Multi-Region and Multi-Set Architectures in Azure
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Multi-Region and Multi-Set Architectures in Azure
Multi-region and multi-set architectures are essential for building resilient, scalable, and globally distributed systems—especially for mission-critical workloads or multi-tenant SaaS platforms.
These designs leverage Azure Virtual Networks (VNets) for connectivity and resiliency.
🌍 Multi-Region Architecture with VNets
🔧 Purpose
To ensure geo-redundancy, disaster recovery, and low-latency access across different Azure regions.
🧠 Key Components
- Hub-and-Spoke Topology per Region: Each region has a hub VNet (with NVAs, Route Servers, etc.) and multiple spoke VNets for workloads.
- Global VNet Peering: Connects hub VNets across regions for secure, low-latency communication.
- Azure Route Server + BGP: Enables dynamic route propagation between NVAs across regions.
- ExpressRoute or VPN Gateways: Optional for hybrid connectivity to on-premises networks.
📈 Benefits
- Centralized routing and security policies
- Automatic adaptation to topology changes
- High availability and failover across regions
🧩 Multi-Set Architecture (Availability Sets + Scale Sets)
🔧 Purpose
To improve fault tolerance and scalability within a single region or across multiple regions.
🧠 Key Components
- Availability Sets: Distribute VMs across fault and update domains to avoid single points of failure.
- Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS): Automatically scale VMs based on demand with built-in load balancing.
- Zonal Deployment: Use Availability Zones for stronger fault isolation across datacenter zones.
📈 Benefits
- SLA-backed uptime (99.95% with Availability Sets, 99.99% with Zones)
- Elastic scaling for web tiers, APIs, or compute nodes
- Redundancy across hardware and update cycles
🔗 Combined Architecture: Multi-Region + Multi-Set
Example Setup:
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Region A (East US):
- Hub VNet with Route Server and NVA
- Spoke VNets with VMSS for web apps
- Availability Sets for backend services
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Region B (West Europe):
- Same topology mirrored
- Peered hubs via Global VNet Peering
- NVAs exchange routes via BGP tunnels (IPsec or VXLAN)
Failover Strategy
- DNS-based traffic routing (Azure Traffic Manager or Front Door)
- Active/Active or Active/Passive NVA setup using AS path prepending