Azure Multi-Region Mesh Network Lab

This repository contains the Infrastructure as Code (Bicep) for a multi-region network topology in Azure. I built this to simulate a Full Mesh connectivity scenario where every VNet has direct line-of-sight to every other VNet, regardless of the region.

The lab also creates a mix of compute architectures (x64 and ARM64) to validate connectivity across different hardware types.

Architecture Specs

The deployment spans two regions and three Virtual Networks:

• Region 1 (Switzerland North):
  • VNet0 (10.50.0.0/22)
  • VNet1 (10.51.0.0/22)
• Region 2 (Germany West Central):
  • VNet2 (10.52.0.0/22)

Connectivity

• Global VNet Peering: Connects the Swiss VNets to the German VNet.
• Local VNet Peering: Connects the two Swiss VNets.
• Topology: Full Mesh (All-to-All).

Compute (Mixed Architecture)

I'm using specific VM SKUs to test different hardware profiles:

• VM0 & VM1: Standard_B2ats_v2 (x64)
• VM2: Standard_B2pts_v2 (ARM64) — running Ubuntu 22.04 ARM64.

Code Structure

I've structured the Bicep code to separate the resources from the configuration.

• main.bicep: The orchestrator that calls the modules.
• modules/:
  • network.bicep: Handles VNet and Subnet creation.
  • peering.bicep: Reusable module for linking VNets.
  • compute.bicep: Deploys the VM, NIC, and NSG.
• parameters/lab.bicepparam: This contains all the specific CIDR blocks, VM sizes, and region definitions.

How to Deploy

You will need the Azure CLI and Bicep installed.

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone [https://github.com/your-username/azure-mesh-lab.git](https://github.com/your-username/azure-mesh-lab.git)
   cd azure-mesh-lab

2. Review the config: Check parameters/lab.bicepparam to see the IP ranges. Note: The NSG is currently hardcoded to allow SSH from a specific IP. You might want to update the sourceAddressPrefix in compute.bicep or the parameter file.

3. Deploy:

       #!/bin/bash
   
       RG_NAME="###"
       LOCATION="###"
   
       az group create --name $RG_NAME --location $LOCATION
   
       az deployment group create \
       --resource-group $RG_NAME \
       --template-file ./main.bicep \
       --parameters ./parameters/lab.bicepparam

Verification

Once deployed, you can verify the Global Peering is working by SSHing into VM0 (Switzerland) and pinging the private IP of VM2 (Germany).

# From VM0
ping 10.52.0.4