Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway Reviews

The ability to connect old protocols like Border Gateway Protocol is valuable. BGP is over 20 years old, but some customers still use it. Amazon, Google, IBM, and Oracle do not support BGP, but Microsoft does. It is good for the customers. If we ask the customers to change many things in their infrastructure to go to the cloud, it will put them off because it means they must spend more money to save money.

The product must provide a single sign-on. As of now, a shared secret is exchanged between both VPNs. It is quite compromisable. It will be good if a single sign-on feature is enabled in VPN Gateway or bundled with it.

I have been using the solution for four years.

I have never seen a downtime in the past four years. Except for one particular incident which hit the worldwide data centers, I have not seen any specific downtimes in Azure. It was not a Microsoft problem. The solution is very, very stable. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

The tool is very scalable. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

Support quality depends on the tier of support. Free support takes a few days, and the quality is poor. If we take premium support from Microsoft, the response rate is very quick. The resolution time and the quality of the resolution are also very good. I rate the free support a two out of ten and the premium support a ten out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup is quite simple. It's just a few steps. The solution is deployed on the cloud. The deployment doesn't take more than a few minutes. If we know the setups and how they will run, it just takes a few minutes to set up the solution. It takes a couple of minutes to test that the product is working fine. Unless there's a breakage in the Internet, the product works fine.

The cost of the product must be improved. The costs are quite high. I understand that supporting old protocols is quite expensive for Microsoft, but the tool consumes a lot of costs. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.

VPN is a commonly used network connection system that has been around for many decades, like TCP/IP. There aren't too many differences between the vendors. Other than the fact that Microsoft supports some of the older protocols, which the other vendors don't, all the vendors provide similar features.

People who are looking into Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway should go for it. It is very stable, extremely reliable, it doesn’t go down, and we can connect any infrastructure we already have without too much of an issue. Overall, I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

We have some regions for our virtual machines. Instead of using the tiering in some regions, we are using the VPN gateways to connect these things. We can have an express gateway between that and one of the regions that we are using our virtual machines.

There are 10 to 15 people using this solution in my organization.

The solution is cloud-based. We're using the latest version.

The performance is good.

The stability could be improved. The setup is a little bit complex. In the next release, I would like to see a new setup process.

I would like the solution to be more simple. If it were simple, we could remove other solutions, like tiering, and move to VPN for all of our requirements. VPN is much better to use because tiering is non-reciprocal, so we have to make a connection between the two endpoints.

I have been using this solution for more than six months.

We had some issues with the stability. 

It's easy to scale out the virtual machines. There are scale sets.

The setup isn't difficult, but sometimes it's complicated to bridge between the connection and the end points that you want to connect. We have VPN gateways. Sometimes it's better to use the tiering because it's more simple than VPN gateways.

The price is good. I would rate it five out of five.

We also evaluated AWS. It's a more straightforward solution and the networking is better, but the price policy in Azure is much better. 

AWS has more pricing policies, but Azure provides them freely.

I would rate this solution six out of ten.

I would recommend this solution to another user.

Our company implements Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway for our clients to establish site-to-site connections. 

The solution must be deployed to communicate between data centers and Azure. Without Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway in our company, we cannot communicate with the servers. 

Security and communications are the most vital features of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The solution is highly secure as it follows security standards such as IPSec and PLS. 

The price of the solution should be more affordable. For instance, if we need to use a VPN in a production environment, we need to use a VPN with a price of around $120 per month. The basic version of the solution is available for $25 per month, but it fails to provide the same production performance in comparison to AWS VPN which costs around $32 per month. 

I have used Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway.  

The solution exhibits impressive stability. 

Varying VPNs differ in terms of use cases and performance. The feasible VPNs for a production environment cost around $120 per month. But if I compare the solution with AWS VPN in a production environment, Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway would be a more cost-effective option.   

The performance capacity of different features of the solution is satisfying and doesn't need improvements. The vendor should release a more affordable version of the solution for the production environment. 

Satisfying tech support is provided for the solution. I would rate the tech support an eight out of ten. The response time is good enough, but it depends on the type of support requested. 

Positive

It's extremely simple to setup or deploy Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The solution is deployed in our organization in both, public and private clouds. I can manage the cloud-end deployment of the tool by myself, but for client-side deployment for our organization, it depends; they often have network outsourcing processes, and due to that, an additional professional might be required. 

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is a better product than other competitor solutions, and from that perspective, an ROI can be realized. 

It's an expensive product. 

In our company, we have witnessed Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway function properly without any fluctuations or issues with speed. Before implementing the solution, we used to define the VPN type in our organization, depending on varying services and considering them for implementation. The solution operates satisfactorily with the default configuration of the four different types of VPNs. I would rate the product an overall nine out of ten. 

The product has valuable virtual machines, viability options, and enhanced VPN services, enabling the option to use it in different zones.

More configuration options could be included in Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway.

We have been using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway for four years.

I rate the platform's stability an eight out of ten.

We have 100 Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway users in our organization. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.

The technical support team is responsive and helpful.

