DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

Introduction

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic ManagerTo provide geographic redundancy, DirectAccess can be deployed in a multisite configuration. In this scenario, Windows 8.x and Windows 10 clients are aware of all entry points in the enterprise and will automatically select the nearest available entry point to connect to. The nearest entry point is defined as the one that responds the quickest. When a Windows 8.x or Windows 10 client attempts to establish DirectAccess connectivity, an HTTP GET is sent to all entry points and the client will select the one with the shortest Round Trip Time (RTT) for the request.

Note: Windows 7 clients can be provisioned when DirectAccess is configured for multisite access, but they must be assigned to an individual entry point.

Challenges

There are a number of challenges that come with the default multisite configuration. Choosing an entry point based solely on network latency is rather simplistic and can often produce unexpected results. It also lacks support for granular traffic distribution or active/passive configuration.

GSLB

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic ManagerFor the best experience, DirectAccess can be configured to use a Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) solution to enhance transparent site selection and failover for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 clients. Commonly this is implemented using an on-premises appliance (Citrix NetScaler, F5 Global Traffic Manager, Kemp LoadMaster, A10 Thunder, etc.). These solutions offer exceptional control over DirectAccess traffic distribution, but they add expense and complexity.

Azure Traffic Manager

Azure Traffic Manager is a cloud-based GSLB solution that is a simple and cost-effective alternative to dedicated on-premises appliances. While it does not offer all of the features that GSLB appliances provide, it does provide better traffic distribution options than the default configuration. Importantly, it enables active/passive failover, which is a common requirement not supported natively with DirectAccess.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

Traffic Manager Configuration

In the Azure portal (the new one, not the old one!) click New, Networking, and then Traffic Manager profile.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

Provide a name and select a Routing method.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

Routing method options are Performance, Weighted and Priority.

  • Performance. Select this option to enable clients to connect to the entry point with the lowest network latency.
  • Weighted. Select this option to enable clients to prefer some entry points more than others. Assign a weight value of 1 to 1000 for each entry point. Higher values have more preference. Values for entry points can be the same, if desired.
  • Priority. Select this option to enable clients to connect to a primary entry point, then fail over to a secondary or tertiary entry point in the event of an outage. Assign a priority value of 1 to 1000 for each entry point. Lower values take precedence. Each entry point must be assigned a unique priority value.

Click Create when finished. Next click Settings for the new traffic manager profile and click Configuration. Change Protocol to HTTPS, Port to 443, and Path to /IPHTTPS. Click Save when finished.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

Next click Endpoints and click Add. Select External endpoint from the drop down list, provide a descriptive name, and then enter the Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the first DirectAccess entry point. When using the Performance routing method, choose a location that best represents the geography where the DirectAccess entry point is located. When using the Weighted or Priority routing methods, specify an appropriate value accordingly. Click Ok when finished. Repeat these steps for each entry point in the organization.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

DirectAccess Configuration

In the Remote Access Management console, highlight DirectAccess and VPN below Configuration in the navigation tree and then click Configure Multisite Settings below Multisite Deployment in the Tasks pane. Click Global Load Balancing and choose Yes, use global load balancing. Enter the FQDN of the Azure Traffic Manager profile and click Next, and then click Commit.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

Note: An SSL certificate with a subject name matching that of the GSLB FQDN is not required.

In some cases, the management console may report that global load balancing addresses cannot be identified automatically for some or all entry points.

DirectAccess Multisite Geographic Redundancy with Microsoft Azure Traffic Manager

If this occurs, it will be necessary to run the Set-DAEntryPoint PowerShell cmdlet to assign GLSB IP addresses to each entry point. The GSLB IP address is the public IPv4 address that the entry point public hostname resolves to.

Set-DAEntryPoint -Name [entrypoint_name] -GslbIP [external_ip_address]

For example:

Set-DAEntryPoint -Name "US West" -GslbIP 203.0.113.195
Set-DAEntryPoint -Name "US East" -GslbIP 198.51.100.21

Summary

DirectAccess includes native functionality to enable geographic load balancing for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 clients. The site selection process used by DirectAccess clients in this scenario is basic, and has the potential to yield unexpected results. Azure Traffic Manager is a simple, cost-effective alternative to dedicated on-premises GSLB appliances. It can be integrated with DirectAccess to address some of the shortcomings with the native entry point selection process.

