{"id":12924,"date":"2024-01-05T13:17:24","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T21:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=12924"},"modified":"2024-01-05T13:17:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T21:17:24","slug":"moving-microsofts-global-network-to-the-cloud-with-microsoft-azure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/moving-microsofts-global-network-to-the-cloud-with-microsoft-azure\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving Microsoft\u2019s global network to the cloud with Microsoft Azure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MicrosoftMicrosoft Azure has been part of the enterprise solution architecture at Microsoft for more than eight years. One thing has remained constant throughout our journey\u2014from early lift-and-shift migrations to recent transformations to cloud-first solutions\u2014the network.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the early stages, migrating on-premises resources into Azure was our priority, and low-bandwidth dedicated links provided connectivity between on-premises networks and Azure,\u201d says Raghavendran Venkatraman, a principal cloud network engineer at Microsoft Digital (MSD), Microsoft\u2019s internal IT organization. \u201cOver time, these links evolved into high-bandwidth shared connections, providing greater flexibility and capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

As new networking features were released on Azure, the Microsoft Digital cloud networking team embraced these innovations with enthusiasm and a Customer Zero mindset<\/a>. This approach led to a continuing transformation of our network architecture and an ongoing partnership with the Azure product team.<\/p>\n

\"Venkatraman
Raghavendran Venkatraman is a principal cloud network engineering manager in Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization. His team is leading the cloud networking transformation at Microsoft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We transitioned to a high-bandwidth model to support our connectivity needs between Azure and on-premises resources, integrating with the native Azure security features. That gave us a robust framework that reduced our reliance on on-premises hardware and third-party devices.<\/p>\n

Now, we find ourselves at an inflection point in this journey.<\/p>\n

Our line-of-business applications have successfully transitioned to Azure. Our product development environments, previously exclusively on-premises, have matured into hybrid configurations that seamlessly blend on-premises and cloud resources. Additionally, many of our labs have moved to the cloud. Almost 98 percent of Microsoft\u2019s IT infrastructure is hosted in Azure.<\/p>\n

However, we need to go further back to understand the complete story.<\/p>\n

Long before we deployed our very first Azure tenant or created a virtual network, the Microsoft global network had its humble beginnings more than 40 years ago, supporting connectivity for a handful of employees in a single building in Redmond, Washington.<\/p>\n

Our global network has since grown to include more than 180,000 employees working in more than 180 countries and regions worldwide. Our global network is critical for our business operations and is at the center of our architecture design, engineering principles, and security posture. This global network connects our offices and data centers and has been our employees\u2019 launching pad from the corporate network to the cloud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a critical facet of our organization’s network that has yet to embrace the cloud’s transformative capabilities fully,\u201d Venkatraman says. \u201cOur global network and enterprise services still depend on third-party solutions. These services include vital components such as DNS, remote access, internet edge, and connectivity between our regional Microsoft locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Migrating our enterprise network services to the cloud supports the shift toward modern, agile IT operations. It enables us to respond swiftly to the changing demands of our users and the technological landscape. Using Azure helps us future-proof our infrastructure, ensuring it remains adaptable and resilient in the face of ongoing change.<\/p>\n

\u2014Raghavendran Venkatraman, principal cloud network engineer, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[<\/em>Read our ongoing series on moving our network to the cloud.<\/em><\/a>] <\/em><\/p>\n

Why move global network connectivity to the cloud?<\/h2>\n

We\u2019re migrating these essential global network services to the cloud. This shift aligns our network architecture with Microsoft\u2019s cloud-first mindset. It enables our network engineers to use the extensive capabilities of Azure, offering greater agility, scalability, and resilience for our network and services.<\/p>\n

The journey to migrating these enterprise services isn\u2019t just about technology evolution. It\u2019s about aligning our infrastructure with our vision for the future. It\u2019s about harnessing the power of the cloud to usher in a new era of efficiency, security, and agility at Microsoft.<\/p>\n

\u201cMigrating our enterprise network services to the cloud supports the shift toward modern, agile IT operations,\u201d Venkatraman says. \u201cIt enables us to respond swiftly to the changing demands of our users and the technological landscape. Using Azure helps us future-proof our infrastructure, ensuring it remains adaptable and resilient in the face of ongoing change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Azure offers a comprehensive array of defense-in-depth security features and services, including built-in encryption, DDoS protection, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, network security groups, application security groups, and secure secrets management with Azure Key Vault. Our migration ensures that we continue to meet the highest standards of security and data protection, a critical aspect of our operational excellence.<\/p>\n

There are several compelling advantages to embracing Azure as a core network provider. It provides unmatched scalability, high reliability, and exceptional agility. These factors contribute to building a cost-efficient infrastructure that can adapt to our evolving needs.<\/p>\n

\u2014Raghavendran Venkatraman, principal cloud network engineer, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Azure offers more than 60 regions worldwide to deploy and host Azure resources. These regions are connected by a resilient backbone network connecting continents, regions, and cities. It offers a comprehensive suite of features to support enterprise network operations in the cloud.<\/p>\n

The primary directive of our migration to the cloud is to transition our global enterprise network traffic from third-party and on-premises network resources to the global Azure backbone, taking advantage of the vast array of benefits that the Azure backbone network offers our workloads.<\/p>\n

\"Connecting<\/p>\n

Connecting and supporting Microsoft\u2019s global network with Microsoft Azure.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are several compelling advantages to embracing Azure as a core network provider,\u201d Venkatraman says. \u201cIt provides unmatched scalability, high reliability, and exceptional agility. These factors contribute to building a cost-efficient infrastructure that can adapt to our evolving needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our shift to the cloud as our primary network represents an opportunity for us to harness the full potential of Azure, and it aligns seamlessly with our commitment to delivering efficient, reliable, and agile services, not just for our internal needs but also for our partners and customers.<\/p>\n

By acting as Customer Zero and embracing these Azure features and network services for our core needs, we want to set new benchmarks for efficiency and performance and demonstrate the full extent of Azure\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n

How we\u2019re migrating our network to Azure<\/h2>\n

Shifting Microsoft\u2019s global network and enterprise services to Azure involves transforming and improving the paths that shape our network traffic flow. \u201cWe\u2019re moving essential services such as DNS, remote access, and the internet edge out of on-premises and third-party solutions and into Azure-native services and functionality,\u201d Venkatraman says.<\/p>\n

We aim to create a more agile, resilient, and stable global virtual wide area network (VWAN)<\/a> that supports all our enterprise traffic. By hosting our core network in Azure, we\u2019re placing our employees as close as possible to the network and cloud resources they need.<\/p>\n

Within our global VWAN, the vast majority of our employees will be transferred to a remote, internet-first connectivity method, making the internet their first connection point and placing them in close network proximity to the nearest Azure region, where most of our IT resources reside. Simultaneously, we’re transitioning regional offices to connect with our corporate environment directly through Azure, supplemented by a local internet edge. This replaces the conventional centralized edge for that region and creates a more efficient path to each location, improving efficiency and increasing performance.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re improving automation and agility by adopting software-defined networking practices natively available in the cloud and taking a continuous integration\/continuous deployment (CI\/CD) approach<\/a> to building our VWAN-based network infrastructure. This results in quick and reliable delivery of changes to network services and enables us to match the increasing pace of technology change in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

Understanding the benefits of an Azure-based global network<\/h2>\n

Transitioning our enterprise services to the cloud is a pivotal milestone in our ongoing journey to transform and enhance our network infrastructure and organization. This strategic shift offers remarkable advantages that profoundly impact our operations, scalability, and efficiency. \u00a0These benefits include:<\/p>\n