Micro-Segmentation Strategies for Securing Azure Data Centers Using NSX and Palo Alto Networks

Abstract

Because traditional perimeter-based security models don't work well to stop attackers from moving laterally, it's become more important to protect East-West traffic within data centers in modern cloud systems. This study looked at ways to use micro-segmentation to protect Microsoft Azure data centers by comparing two of the best technologies: VMware NSX and Palo Alto Networks VM-Series firewalls. Both solutions were tested and put into action on a simulated Azure infrastructure. The tests looked at three main areas: how well they worked for security, how they affected performance, and how easy they were to maintain. The results indicated that NSX delivered efficient, hypervisor-level segmentation with no effect on performance, whereas Palo Alto gave better visibility at the application layer and better threat detection. Both solutions made the network much safer overall, even though they had some small trade-offs in latency and administrative complexity. The study found that a hybrid deployment that takes advantage of the characteristics of both platforms might provide a full protection framework for cloud-based infrastructures.