Understanding Azure Traffic Manager - Load Balancing for Optimal Performance

Discover how Azure Traffic Manager enhances the performance and availability of your applications by directing traffic based on customizable routing policies. Learn to create and configure Traffic Manager for effective load balancing across your endpoints.

Understanding Azure Traffic Manager

Azure Traffic Manager is a service that effectively manages the load on your applications by directing traffic according to the routing policies you set. Being a DNS-based service, it utilizes DNS to direct user requests to the most appropriate endpoint. This mechanism enhances the performance and availability of your applications by ensuring effective load balancing.

Creating and Configuring Traffic Manager

Step 1: Create a Traffic Manager Profile

  1. Log In: Sign in to the Azure Management Portal.
  2. Start New: Click on the ‘New’ button at the bottom left corner.
  3. Select Service: Navigate to Network Services → Traffic Manager → Quick Create.
  4. Enter Details:
    • DNS Prefix: Choose a unique name for your Traffic Manager profile, which will be used in the DNS records.
    • Load Balancing Method: Select how you want to distribute traffic from the following options:
      • Performance: Directs traffic to the closest endpoint based on geographical location.
      • Round Robin: Distributes traffic evenly across all available endpoints.
      • Failover: Uses a primary endpoint and redirects traffic to secondary endpoints only if the primary fails.
  5. Create: Click ‘Create’ to finalize the process.

Status: The Traffic Manager will be created and displayed in your management portal. It will initially be inactive until configured.

Step 2: Add Endpoints

  1. Select Traffic Manager: In the Azure Management Portal, click on the Traffic Manager profile you just created.
  2. Add Endpoints: Click on ‘Endpoints’ from the top menu and then ‘Add Endpoints’.
  3. Choose Service Type: Select the type of service you want to add, which will display a list of available services under that type.
  4. Select Endpoints: Choose the specific service endpoints you wish to monitor and click ‘Add’.
  5. Provisioning: The selected endpoints will now be monitored by Traffic Manager according to the set policy.

Step 3: Configure the Policy

  1. Open Configuration: Click on ‘Configure’ from the top menu bar of your Traffic Manager profile.
  2. Set DNS TTL: Enter the DNS Time To Live (TTL). This value dictates how long DNS information is cached by clients before refreshing. For instance, setting it to 40 seconds means that Traffic Manager will check for updates every 40 seconds.
  3. Adjust Load Balancing Method: You can modify the load balancing method if necessary. If you initially selected ‘Performance,’ you can keep it or choose another method from the dropdown.
  4. Monitoring Settings:
    • Protocol: Select the protocol used for monitoring (HTTP, HTTPS, etc.).
    • Port Number: Enter the port number for your service.
    • Relative Path: Specify the path that Traffic Manager will check to monitor the health of your endpoints.

This guide should assist you in setting up and configuring Azure Traffic Manager effectively to manage traffic and ensure your applications perform optimally.