Landing Zones

Landing Zones

The Azure Landing Zone Design typically includes the following key elements:

  1. Subscription Structure: It involves defining a subscription hierarchy that reflects the organization’s structure, governance requirements, and resource ownership. This structure allows for efficient management, resource isolation, and cost allocation.

  2. Network Topology: Designing the network topology involves creating virtual networks (VNets) and subnets to establish network connectivity and isolation. This includes defining network security and connectivity policies, such as network security groups, virtual private network (VPN) gateways, and Azure ExpressRoute, to ensure secure and reliable communication.

  3. Identity and Access Management: Implementing proper identity and access management (IAM) controls is crucial for securing Azure resources. This includes setting up Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) tenants, configuring user and group identities, establishing role-based access control (RBAC) policies, and enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) for enhanced security.

  4. Resource Organization and Tagging: Defining a consistent resource organization and tagging strategy helps in categorizing and managing resources effectively. It involves defining naming conventions, resource groups, and applying tags for resource tracking, cost management, and governance purposes.

  5. Security and Compliance: Incorporating security and compliance controls is a critical aspect of the landing zone design. It includes implementing Azure Security Center for threat detection and monitoring, enabling Azure Policy to enforce compliance standards, and integrating with Azure Monitor and Azure Sentinel for logging, analytics, and security incident management.

  6. Monitoring and Management: Establishing monitoring and management practices ensures operational visibility and effective resource management. This involves configuring Azure Monitor for tracking performance, setting up alerts and notifications, utilizing Azure Automation for runbook automation, and leveraging Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates for infrastructure deployment and management.

  7. Data Governance and Storage: Designing data governance and storage solutions involves defining data classification and protection policies, implementing Azure Storage services for data storage and backup, and considering data replication and disaster recovery strategies based on business requirements.

  8. Deployment Automation: Implementing deployment automation practices streamlines the provisioning and management of Azure resources. This includes using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, Azure DevOps pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) principles for consistent and repeatable deployments.

The specific design and components of an Azure Landing Zone may vary depending on the organization’s requirements, compliance needs, and scale. Microsoft provides various resources, best practices, and reference architectures to guide organizations in designing and implementing an effective Azure Landing Zone.