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AZ-500: Can Azure Application Security Groups Include VMs from Different Regions?

Why Must VMs in an Azure Application Security Group Share the Same VNet?

Get clarity on Azure network security for the AZ-500 exam. Understand the regional limitations of an Application Security Group (ASG) and why its VMs must be in the same VNet.

Question

VMs included in an Application Security Group cannot be located in different Azure regions.

A. TRUE
B. FALSE

Answer

A. TRUE

Explanation

Members of an Application Security Group must be located in the same Azure region.

Virtual machines (VMs) included in an Application Security Group (ASG) must be located in the same virtual network (VNet). Because a VNet is a resource that is scoped to a single Azure region, all resources within it, including the network interfaces of VMs assigned to an ASG, must also exist in that same region.

  • Function of Application Security Groups (ASGs): ASGs are used to logically group virtual machines with similar functions, such as web servers or database servers. This grouping allows you to define network security policies in Network Security Groups (NSGs) based on these logical groups rather than on individual IP addresses. This simplifies the administration of NSG rules, especially in dynamic environments where VMs are created and deleted frequently.
  • Architectural Relationship: The hierarchy of these components is key. A VM’s network interface (NIC) is what connects it to a VNet. You assign the NIC of a VM to an ASG. The ASG itself is then used as a source or destination in an NSG rule. Both the NIC and the VNet are regional resources; they cannot span multiple Azure regions.
  • The Regional Constraint: Since an ASG is a collection of VM network interfaces, and all those network interfaces must belong to the same VNet, the ASG’s scope is inherently limited to the region of that VNet. You cannot add a VM from a different region to an ASG because it would be in a different VNet.

For the AZ-500 exam, it is critical to understand that ASGs are a mechanism for simplifying security management within a single virtual network and region. For securing traffic between different regions, you would use other Azure services like VNet Peering with NSGs, Azure Firewall, or Azure Virtual WAN.

Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 certification exam assessment practice question and answer (Q&A) dump including multiple choice questions (MCQ) and objective type questions, with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 exam and earn Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 certification.