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      What is an Azure Hybrid Connection?

      Hybrid Connections can be used to access application resources in other networks, outside of Azure. It provides access from a hosted application to an external application endpoint.

       

      Each Hybrid Connection correlates to a single TCP host and port combination. This means that the Hybrid Connection endpoint can be on any operating system and any application, provided we are accessing a TCP listening port. The Hybrid Connections feature does not know or care what the application protocol is, or what is being accessed. It is simply providing network access.

       

      How it works

      The Hybrid Connections feature consists of two outbound calls to Azure Service Bus Relay. There is a connection from a library on the host where your app is running in App Service. There is also a connection from the Hybrid Connection Manager (HCM) to Service Bus Relay. The HCM is a relay service that you deploy within the network hosting the resource you are trying to access.

      Through the two joined connections, your app has a TCP tunnel to a fixed host:port combination on the other side of the HCM. The connection uses TLS 1.2 for security and shared access signature (SAS) keys for authentication and authorization.

       

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      When your app makes a DNS request that matches a configured Hybrid Connection endpoint, the outbound TCP traffic will be redirected through the Hybrid Connection. 

       

      There are a number of benefits to the Hybrid Connections capability, including: 

      • Apps can access on-premises systems and services securely. 
      • The feature does not require an internet-accessible endpoint. 
      • It is quick and easy to set up. 
      • Each Hybrid Connection matches to a single host:port combination, helpful for security. 
      • It normally does not require firewall holes. The connections are all outbound over standard web ports. 
      • Because the feature is network level, it is agnostic to the language used by your app and the technology used by the endpoint. 
      • It can be used to provide access in multiple networks from a single app.