Let's Talk Azure! S6E18 - Securing Access to Your Virtual Machines with Azure Bastion
In this episode, we explore Azure Bastion, Microsoft’s fully managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution designed to provide secure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) access to Azure virtual machines (VMs). This Q&A-style episode dives deep into how Azure Bastion strengthens cloud security by eliminating the need for public IP addresses on VMs, reducing exposure to external threats like port scanning or protocol exploits. Alan poses critical questions about Azure Bastion’s functionality, architecture, deployment options, and integration with Azure’s security ecosystem, while our consultant delivers actionable insights tailored for IT administrators, security professionals, and cloud architects.
We cover:
- Core Functionality: How Azure Bastion enables secure, clientless RDP/SSH access via the Azure portal or native clients, protecting VMs by removing public IP dependencies.
- Architecture Breakdown: The role of the dedicated AzureBastionSubnet, private IP connectivity, and TLS-based sessions, including support for zonal deployments for high availability.
- SKU Options: A detailed look at Developer, Basic, Standard, and Premium SKUs, highlighting features like session recording, Private Link integration, and host scaling for different organizational needs.
- Security Integrations: How Azure Bastion works with Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Entra ID (with MFA and conditional access), Azure Private Link, and Azure Monitor to enforce Zero Trust principles and ensure compliance.
- Real-World Use Cases: Practical scenarios, such as secure admin access for global teams, compliance for regulated industries (e.g., healthcare, finance), and streamlined dev/test environments, with examples like Metinvest’s global VM management.
- Best Practices: Tips for deployment (e.g., subnet sizing, VNet peering), security (e.g., MFA, NSG configuration), monitoring (e.g., Azure Monitor logs), and cost management (e.g., SKU selection, scaling strategies).
- Limitations and Considerations: Key factors like SKU constraints, regional availability for zonal deployments, performance considerations, and cost implications, with guidance on mitigating challenges.
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