Positive

I was working with AWS before. I decided to switch to Azure for easy configuration and good documentation services.

The initial setup is easy for me as I have been working with the product for a long time. I can conduct the troubleshooting myself. However, I reach out to the Microsoft support team in case of difficult scenarios.

I rate the process an eight out of ten.

The software has good pricing compared to other vendors. We have to pay extra to buy additional services.

The platform has good stability and an easy configuration process. I rate it a nine out of ten.

We are currently utilizing the solution in our organization to establish connectivity with our on-premise network to manage and monitor the traffic flow. However, we have plans to replace this solution with the XPLUS Routing System soon.

I appreciate that the solution is accessible via the cloud and offers scalable services as a platform. Additionally, any work we do in the cloud is automatically integrated with Microsoft's monitoring capabilities, which is a great feature.

Considering my use cases, I can fulfill my requirements using the product. The existing requirements of my company are pretty simple, and I think this product can meet those requirements.

The solution's pricing will always remain a challenge since anyone would want to get the solution at the lowest possible price.

I would like Microsoft to improve the pricing of the solution. Also, the technical support team could be more knowledgeable.

I have been using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway in my organization for a year and a half. Also, I am using the solution's latest version.

It is a stable solution in our company, and we monitor critical health and performance parameters daily and weekly. Once we have more workload in the coming years, we will know if there are any additional challenges.

It is a scalable solution. From a scalability perspective, it meets the requirements of our organization. So, we use this VPN as a site-to-site rather than a point-to-site VPN. The site-to-site VPN is set up in almost five locations at this point in time.

My organization has contacted the technical support team of Microsoft. Considering my past interactions with Microsoft's support team, it is difficult to get the right support unless you find the right person to speak with from the customer support team. So finding that person may take some time more than you expect. The technical support person is reachable. There is no problem with reaching out to the support team. But that doesn't mean that the person you are talking to may be the most knowledgeable or the one with the right knowledge to resolve your issues. From technical support, getting the right person to resolve your issues can be tricky.

The solution's initial setup process was easy. Also, at the same time, one can consider provisioning the resources using the code, which makes the solution even better since, otherwise, it would not have been possible using an on-premise tool.

Regarding the deployment process, our Azure architect team designed it, first of all, including a part of the networking design. Then, with our engineering team, we got the coding done for that using Azure Bicep. After this step, we tested it in the sandbox environment. After successfully testing the sandbox environment, we could deploy the solution using Azure Pipelines and DevOps Pipelines for actual provisioning in production.

I wouldn't say that there is a dedicated team for the deployment and maintenance of the solution since this solution is a part of the overall project. So, the network architect designed everything from the firewall to the subnets. Also, the network architect was responsible for designing the overall networking structure. Moreover, the network architect was also involved in the design of the VPN. Then, there's the engineering team with only one engineer working on the infrastructure of the code, and he did the coding from a design perspective. Since some testing and other activities were done along with the part managed by the engineer, two more resources probably contributed to helping the engineer.

Considering the solution functioning on the cloud, it is absolutely worth the money. In our company, we are in the beginning phase of moving the solution to the cloud, so many things need to be migrated. I got the opportunity to use the VPN device, probably when we initially experimented with Azure. We are going live with Azure, and it has only been six months now. We expect that in the next three years, a lot of workloads will move to the cloud. On the cloud, testing and other activities become much easier, especially considering the new technologies and functions that Microsoft is introducing.

Payment for licensing the solution is part of the operating model. So, one needs to keep on paying while consuming the solution. In short, the payment is based on the solution's capacity.

The Azure platform is a very good service in general. However, certain challenges need to be considered, particularly regarding pricing.

I would say that with a traditional mindset where we are used to having complete control on-premise, it can be a little difficult to digest at first that someone else is managing your infrastructure, and you don't know where it is located. However, once you start treating it as a consumption service like electricity, I believe it is a great service. I rate the overall solution an eight or nine out of ten.

The solution is used for site-to-site and point-to-site connectivity.

The solution is user-friendly. We need not worry about the connections once we deploy the tool. We just enter the public IP and make the connection.

The solution should provide metrics to monitor the inbound and outbound traffic easily. The point-to-site connections must be improved.

The product is pretty stable.

Traditional network tools that we have on-premises handle all our needs. However, Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway handles only site-to-site and point-to-site connectivity. For additional needs, we must use Azure Firewall.

We must have a premium support contract with Microsoft if we need a proper team to assist us. If we open a ticket without premium support, we might get support from an outsourced support team. It will not be helpful. Support depends on the contract we purchase. Azure’s support must improve a lot. When we raise a ticket with other vendors, they see our device and configuration, verify it, and tell us what to do.

Azure’s support is quite delayed. After the ticket is opened, the engineer takes the screenshots and the logs and returns after three days. It is not feasible in a production environment. Microsoft recommends taking premium support to get on-the-spot help. Customers can choose the support according to their needs. I rate the premium support a ten out of ten, but I rate the basic outsourced support team a three out of ten. Overall, I rate the support a six to seven out of ten.