Additional Resources

 

 

 

3 Important Things You Need to Know about Windows 10 and DirectAccess

DirectAccess and Windows 10 - Better TogetherDirectAccess has been with us for quite some time know, having been originally introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2, later enhanced with Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010, and finally integrated in to the base operating system in Windows Server 2012 R2. Client support for DirectAccess begins with Windows 7 (Enterprise or Ultimate), and also includes Windows 8.x (Enterprise) and Windows 10 (Enterprise or Education).

Although Windows 7 clients are supported for DirectAccess, Windows 10 is highly preferred. Here are three important things you need to know about using Windows 10 with DirectAccess.

  1. Windows 10 Provides Improved Performance and Scalability – Windows 10 includes support for null encryption when using the IP-HTTPS IPv6 transition protocol. This eliminates the needless double-encryption performed by Windows 7 clients, and dramatically reduces the protocol overhead for clients connecting behind port-restricted firewalls. DirectAccess servers can support many more concurrent IP-HTTPS sessions with Windows 10, and it has the added benefit of making the more secure perimeter/DMZ deployment behind an edge security device performing NAT much more attractive.
  2. Windows 10 Supports Geographic Redundancy – Windows 10 includes full support for DirectAccess multisite deployments. Where Windows 7 clients had to be assigned to a single entry point, Windows 10 clients are aware of all entry points in the organization. They are able to automatically select the nearest entry point on startup, and transparently failover to another site if the current site becomes unavailable.
  3. Windows 10 Features an Enhanced Management Experience – From a troubleshooting and support perspective, Windows 10 makes things much easier. The DirectAccess connectivity assistant, an optional component for Windows 7, is now fully integrated with the Windows 10 UI. PowerShell is greatly improved and now includes many native DirectAccess configuration and troubleshooting commands.

As you can see, there are a number of significant advantages for using Windows 10 with DirectAccess. Windows 10 now supports all of the enterprise features of DirectAccess, including geographic redundancy and performance and scalability improvements. Windows 10 is also easier to troubleshoot and manage. If you’re still supporting Windows 7, DirectAccess in Windows Server 2012 R2 can certainly support them. However, without a doubt the best experience, both from an administrator’s and the end user’s perspective, is with Windows 10. Just one more reason to begin planning your migration to Windows 10 with DirectAccess today!

Need assistance with implementing  DirectAccess with Windows 10? I can help! More details here.

Configuring Multiple Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess Instances

DirectAccess in Windows Server 2012 R2 supports many different deployment configurations. It can be deployed with a single server, multiple servers in a single location, multiple servers in multiple locations, edge facing, in a perimeter or DMZ network, etc.

Global Settings

There are a number of important DirectAccess settings that are global in scope and apply to all DirectAccess clients, such as certificate authentication, force tunneling, one-time password, and many more. For example, if you configure DirectAccess to use Kerberos Proxy instead of certificates for authentication, Windows 7 clients are not supported. In this scenario it is advantageous to have a second parallel DirectAccess deployment configured specifically for Windows 7 clients. This allows Windows 8 clients to take advantage of the performance gains afforded by Kerberos Proxy, while at the same time providing an avenue of support for Windows 7 clients.

Parallel Deployments

To the surprise of many, it is indeed possible to deploy DirectAccess more than once in an organization. I’ve been helping customers deploy DirectAccess for nearly five years now, and I’ve done this on more than a few occasions. In fact, there are some additional important uses cases that having more than one DirectAccess deployment can address.

Common Use Cases

QA and Testing – Having a separate DirectAccess deployment to perform testing and quality assurance can be quite helpful. Here you can validate configuration changes and verify updates without potential negative impact on the production deployment.

Delegated Administration – DirectAccess provides support for geographic redundancy, allowing administrators to create DirectAccess entry points in many different locations. DirectAccess in Windows Server 2012 R2 lacks support for delegated administration though, and in some cases it may make more sense to have multiple separate deployments as opposed to a single, multisite deployment. For example, many organizations are divided in to different business units internally and may operate autonomously. They may also have different configuration requirements, which can be better addressed using individual DirectAccess implementations.

