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Reference Architecture for Highly Available Multi-Region Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

rgarofalo's avatar
rgarofalo
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Feb 03, 2026

This article walks through a reference architecture for running Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) across multiple regions with high availability in mind. It focuses on practical design choices, explains where complexity comes from, and highlights the trade-offs architects need to consider when building resilient Kubernetes platforms on Azure.

Introduction Cloud-native applications often support critical business functions and are expected to stay available even when parts of the platform fail. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) already prov...
Sample Architecture of a multi-region AKS installation
Updated Feb 03, 2026
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Quest198z's avatar
Quest198z
Copper Contributor
Feb 09, 2026

how much of this has to change if using private endpoints comes into play and you have strict requirements to not route anything over the internet?

  • rgarofalo's avatar
    rgarofalo
    Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
    Feb 10, 2026

    Quest198z​ AndrewCi​ let me answer both questions here.

    The main challenge you will face in this requirement is the global layer 7 service provided by Traffic Manager or Front Door. Due to their nature of being global services, they don't provide a full "only Azure" network setup.

    • For standard services like Database, you will go full Private link and Internal DNS resolution
    • From Front-door you can do private only routing by pointing to AKS via private link

    If you are talking about an internal only landing zone, then the only component that cannot be private only is Front door and you need to look at alternative solutions. For example, private DNS, private WAF and private links but the failover will need a manual reconfiguration of the private DNS