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Concepts - API Management
Learn how API Management protects APIs running on Azure VMware Solution virtual machines (VMs)
conceptual
06/23/2020

API Management to publish and protect APIs running on Azure VMware Solution-based VMs

Microsoft Azure API Management lets developers and DevOps teams securely publish either to internal or external consumers.

Although offered in several SKUs, only the Developer and Premium SKUs allow for Azure Virtual Network integration to publish APIs running on Azure VMware Solution workloads. These two SKUs securely enable the connectivity between API Management service and the backend. The Developer SKU is intended for development and testing while the Premium SKU is for production deployments.

For backend services that run on top of Azure VMware Solution virtual machines (VMs), the configuration in API Management, by default, is the same as on-premises backend services. For both internal and external deployments, API Management configures the virtual IP (VIP) of the load balancer as the backend endpoint when the backend server is placed behind an NSX Load Balancer on the Azure VMware Solution side.

External deployment

An external deployment publishes APIs consumed by external users using a public endpoint. Developers and DevOps engineers can manage APIs through Azure portal or PowerShell, and the API Management developer portal.

The external deployment diagram shows the entire process and the actors involved (shown at the top). The actors are:

  • Administrator(s): Represents the admin or DevOps team, which manages Azure VMware Solution through the Azure portal and automation mechanisms like PowerShell or Azure DevOps.

  • Users: Represents the consumers of the exposed APIs and represent both users and services consuming the APIs.

The traffic flow goes through API Management instance, which abstracts the backend services, plugged into Hub virtual network. The ExpressRoute Gateway routes the traffic to ExpressRoute Global Reach channel and reaches an NSX Load Balancer distributing the incoming traffic over to the different backend services instances.

API Management has an Azure Public API and activating Azure DDOS Protection Service is recommended. 

:::image type="content" source="media/api-management/external-deployment.png" alt-text="External deployment - API Management for Azure VMware Solution":::

Internal deployment

An internal deployment publishes APIs consumed by internal users or systems. DevOps team and API developers use the same management tools and developer portal as in the external deployment.

Internal deployments can be with Azure Application Gateway to create a public and secure endpoint for the API leveraging its capabilities and creating a hybrid deployment that enables different scenarios. The API leverages its capabilities and creates a hybrid deployment that enables different scenarios.

  • Use the same API Management resource for consumption by both internal and external consumers.

  • Have a single API Management resource with a subset of APIs defined and available for external consumers.

  • Provide an easy way to switch access to API Management from the public internet on and off.

The deployment diagram below shows consumers that can be internal or external, with each type accessing the same or different APIs.

In an internal deployment, APIs get exposed to the same API Management instance. In front of API Management, Application Gateway gets deployed with Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) capability activated and a set of HTTP listener(s) and rules to filter the traffic, exposing only a subset of the backend services running on Azure VMware Solution.

  • Internal traffic is routed through ExpressRoute Gateway to Azure Firewall and then to API Management if traffic rules are established or directly to API Management. 

  • External traffic enters Azure through Application Gateway, which uses the external protection layer for API Management.

:::image type="content" source="media/api-management/internal-deployment.png" alt-text="Internal deployment - API Management for Azure VMware Solution":::