SimonaTarantola analyzes the combined use of Azure Virtual Network Manager and Azure Virtual WAN, showing how architects can enable direct, resilient spoke-to-spoke communication and achieve simpler, high-performance network designs.

Unlocking Direct Spoke Communication Inside a Managed Hub Architecture

Azure networking continues to advance, and this article focuses on how Azure Virtual Network Manager (AVNM) and Azure Virtual WAN (vWAN) provide architects with new tools for building flexible, high-performance, and manageable networks.

Revisiting the Classic Hub-and-Spoke Pattern

Traditionally, Azure’s hub-and-spoke design required all spoke-to-spoke traffic to pass through a central hub VNet. This caused:

Extra network hops
Increased latency
Potential bandwidth bottlenecks and throughput constraints

How Virtual WAN Modernizes the Network Hub

Azure Virtual WAN (vWAN) introduces a managed hub service:

Microsoft operates and maintains the hub infrastructure
Automatic, global route propagation
Integrated services (Firewalls, VPNs, ExpressRoute) are available natively
Any-to-any routing between spokes, with traffic managed transparently by the vWAN fabric

Why Do Organizations Need Direct Spoke Mesh?

Certain workloads—like microservices, database replication, fast Dev/Test/Prod synchronization, and some compliance scenarios—benefit from direct, single-hop connectivity between spokes. This:

Reduces latency
Increases available bandwidth (no hub congestion)
Improves resilience (spokes communicate even during hub outages)

The Peering Explosion Problem

Without AVNM, connecting each spoke directly (using VNet peering) requires managing a rapidly growing number of connections as the environment scales. For n spokes, the number of direct peerings is n × (n-1)/2, resulting in significant operational overhead:

Multiple route table and NSG rule updates
High potential for misconfiguration and troubleshooting complexity

How AVNM Solves This Challenge

AVNM introduces Network Groups and Mesh Connectivity Policies, letting you:

Define a group of VNets (spokes)
Apply a mesh policy so each member is directly peered with every other
Manage all mesh connectivity centrally, reducing complexity from O(n²) to O(1)

Combining AVNM Mesh with vWAN Managed Hubs

You can apply AVNM mesh policies to VNets attached to a vWAN hub:

Spokes participate in both branch connectivity (vWAN) and direct east-west mesh (AVNM)
Centralized firewalling and multi-region reach remain available
East-west, latency-sensitive traffic takes the shortest possible path
No need to compromise between the operational benefits of vWAN and the performance of direct mesh

Observability and Protection

NSG Flow Logs: Detailed network packet data from every peered VNet
AVNM Admin Rules: Organization-wide policies that can override local NSGs
Azure Monitor & SIEM: Flow logs can be connected to Log Analytics, Sentinel, or third-party SIEM tools for comprehensive monitoring and threat detection
Layered Security: North-south traffic inspected by the hub firewall; east-west flows secured with NSG and admin rules

Practical Outcomes

Simplified hybrid and global connectivity: vWAN for centralized management of branches and on-premises resources
Optimized performance for critical east-west flows: AVNM for direct mesh where low latency and high bandwidth are needed
Centralized and simplified network operations: Policy-driven rather than connection-driven management, even as environments scale

By combining AVNM’s group-based mesh with vWAN’s robust managed hubs, engineers can design networks that deliver both performance and operational ease—without complex manual configuration.

This post appeared first on “Microsoft Tech Community”. Read the entire article here