Implementing Load Balancer Traffic Manager Releases and Web Apps

In this lesson, we’ll explore how to implement Azure Load Balancer, Traffic Manager, and Web Apps to deliver fast, reliable, and globally available web applications.

Azure Load Balancer

At its core, load balancing distributes network traffic evenly across multiple servers—much like having several checkout lines in a store to avoid long queues. Azure Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and can manage millions of requests per second.

The image is an introduction to Azure Load Balancers, showing a diagram of network traffic distribution from a cloud through a load balancer to multiple virtual machines (VMs) on TCP Port 80. It includes a description of load balancing as a technique to enhance application reliability and performance.

Basic vs. Standard SKU

Azure Load Balancer comes in two SKUs:

SKU	Use Case	Key Features
Basic	Dev/test environments	Free, lower scale, no zone redundancy
Standard	Production workloads	Higher throughput, zone-redundant, SLA-backed, hitless upgrades

Understanding these differences helps you choose the right SKU.

Creating a Load Balancer

You can deploy an Azure Load Balancer via the Azure Portal or Azure CLI.

Azure Portal

Sign in to the Azure portal and navigate to Load balancers.
Click Create and configure:
- Subscription and Resource group
- Name, Region, and SKU (Basic or Standard)
- Public or Private type
Review settings and click Create.

Azure CLI

az network lb create \
  --resource-group MyResourceGroup \
  --name MyLoadBalancer \
  --sku Standard \
  --public-ip-address MyPublicIP

The image is a step-by-step guide for configuring an Azure Load Balancer, detailing the process from logging in to reviewing and creating the setup.

Front-end and Back-end Pools

Front-end pool: Binds a public or private IP where incoming traffic lands.
Back-end pool: Contains VMs or instances that serve the traffic.
Load-balancing rules map front-end IPs/ports to back-end targets.

The image is a diagram titled "Configuring Azure Load Balancer," showing two sections: "Frontend Pools" where traffic enters, and "Backend Pools," a group of resources receiving traffic.

Health Probes

Health probes periodically check each back-end instance. If a probe fails, the instance is marked unhealthy and removed from rotation.

Note

Configure health probes with the correct protocol, port, and interval to ensure only healthy instances receive traffic.

The image is about configuring an Azure Load Balancer, focusing on health probes to monitor backend resources. It explains that if a probe fails, the load balancer stops sending traffic to the unhealthy instance.

Azure Traffic Manager

While Azure Load Balancer manages traffic within a region, Traffic Manager handles DNS-based load balancing across global endpoints. It routes client requests to the most appropriate endpoint based on your chosen method.

The image is an introduction to Azure Traffic Manager, describing it as a DNS-based traffic load balancer designed to distribute traffic optimally across global Azure regions to improve application availability and performance.

Traffic Routing Methods

Method	Description	Common Use Case
Weighted	Distributes traffic based on assigned weights	Canary releases, gradual rollouts
Priority	Routes traffic to primary, with failover	High-availability, active-passive setups
Geographic	Directs users based on their location	Region-specific compliance, latency reduction

The image is an introduction to Azure Traffic Manager, highlighting three routing methods: Weighted, Priority, and Geographic. Each method is briefly described with icons and text.

Global Traffic Management

This diagram shows how Traffic Manager directs users from Europe and North America to their nearest data centers, reducing latency and improving availability.

The image is an introduction to Azure Traffic Manager, showing a diagram of global traffic management with nodes in Europe and North America.

Integrating with DevOps

Traffic Manager integrates with Azure DevOps and CI/CD pipelines to support blue/green and canary deployments by gradually shifting traffic to new instances.

The image is a slide titled "Implementing Traffic Manager in DevOps," highlighting two points: integration with Azure DevOps and enhancing CI/CD pipelines.

Case Studies

A global retailer used Priority routing to roll out platform updates with zero downtime.
An international news outlet leveraged Geographic routing for region-specific content delivery.
A SaaS provider adopted Weighted routing to validate new features before a full launch.

The image presents case studies of Azure Traffic Manager in action, detailing scenarios, implementations, and outcomes for a global online retailer, an international news outlet, and a SaaS provider. Each case highlights different routing methods and their benefits.

Azure Web Apps

Azure Web Apps (part of Azure App Service) is a fully managed PaaS offering for hosting web applications, APIs, and mobile back ends without managing infrastructure.

Key benefits:

Autoscaling: Dynamically adjusts to workload demands.
Managed platform updates: Azure handles OS and runtime patches.
Continuous deployment: Out-of-the-box integration with Git, GitHub, and Azure DevOps.

Azure Web Apps supports multiple languages:

The image is an introduction to Azure Web Apps, listing six programming languages: .NET, Java, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, and Python, each in a colored box.

Deployment Workflow

Prepare your subscription, resource group, and App Service plan.
Create the Web App, specifying name, plan, and runtime stack.
Configure deployment sources and CI/CD pipelines.
Monitor, scale, and back up your app.
Test thoroughly in staging, then go live.

Combining Services for Global Scale

Use Azure Load Balancer for efficient intra-region traffic distribution.
Employ Azure Traffic Manager for global DNS-based routing and failover.
Host your application on Azure Web Apps for fully managed scaling and deployments.

Continuously monitor metrics in Azure Monitor and tweak configurations to optimize performance and availability.

Links and References

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