AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam

Are you a guardian of your domain? Lean how to leverage your aptitude in security to protect Microsoft Azure technologies, with a goal of earning the Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate certification!

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Plan and implement virtual network Service Endpoints

Design and Deploy Virtual Network Service Endpoints

Azure Virtual Network Service Endpoints allow you to extend your virtual network (VNet) identity directly into Azure PaaS services. By enabling service endpoints, you create a secure connection that stays on the Microsoft Azure backbone, removing the need for public internet paths. This feature makes it possible for your VNet’s private IP addresses to reach Azure services without exposing them to the open web. You manage service endpoints at the subnet level, applying them only where they’re needed.

Implementing service endpoints delivers several benefits for network design and security:

  • Improved security: You can lock down PaaS resources to specific VNets and subnets.
  • Optimal routing: All traffic flows over the Microsoft backbone instead of public routes.
  • Simplicity: No extra NAT gateways or VPN devices are required.
    These advantages help maintain a clean and manageable network architecture.

Before you deploy, analyze your service-specific endpoint support and virtual network topology. Not all Azure services support endpoints in every region. Commonly supported services include:

  • Azure Storage (Microsoft.Storage)
  • Azure SQL Database (Microsoft.Sql)
  • Azure Cosmos DB (Microsoft.AzureCosmosDB)
  • Azure Key Vault (Microsoft.KeyVault)
    Confirm service compatibility and regional availability to avoid configuration errors.

To enable service endpoints, navigate to your VNet’s Subnets blade in the Azure portal. Under Service endpoints, select the desired Microsoft service and click Add. After adding the endpoint, update your Network Security Groups (NSGs) to allow outbound traffic for the service endpoint tag instead of broad internet access. Then, check your Route Tables to ensure no user-defined routes override the default service path, keeping all traffic on the secure backbone.

Finally, enforce strictly private access on the Azure PaaS resources themselves. Use virtual network rules or firewall configurations on the service side to permit only your trusted VNets or subnets. Remove any existing public network rules to prevent fallback to the internet. This dual-layer approach—service endpoint setup plus PaaS-side rules—ensures that all communications remain private and under your control.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to plan and implement Azure Virtual Network Service Endpoints by analyzing service support and your VNet topology. You saw the key benefits of improved security, optimal routing, and simplified network design. You also mastered the steps to enable endpoints on specific subnets, configure NSGs and route tables, and enforce private access on Azure PaaS resources. Together, these practices help keep your service traffic within the Azure backbone, delivering a robust and secure network architecture.