Deploying a NGFW Virtual Appliance

Akins IT • November 1, 2019
Connect with us

SECURING YOUR AZURE VIRTUAL NETWORK WITH A NG FIREWALL


PART 3: DEPLOYING A NGFW VIRTUAL APPLIANCE


Before virtual security appliances were available in the Azure Marketplace, securing your Azure environment required the use of NSG’s (Network Security Group). NSG’s use the source and destination address and/or port methodology which doesn’t provide application layer visibility and logic. It can also become overly complex to implement and troubleshoot as the environment increases in scale.

With a virtual NGFW security appliance, securing your Azure perimeter feels familiar to that of an on-prem appliance. Offerings are also available through many of the major vendors, which can be deployed using templates available in the Azure marketplace. FortiGate for example can be deployed in a single or HA load balanced configuration and allows for a PAYG (pay as you go) or BYOL (bring your own license) option.


When deploying the virtual appliance, you’ll be required to select which VNET (virtual network) the appliance will associate with. From here, an outside and inside transport subnet will need to be selected from the chosen VNET. The outside subnet will be used for the appliances WAN interface, and inside for the LAN. This will be handed out dynamically by default but can be changed to a static IP configuration later if needed. It’s worth noting that both outside and inside interfaces will be assigned a private IP within their respective IP range. This is due to the fact that the public IP assigned by Azure does not get applied directly to the NGFW, but rather NAT’d 1:1 between the public IP and its outside interface IP.


After the virtual appliance successfully deploys, access will usually be enabled to the public IP by default. If using a FortiGate virtual appliance, management access via the public IP on 443 will be available. Once inside the NGFW management console, basic firewall forwarding rules can be configured for LAN to Internet connectivity.


INTERESTED IN VIEWING THE WEBINAR VIDEO ABOUT DEPLOYING A NG FIREWALL VIRTUAL APPLIANCE? FILL OUT THE FORM.

AWS stumbled this morning. Here’s why multi‑cloud keeps you moving.

By Shawn Akins • October 20, 2025
October 20, 2025 — Early today, Amazon Web Services experienced a major incident centered in its US‑EAST‑1 (N. Virginia) region. AWS reports the event began around 12:11 a.m. PT and tied back to DNS resolution affecting DynamoDB , with mitigation within a couple of hours and recovery continuing thereafter. As the outage rippled, popular services like Snapchat, Venmo, Ring, Roblox, Fortnite , and even some Amazon properties saw disruptions before recovering. If your apps or data are anchored to a single cloud, a morning like this can turn into a help‑desk fire drill. A multi‑cloud or cloud‑smart approach helps you ride through these moments with minimal end‑user impact. What happened (and why it matters) Single‑region fragility: US‑EAST‑1 is massive—and when it sneezes, the internet catches a cold. Incidents here have a history of wide blast radius. Shared dependencies: DNS issues to core services (like DynamoDB endpoints) can cascade across workloads that never directly “touch” that service. Multi‑cloud: practical resilience, not buzzwords For mid‑sized orgs, schools, and local government, multi‑cloud doesn’t have to mean “every app in every cloud.” It means thoughtful redundancy where it counts : Multi‑region or multi‑provider failover for critical apps Run active/standby across AWS and Azure (or another provider), or at least across two AWS regions with automated failover. Start with citizen‑facing portals, SIS/LMS access, emergency comms, and payment gateways. Portable platforms Use Kubernetes and containers, keep state externalized, and standardize infra with Terraform/Ansible so you can redeploy fast when a region (or a provider) wobbles. (Today’s DNS hiccup is exactly the kind of scenario this protects against.) Resilient data layers Replicate data asynchronously across clouds/regions; choose databases with cross‑region failover and test RPO/RTO quarterly. If you rely on a managed database tied to one region, design an escape hatch. Traffic and identity that float Use global traffic managers/DNS to shift users automatically; keep identity (MFA/SSO) highly available and not hard‑wired to a single provider’s control plane. Run the playbook Document health checks, automated cutover, and comms templates. Then practice —tabletops and live failovers. Many services today recovered within hours, but only teams with rehearsed playbooks avoided user‑visible downtime. The bottom line Cloud concentration risk is real. Outages will happen—what matters is whether your constituents, students, and staff feel it. A pragmatic multi‑cloud stance limits the blast radius and keeps your mission‑critical services online when one provider has a bad day. Need a resilience check? Akins IT can help you prioritize which systems should be multi‑cloud, design the right level of redundancy, and validate your failover plan—without overspending. Let’s start with a quick, 30‑minute review of your most critical services and RPO/RTO targets. (No slideware, just actionable next steps.)

Microsoft Confirms GoAnywhere Exploitation: What IT Leaders Need to Know

By Shawn Akins • October 13, 2025
How a Zero-Day in GoAnywhere MFT Sparked a Ransomware Wave—and What Mid-Sized IT Leaders Must Do Now

The Windows 10 Deadline Is Here—Are You Ready for What Happens Next?

By Shawn Akins • October 13, 2025
The clock is ticking: Learn your options for Windows 11 migration, Extended Security Updates, and cost‑smart strategies before support ends.
More Posts