CODEWITHSUNDEEP
azure-data-factoryazure-virtual-networkazure-private-link
AngiSen
AngiSen

Reputation: 997

Azure Data Factory - Private Endpoint under Azure Portal vs Managed Private Endpoints

I have a quick question on the difference between the following network features in Azure Data Factory.

  1. Managed Private Endpoints - I understood that this feature is used to establish private connectivity between ADF compute plane and target PaaS services like Azure SQL or Storage.
  2. Private Endpoint Connections under Networking - I understood that this feature can be used to drop a private endpoint to a customer VNet, thus restricts the ADF Studio URL to be accessible only from the said VNet.

Can someone elaborate the need for option 2 if access to Azure Portal is restricted within corporate network with MFA? In such setting, how does option 2 improve the security posture?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 399

Answers (1)

Eric Qvarnström
Eric Qvarnström

Reputation: 957

You have correctly understood the two types of private endpoints. Managed private endpoints are used to connect to resources like Azure SQL, whereas private endpoints are used for connecting to the Data Factory from other sources. Let's think this through further.

Your azure environment is protected by MFA as you stated. This means that you as an individual cannot access your Data Factory unless you have authenticated yourself. But let’s say that you have an integration that triggers a ADF Pipeline every night; This will be done over the public internet with a SAS key or similar, unless you integrate your ADF to a virtual network, which you can only do via a Private Endpoint.

  1. Putting your resources in a VNET and handling the communication via Private Endpoints eliminates the possibility that someone could reach your DataFactory from the outside. Assuming that you set the correct firewall settings for your VNET.

  2. You can also implement more granular access controls for specific resources and individuals. For example, if you only want resources X and Y on the VNET to access the Data Factory, you can allow the VNET-IPv4 addresses of those resources. Similarly, to restrict access to certain individuals, such as allowing only your Data Analytics team to access the Data Factory, you can explicitly permit their Cloud PCs to communicate with the Data Factory. (If Cloud PC’s were used, otherwise dedicated VPN IP’s or similar). Edit: More granular control can be set via RBAC as well, so see this as another level of access restriction.

I have a customer who hosts all their business-critical components on a VNET, each with its own Private Endpoint, to enhance security by eliminating public access. Our team manages these resources using Cloud PCs, which are integrated into the same VNET.

While this approach significantly enhances security, it also introduces complexity. What I've shared here reflects my experiences and thoughts on the matter. I hope this gives you some perspective on the benefits of using Private Endpoints :)

Upvotes: 1

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