At present we’re excited to announce the preview of Palo Alto Networks Cloud Subsequent Era Firewall (NGFW) for Azure, obtainable as a software program as a service (SaaS) providing in Azure Digital WAN. Azure Digital WAN (vWAN), networking as a service brings networking, safety, and routing functionalities collectively to simplify networking in Azure. With ease of use and ease inbuilt, vWAN is a one-stop store to attach, shield, route visitors, and monitor your broad space community.
Digital WAN’s deep integration with the Palo Alto Networks managed firewall service permits you to benefit from the simplicity of a SaaS safety providing with out the hassles of managing provisioning, scaling, resiliency, software program updates, or routing. A SaaS mannequin permits a buyer to deploy an answer by merely supplying vital parameters and abstracting themselves from the administration of community digital home equipment.
On this weblog, we’ll give attention to the use case, adopted by a short overview of the behind-the-scenes secret sauce that makes it occur, after which understanding key Palo Alto Networks differentiating options.
The use case
Prospects of Azure Digital WAN can now use Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW for Azure to safe their visitors by their Digital WAN deployments. At present, prospects with digital hubs throughout the globe can select to guard their visitors destined to on-premises, by deploying an Azure Firewall or a third-party community digital equipment (NVA). Prospects now have the extra means to have the ability to deploy Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW as a SaaS answer and safe any potential visitors flows of their vWAN deployment.
The completely different visitors flows which might be supported by a buyer’s vWAN deployment are illustrated beneath. Flows are numbered within the desk beneath with the next assumptions:
- ‘B’ stands for a Department which is a buyer’s on-premises community related to Azure by ExpressRoute circuits, Department/Website-to-site VPN, or Distant person/Level-to-site connections.
- ‘V’ stands for VNet—Azure Digital networks internet hosting buyer providers and related to a Digital WAN hub. It could even be known as spoke VNet.
- ‘I’ stands for web, which suggests the client visitors that originates from or terminates within the web and traverses by Azure Digital WAN.
- ‘H’ stands for Azure Digital hub.
- Visitors flows throughout a single hub are visitors flows originating and terminating on endpoints related to the identical digital hub. These can also be known as Intra-hub flows.
- Inter-hub flows are visitors flows that traverse throughout 2 digital hubs to get to the vacation spot.
Consumer expertise
Prospects can add Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW to an Azure Digital WAN Hub within the Azure portal. After a hub is created, click on on the hub title and navigate to Third-party Suppliers -> SaaS options –> Create SaaS and select the Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW possibility.
After clicking “Create”, you’ll be taken to a wizard expertise the place you’ll be able to configure and customise your Cloud NGFW SaaS deployment. You possibly can customise key networking and safety attributes of your SaaS comparable to deciding on public Ips, DNS proxy settings, safety insurance policies, and safety settings.
After the Cloud NGFW has been efficiently provisioned, you’ll be able to handle your SaaS Firewall by navigating to your Digital Hub -> Third-party suppliers -> SaaS options -> Handle SaaS. Discover right here for extra data on obtainable choices.
How does this all work inside Digital WAN
As talked about within the prior part, Digital WAN helps a number of flows. For example the behind-the-scenes workings in Digital WAN, we’ll use East-West (V2V) visitors flows.
As you’ll be able to see, the complexities of visitors engineering, and infrastructure administration are fully eliminated and the person will get to only give attention to securing the suitable safety insurance policies for his or her community visitors.
Key highlights of the Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW for Azure integration with Digital WAN
Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW for Azure integrates with Azure Digital WAN deployments, enabling prospects to guard visitors throughout their whole community. Whereas there are a number of cool and turn-key options constructed into the combination, a couple of which might be value calling out are beneath:
- Machine studying powered NGFW: Cloud NGFW for Azure makes use of AI and machine studying to detect and cease recognized, unknown, and zero-day threats, enabling prospects to remain forward of refined adversaries.
- Constant Safety and Administration from On-Premises to Azure: Cloud NGFW for Azure is built-in with Panorama, Palo Alto Networks coverage administration answer. The mixing of Panorama with Cloud NGFW for Azure provides a bunch of advantages to prospects. Firstly, it permits seamless safety coverage extension from on-prem to Azure, simplifying operations and lowering administrative workload and complete value of possession. Extra importantly, this integration enforces the identical excessive requirements of safety within the cloud, guaranteeing that prospects’ cloud environments are safe and guarded in opposition to cyber threats. Moreover, the combination offers centralized visibility, offering useful insights into the threats on their community enabling prospects to handle their safety insurance policies by their current Panorama console, streamlining administration, permitting their cloud groups to give attention to software migration and new software improvement.
- Ease of use: Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW is designed to be extremely simple to make use of. Just like Digital WAN product rules for simplicity and ease of use, this Palo Alto Networks built-in answer permits prospects to acquire and deploy the answer immediately from the Azure portal in only a few minutes, offering immediate safety in opposition to cyber threats. The answer can be painless to function as Palo Alto Networks takes care of scaling, resilience, and software program updates. This integration offers prospects the agility and suppleness they should handle their cloud safety whereas specializing in their core enterprise goals.
We would like your suggestions
We stay up for persevering with to construct out Azure Digital WAN and including extra capabilities sooner or later. We encourage you to check out Azure Digital WAN and the Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW SaaS and stay up for listening to extra about your experiences to include your suggestions into the product.
Study extra
For added data, please discover these assets: