authentication) Can use ExpressRoute for massive data / bandwidth / low latency requirements
23. No-Brainer Solution: On-Prem Data Gateway Use with Logic App and managed connectors Fully PaaS solution On-Prem BizTalk Server improves the story even more! (plug Wagner’s presentation)
24. API Management (connected to a VNET) WCF Relay (if client can talk .NET or REST) Azure Relay Hybrid Connections (via Web App)
25. Primary Solution: On-Prem Data Gateway Use with Logic App and Enterprise Integration Pack Fully PaaS solution Supports EDI if req’d
26. API Management (connected to a VNET) Azure Relay (Hybrid Connections or WCF Relay) For EDI support, can connect to an on-prem BizTalk Server Custom solution?
27. Primary Solution: Azure Relay Hybrid Connections Port Bridging service hosted in a microservice and an On-Prem server Requires some custom code (mostly from GitHub sample)
28. WCF Relay (if need to restrict to a single application/endpoint or wish to use WCF stack) Logic App + On-Prem Data Gateway (if connector exists for the target system) S2S VNET (if cannot identify system by hostname & port number OR require Active Directory authentication) Can use ExpressRoute for massive data / bandwidth / low latency requirements
29. This slide attempts to show a relative comparison of ongoing cost and development effort required for each technology.
30. 80% of this course still relevant for the codeless option (ignore MABS setup bit)