Network assessment

Hi carlicht,

Conducting a comprehensive network assessment is crucial for understanding the health, connectivity, and traffic patterns of your customer's network. Here are some additional services and solutions you can use to enhance your network assessment:

Step-by-Step Guide for Azure Network Assessment

1. Azure Network Insights

As you mentioned, starting with Azure Network Insights is an excellent first step. It provides a comprehensive overview of the health, connectivity, and traffic patterns within the Azure network.

1. Network Performance Monitor (NPM):

   • Use NPM to monitor network connectivity between various endpoints within Azure and on-premises networks. It helps identify and diagnose network performance issues.
   • Set up monitoring for:
     • Service Connectivity: Monitor the connectivity to Azure services.
     • Network Performance: Track the performance of your network across various regions.

2. Network Watcher:

   • Network Watcher provides several tools to monitor and diagnose conditions at a network level in Azure.
   • Topology: Visualize the network topology to understand how resources are interconnected.
   • Connection Monitor: Monitor the connection status and performance between Azure VMs and on-premises machines.
   • IP Flow Verify: Validate inbound and outbound traffic between your Azure resources.
   • Packet Capture: Capture packets to analyze traffic patterns and troubleshoot network issues.
   • NSG Flow Logs: Analyze traffic flows through Network Security Groups (NSGs) to understand traffic patterns and potential security issues.

2. Azure Monitor

Azure Monitor provides comprehensive monitoring and diagnostics for your Azure resources. It collects metrics, logs, and events from your resources and allows you to set up alerts and analyze the data.

1. Logs and Metrics:

   • Collect and analyze logs and metrics from your network resources using Azure Monitor.
   • Use Log Analytics to query and analyze log data for deeper insights.

2. Alerts:

   • Set up alerts based on specific network conditions or performance metrics to proactively manage network health.

3. Azure Traffic Manager

Azure Traffic Manager allows you to control the distribution of user traffic for service endpoints in different regions. It can be used to enhance the performance and availability of your network.

1. Performance Monitoring:
   • Monitor the performance and availability of endpoints to ensure optimal traffic routing.

4. Azure Firewall Manager

Azure Firewall Manager provides centralized management and governance of your network security policies across multiple Azure Firewall instances.

1. Policy Management:
   • Define and manage security policies centrally to ensure consistent security across your network.

5. Azure Sentinel

Azure Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solution that provides intelligent security analytics and threat intelligence across your enterprise.

1. Security Monitoring:
   • Use Azure Sentinel to monitor and analyze security events and threats within your network.

6. Third-Party Tools and Services

Consider integrating third-party network assessment and monitoring tools that offer additional capabilities and insights.

1. Zabbix: Open-source network monitoring tool that provides comprehensive monitoring of network performance and health.
2. Nagios: Another open-source monitoring tool that can be used to monitor network devices, services, and performance.

Step-by-Step Implementation

1. Set Up Network Insights:

   • Navigate to Azure Portal > Network Insights.
   • Configure Network Performance Monitor (NPM) and Connection Monitor.

2. Enable Network Watcher:

   • Navigate to Azure Portal > Network Watcher.
   • Enable and configure tools like Topology, Connection Monitor, IP Flow Verify, and Packet Capture.

3. Configure Azure Monitor:

   • Navigate to Azure Portal > Monitor.
   • Set up metrics, logs, and alerts for your network resources.

4. Deploy Traffic Manager:

   • Navigate to Azure Portal > Traffic Manager.
   • Configure traffic routing and performance monitoring.

5. Manage Firewall Policies:

   • Navigate to Azure Portal > Firewall Manager.
   • Define and apply security policies across your Azure Firewalls.

6. Implement Azure Sentinel:

   • Navigate to Azure Portal > Sentinel.
   • Set up and configure security monitoring and threat detection.

7. Integrate Third-Party Tools:

   • Set up third-party network monitoring tools like Zabbix or Nagios as needed.

Conclusion

By leveraging these Azure services and tools, you can conduct a thorough and comprehensive network assessment for your customer. This approach will help you gain insights into network health, connectivity, and performance, enabling you to identify and address potential issues proactively.