Neutral

The deployment takes 45 minutes. The setup is straightforward. We can find detailed articles on Azure. I rate the ease of setup a nine out of ten.

The product costs us $140 to $180 per month.

Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

I use Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway to connect the remote site via the local network to the front-end site or any other cloud or network.

What I like best about Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is that it's a managed VPN, so it's one of the most powerful VPNs I've ever found. You can run the solution within thirty to forty-five minutes, and then, once data is configured, you can easily configure multiple tenants.

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway also provides point-to-site VPNs configurable within a few minutes. The solution also offers multiple encryption methods for you to utilize.

Connectivity could be improved in Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway because it's not as stable, particularly when connecting a device tunnel. It's a good practice to connect up to twenty-five device tunnels to the solution, but that requires more stability, and the tunnels should remain connected whenever you're logged into your machine.

I've been using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway for two years.

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is a stable product.

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is scalable, and I'd give it a nine out of ten in terms of its scalability because there's always room for improvement.

I contacted the technical support for Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. Still, it wasn't good because my company faced many issues and device troubles, but the support team couldn't resolve the problems. Two months passed, yet the issues remained unsolved. For this reason, I'd give Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway support two out of ten.

Negative

The initial setup for Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway was pretty easy. I'd rate its setup a nine on a scale of one to ten.

Configuring and deploying Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway took about thirty to forty-five minutes. After that, you can configure different tunnels and run the solution. For the initial setup, it's thirty to forty-five minutes.

I've been using Microsoft Azure solutions, such as Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, including storage and networking solutions.

I'm using generation 1 (G1) of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway.

I deployed the solution for an organization with three hundred to four hundred users.

Anyone who wants the Azure environment connected to an on-premise or remote user's machine should go for the VPN, the managed native VPN of Azure because the setup is pretty straightforward. You can configure that within half an hour, and the communication will be on the local network.

I'd tell anyone planning to use Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway for the first time that it has multiple advanced features and public IP addresses, so I recommend you go through the entire fields required. If anyone commits a single mistake for any of the IP addresses or subnet level, the communication could break, which means having to wait for hours up to a day to rectify that issue. Anyone starting to use Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway should know what IP addresses should be utilized there, for example, the CIDR block for the addresses space. If you're going for advanced Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway features, for example, the BGP, you should also know the correct information you need to fill in each block.

My Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway rating is nine out of ten because it's a managed VPN that allows you to utilize multiple point-to-site connections. You can utilize Azure AD as well for authenticating point-to-site users. Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is easy to use, so even a non-technical person can easily understand and configure the solution.

I'm a customer of Microsoft.

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is used to connect our data center to our cloud deployments, or at least some of them.

API Management, Stream Analytics, and Azure Analytics are tools in the toolkit that help to make Azure more transparent. I mostly work with virtual machines, enterprise applications, and Azure DevOps.

VPN Gateway, among many others we use. We deploy our own enterprise apps, of course, we use them.

The interoperability with various firewall and access gateway vendors is one of this solution's most valuable features.

In the past, reliability has not been great. Deployment has not been simple. Getting it to run is a difficult process.

With one being the easiest experience and five being the most difficult, I would give the deployment process a three and a half out of five.

Make it completely routable, for example, if I have a gateway, I should be able to connect to whatever network I want on either side of the gateway, and the gateway should figure out which packet goes where. 

This is a traditional firewall or network gateway administration that has been removed from the Azure VPN and Gateway functionality, which should just put it back where it belongs, because as it is now if you have three networks, three different networks on either side of Azure, you have to configure one gateway per network.

As a principal cloud architect, I am working with Azure.

We first deployed Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway in July 2019. We have been working with it for three years.

We are working with the most current version.

The stability of the Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway could be improved.

It could be better than it is right now.

I have been using open-source VPN appliances for the same purpose and they have fared quite a bit better than the Azure solution.

I'm not sure how many people are using this solution in our organization, because we don't keep track of individual users accessing our Azure cloud infrastructure. It is used as an extension to our data center in this case. I'm not sure if every user on our network is using it, or if they are not.

It's similar to a cable. You have no idea how many people send traffic over a cable.

We have no plans to increase our usage in the future.

There is technical support available, but the response time could be improved.

If one is the worst and five is the best, I would rate the technical support a three out of five.

Previously, we did not use another solution.

The deployment is not straightforward. It is a lot more complicated than you would expect it to be.

Because of the communication with the service provider, they needed to get their firewall management in order. The deployment took four hours over two days.

It is overly complicated, in my opinion. The networking restrictions make it difficult to use it for everything in Azure. You can only have one gateway active at a time, which is an annoyance.

For our firewall and VPN gateway infrastructure, we use a managed service provider. I installed the Azure component myself and had the service provider install the component on our firewalls.

I am not aware of the licensing fees.

My advice is to only use it if absolutely necessary. If you have the option, don't.

I would rate Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway a four out of ten. It works, but it's not fun to use, and it's not universally usable, contrary to what they claim on the website.