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What is Microsoft Azure Network Watcher?

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Pre-Requisite: Azure

In an on-premises network, it may happen that due to an error in configuration, there can be problems that become difficult to identify and troubleshoot. Similarly, when we create a complex and flexible setup to meet our needs in Azure that connects many virtual machines (VMs) it may lead to connectivity issues. Network watcher helps us, in this case, to diagnose and troubleshoot the issue at a network scenario level.

What is Azure Network Watcher?

Network Watcher is mainly used by administrators to simplify monitoring, easily diagnose and gain insight into the network health and performance with metrics of the network made with the virtual machines. It provides us with tools to view metrics, monitor, diagnose and get logs for resources present in the virtual network.

Azure network will provide some tools which are useful to help us monitor and diagnose our Azure networks. Network Watcher will help us to troubleshoot network issues, connectivity problems, and network traffic problems including security

Azure network watcher can keep track of correspondence between a virtual machine and an endpoint. You can also use a network watcher to diagnose the connectivity of all resources in your virtual network, load balancer, and firewalls, etc. To spot any performance issues and enhance your network performance, you can monitor network performance indicators like latency, packet loss, and bandwidth utilization.

Use Cases of Azure Network Watcher 

  1. Topology: With the help of the topology, we can see how subnets, virtual machines, and network security groups are related to one another and spot any potential misconfiguration.
  2. Network Performance Monitor: You can track the performance of your network infrastructure, including network devices, connections, and applications, using Network Performance Monitor (NPM). You can uncover performance issues and manage your network architecture with the help of NPM, which offers real-time monitoring and alerts.
  3. Traffic Analytics: By keeping an eye on and analyzing incoming traffic to our virtual network, we can spot security concerns and fix network problems.
  4. Connection Monitor: Connection Monitor allows you to monitor network connectivity between virtual machines, subnets, and Azure services. You can detect and diagnose connectivity issues, and receive alerts when connections fail.
Network Topology

 

Configure Network Watcher

Azure Network Watcher configuration takes multiple steps. Here is a general description of what happens:

Step 1: Navigate to your Azure portal.

Azure Console

 

Step 2: Click on the All Services option on the homepage.

All Services

 

Step 3: In the search bar type network watcher.

Network watcher

 

Step 4: Click on it to access the network watcher service. You can click on different tabs present on the side to monitor, diagnose and get logs of your virtual network.

Network watcher Service

 

Add Virtual Networks to Network Watcher

Step 1: Click on the +Add option. 

Step 2: You will be promoted to choose the Azure subscription and the regions where your virtual networks are present. 

Step 3: Choose the Azure subscription and the regions from the list and click on add to add the virtual networks.

Add Subscription

 

Step 4: It will take 3-4 minutes to get deployed.

Step 5: Click on refresh to see the new resource listed on the overview page for each region.

List of Subscriptions

 

Features of Network Watcher

1. Flow logs: Network security group flow logs help us build a deeper insight into patterns of our network traffic. It helps us gather data for monitoring, auditing, and compliance with network security profiles.

2. Automation of remote network monitoring: We can monitor and diagnose the issue without logging in to our virtual machines by triggering packet capture. We can trigger packet capture by setting alerts. We can use that to gain real-time performance information at the packet level and investigate in detail for better diagnoses.

3. Diagnose VPN connectivity issues: The detailed logs help in better investigation of the connection and VPN gateway issues and diagnose them.

4. Troubleshoot connection: It helps us identify and troubleshoot network connectivity and performance issues that might occur in Azure.

5. VPN Diagnostics: VPN diagnostics can be used to troubleshoot connections and gateways. It provides us with summary information in the portal and more detailed information in log files which includes things like connection statistics, packet drops, buffers, memory, CPU, and events.  
6. Verify IP flow: It is mainly used to verify if the security rules are correctly applied and whether there are any connectivity issues from or to the internet or to the on-premises environment or not.

7. Next hop: It is used to check if the traffic is being correctly directed to the required designation. This helps in verifying whether the network routing is correctly configured. Whenever we create a virtual network, Azure automatically creates several different default outbound routes for network traffic. This outbound traffic for the resources in the virtual network is routed based on Azure default routes. We may check this and override the routes or create additional routes as per our needs.

8. Visualize the network topology: Network Watcher helps us to generate a visual diagram of the resources in a virtual network and the relationships between them by generating a graphical display of our Azure virtual network, its resources, its interconnections, and the connections between them. This makes it easy for a new administrator to understand the virtual network and troubleshoot it.

Network Watcher Features

 

 Azure Network Watcher Pricing?

Azure Network Watcher has a monthly subscription fee that starts at $0.3. Azure Network Watcher offers 6 different plans:

  • $0.50 for Plan 1.
  • Plan 2 at a monthly cost of $1.
  • Plan 3 at a monthly cost of $0.30.
  • Plan 4 at a monthly cost of $3.
  • At $0.30 per month, use Plan 5.
  • $3.50 for Plan 6.


Last Updated : 06 May, 2023
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