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Azure Landing Zones

Azure Landing Zones are guidelines, tools, and resources for establishing a well-architected and secure environment in Azure. They are part of the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) and provide a foundation for deploying workloads, managing resources, and implementing governance and security controls.

Use Case: Multi-Region E-commerce Platform

A global e-commerce company needs to deploy its platform across multiple regions for low latency and high availability. Azure Landing Zones help create a scalable and secure environment that follows best practices and governance policies.

Implementation

  1. Identity and Access Management: Use Azure Active Directory (AAD) for centralized identity management. Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for permissions.
  2. Networking: Set up a hub-and-spoke network topology. The hub contains shared services; spokes are isolated VNets for workloads or business units.
  3. Governance and Security: Use Azure Policy for governance rules and compliance. Use Azure Blueprints for repeatable resource sets and controls.
  4. Resource Organization: Organize resources with management groups, subscriptions, and resource groups for scale and consistent policy application.
  5. Monitoring and Management: Use Azure Monitor and Log Analytics for telemetry, alerts, and dashboards.
  6. Operational Excellence: Implement disaster recovery with Azure Site Recovery and backup with Azure Backup. Automate tasks with Azure Automation.

Well-Architected Framework Considerations

  • Cost Optimization: Visibility into resource usage and cost management.
  • Operational Excellence: Automation and centralized monitoring.
  • Performance Efficiency: Efficient resource utilization and scalable architecture.
  • Reliability: High availability and fault tolerance.
  • Security: Consistent application of security and compliance controls.

Key Components

Identity and Access Management

  • Azure Active Directory (AAD)
  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
  • Identity Protection and Conditional Access

Networking

  • Hub-and-spoke topology
  • Virtual Networks (VNets) and subnets
  • Network Security Groups (NSGs)
  • Azure Firewall
  • VPN Gateway / ExpressRoute

Governance and Security

  • Azure Policy
  • Blueprints
  • Security Center
  • Compliance management

Resource Organization

  • Management groups
  • Subscriptions
  • Resource groups

Monitoring and Management

  • Azure Monitor
  • Log Analytics
  • Automation
  • Cost Management

Operational Excellence

  • Disaster recovery (Azure Site Recovery)
  • Backup services (Azure Backup)
  • Change management

Benefits

  • Scalability: Controlled cloud growth with templates and guidelines.
  • Security: Consistent security and compliance policies.
  • Governance: Enforced rules across resources.
  • Operational Efficiency: Automation and centralized management.
  • Cost Optimization: Visibility and control over spending.

Best Practices

  1. Define governance boundaries with management groups and subscriptions.
  2. Apply security and compliance policies early.
  3. Automate routine tasks.
  4. Design for flexibility and future growth.
  5. Use resource tagging for organization and cost tracking.
  6. Monitor and optimize continuously.

References