Migration – If you have currently deployed DirectAccess using Windows Server 2008 R2 with or without Forefront UAG 2010, migrating to Windows Server 2012 R2 can be challenging because a direct, in-place upgrade is not supported. You can, however, deploy DirectAccess using Windows Server 2012 R2 in parallel to your existing deployment and simply migrate users to the new solution by moving the DirectAccess client computer accounts to a new security group assigned to the new deployment.

Major Configuration Changes – This strategy is also useful for scenarios where implementing changes to the DirectAccess configuration would be disruptive for remote users. For example, changing from a single site to a multisite configuration would typically require that all DirectAccess clients be on the LAN or connect remotely out-of-band to receive group policy settings changes after multisite is first configured. In addition, parallel deployments can significantly ease the pain of transitioning to a new root CA if required.

Unique Client Requirements – Having a separate deployment may be required to take advantage of the unique capabilities of each client operating system. For example, Windows 10 clients do not support Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) integration. NAP is a global setting in DirectAccess and applies to all clients. If you still require NAP integration and endpoint validation using NAP for Windows 7 and Windows 8.x, another DirectAccess deployment will be required to support Windows 10 clients.

Requirements

To support multiple Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess deployments in the same organization, the following is required:

Unique IP Addresses – It probably goes without saying, but each DirectAccess deployment must have unique internal and external IPv4 addresses.

Distinct Public Hostname – The public hostname used for each deployment must also be unique. Multi-SAN certificates have limited support for DirectAccess IP-HTTPS (public hostname must be the first entry in the list), so consider using a wildcard certificate or obtain certificates individually for each deployment.

Group Policy Objects – You must use unique Active Directory Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to support multiple DirectAccess deployments in a single organization. You have the option to specify a unique GPO when you configure DirectAccess for the first time by clicking the Change link next to GPO Settings on the Remote Access Review screen.

Configuring Multiple Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess Instances

Enter a distinct name for both the client and server GPOs. Click Ok and then click Apply to apply the DirectAccess settings for this deployment.

Configuring Multiple Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess Instances

Windows 7 DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA) GPOs – If the DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA) v2.0 has been deployed for Windows 7 clients, separate GPOs containing the DCA client settings for each individual deployment will have to be configured. Each DirectAccess deployment will have unique Dynamic Tunnel Endpoint (DTE) IPv6 addresses which are used by the DCA to confirm corporate network connectivity. The rest of the DCA settings can be the same, if desired.

Supporting Infrastructure

The rest of the supporting infrastructure (AD DS, PKI, NLS, etc.) can be shared between the individual DirectAccess deployments without issue. Once you’ve deployed multiple DirectAccess deployments, make sure that DirectAccess clients DO NOT belong to more than one DirectAccess client security group to prevent connectivity issues.

Migration Process

Moving DirectAccess client computers from the old security group to the new one is all that’s required to migrate clients from one DirectAccess deployment to another. Client machines will need to be restarted to pick up the new security group membership, at which time they will also get the DirectAccess client settings for the new deployment. This works seamlessly when clients are on the internal network. It works well for clients that are outside the network too, for the most part. Because clients must be restarted to get the new settings, it can take some time before all clients finally moved over. To speed up this process it is recommended that DirectAccess client settings GPOs be targeted at a specific OUs created for the migration process. A staging OU is created for clients in the old deployment and a production OU is created for clients to be assigned to the new deployment. DirectAccess client settings GPOs are then targeted at those OUs accordingly. Migrating then only requires moving a DirectAccess client from the old OU to the new one. Since OU assignment does not require a reboot, clients can be migrated much more quickly using this method.

Summary

DirectAccess with Windows Server 2012 R2 supports many different deployment models. For a given DirectAccess deployment model, some settings are global in scope and may not provide the flexibility required by some organizations. To address these challenges, consider a parallel deployment of DirectAccess. This will enable you to take advantage of the unique capabilities of each client operating system, or allow you to meet the often disparate configuration requirements that a single deployment cannot support.

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