DDoS IP Protection: A New, Low-Cost Option for SMB

Microsoft announced the Azure DDoS IP Protection released as a public preview on October 19, 2022. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can now benefit from DDoS protection with a pricing model customized to their specifications.

DDoS Protection provides similar capabilities to DDoS Network Protection (previously known as DDoS Protection Standard). It is designed for enterprises and organizations to protect significant deployments of resources against DDoS attacks.

This new SKU includes all the essential features, such as automatically detecting and mitigating L3/L4 attacks, metrics and alerts, mitigation flow logs, and mitigation policies tailored to the customer's needs. It also includes Azure Firewall Manager, Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration.

Unlike the DDos Network Protection product, DDoS IP Protection does not include DDoS rapid response support, cost protection, or WAF discounts.

According to Amir Dahan, Microsoft's senior product manager for Azure Networking, "With the DDoS IP Protection SKU, customers now have the flexibility to enable DDoS protection on individual public IP addresses. This low-cost DDoS protection option is ideal for SMB clients who only need to secure a handful of public IP addresses.

Azure's global network provides cloud-scale DDoS protection so that users can defend their workloads against sophisticated DDoS threats. Users can minimize false negatives while protecting their apps and resources by tuning the application's scale and actual traffic patterns. In near real-time, users can monitor and respond to DDoS attacks based on visibility into the attack lifecycle, vectors, and mitigation.

With Azure's firewall manager, users can manage their DDoS protection and other network security services in one place. Microsoft Defender for Cloud security sends alerts and recommendations to the user. In addition, Microsoft Sentinel's rich attack analytics and telemetry integration allow users to strengthen their security measures.

Upon enrollment, customers can enable the Public IP Standard SKU with DDoS IP protection in selected regions. Within the Azure Preview Portal, the SKU can be managed under the Azure DDoS Protection configuration window.

Billing for the new DDoS IP Protection will begin on February 1, 2023.

DDoS IP Protection is an excellent solution for SMBs that need to secure their public IP addresses against DDoS threats. It offers similar capabilities as DDoS Network Protection but at significantly lower prices. This makes it an ideal choice for small and medium-sized businesses looking to take advantage of Azure's world-class DDoS protection without breaking the bank.