Azure - Virtual network Gateway vs VPN gateways

Question

What are the differences between virtual network gateway vs VPN gateway and what determines which one to use?

The closest definition I can find is

"A VPN gateway is a specific type of virtual network gateway that is used to send encrypted traffic between an Azure virtual network and an on-premises location over the public Internet."

I'm a developer and do little bit of ops, so trying to make sense.

Answer 1

Nancy's answer is correct. I would like to contribute this quote with more info from Microsoft (emphasis mine):

Let's start by clearing the confusion around the terms Virtual Network Gateway, VPN Gateway, and ExpressRoute Gateway.

• Virtual Network Gateway represents the category of gateways that reside inside a virtual network and are used to connect virtual networks or on-premises networks to virtual networks.

• VPN Gateway is a specific type of Virtual Network Gateway. It is used to send encrypted traffic across the public Internet. Site-to-Site, Point-to-Site, and VNet-to-VNet connections all use a VPN gateway.

• ExpressRoute Gateway is also a specific type of Virtual Network Gateway. It sends network traffic on a dedicated private connection when configuring Azure ExpressRoute.

When you create a Virtual Network Gateway, you need to specify several settings. One required setting -GatewayTypespecifies whether the gateway is used for ExpressRoute or VPN traffic.

Answer 2

Technically there are Resource Types of Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworkGateways and Microsoft.Network/vpnGateways. All ARM templates all use Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworkGateways resource type when deploying the Virtual Network Gateway - Type VPN as a standalone service. However when VPN is integrated into Virtual WAN/Hub you will see VPN Gateway (Microsoft.Network/vpnGateways) is used then.

Purpose	ResourceType1	ResourceType2	ResourceType3
As a VPN service outside a Virtual WAN/Hub use:	Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworkGateways	Microsoft.Network/Connections	Microsoft.Network/localNetworkGateways
Inside a Virtual WAN/Hub use:	Microsoft.Network/vpnGateways	Microsoft.Network/vpnGateways/vpnConnections	Microsoft.Network/vpnSites

Answer 3

As you found the closet definition, the VPN gateway is a specific type of the virtual network gateway. When you create a virtual network gateway resource in Azure, you can select the VPN or ExpressRoute gateway type in Azure. The VPN gateway usually means a VPN gateway type of virtual network gateway.

• What is VPN Gateway?
• ExpressRoute overview