Harness the Power of Azure with NGINXaaS – Advanced Load Balancing and API Gateway

Introduction

These days, applications are the business itself, not just a means of facilitating it. Applications are becoming more and more vulnerable to cyberattacks as businesses embrace distributed, API-centric and cloud-native approaches. More than just conventional perimeter defenses are needed to protect them; a flexible, intelligent and cloud-integrated security approach is needed.

We at World Wide Technology (WWT) collaborate closely with industry titans such as Microsoft and F5 to deliver scalable, secure application platforms. One excellent illustration is F5 NGINXaaS for Azure, a natively available, fully managed Application Delivery Controller-as-a-Service (ADCaaS) available via the Azure Marketplace. Businesses can innovate more quickly without compromising security thanks to F5's NGINXaaS, which combines integrated Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities with enhanced application delivery.

Why WAF matters for modern enterprises

The online-exposed APIs, microservices dispersed among clusters, and dynamically expanding workloads all contribute to the inherent complexity of the modern application landscape. By using injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), credential stuffing, and zero-day exploits, attackers take advantage of these dynamics.

A cloud-native WAF integrated into F5 NGINXaaS for Azure enables enterprises to:

• Defend against OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities and zero-day attacks.
• Adjust security posture dynamically as applications scale.
• Embed protection directly into DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.
• Achieve visibility into threats via Azure Monitor, Log Analytics and KQL queries.
• Simplify operations with automated policy updates and fully managed infrastructure.

What is F5 NGINXaaS: WAF?

F5 WAF for NGINX, a lightweight, high-performance WAF designed specifically for cloud-first apps, is the foundation of the F5 NGINXaaS WAF. F5 WAF for NGINX secures traffic inline without increasing latency because it is integrated directly into the NGINX data plane, in contrast to typical appliances.

With this paradigm, businesses can swiftly implement safe, compliant apps without the need for third-party connections, extra hardware or manual patching. Performance and security are scalable together, so companies never have to choose between the two.

Key features of F5 NGINXaaS: WAF

1. OWASP Top 10 Protection
   • Shields apps from injection, XSS, CSRF, and command injection.
   • Continuously updated signatures and threat intelligence.
2. API & Microservices Security
   • Protects REST and gRPC APIs with schema validation, JWT authentication and rate limiting.
   • Inspect JSON/XML payloads to prevent data leaks.
3. Azure-Native Integration
   • One-click WAF enablement in the Azure Portal.
   • Built-in observability with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics.
   • Simplified invoicing and lifecycle management through Azure.
4. High Performance
   • Designed for high-throughput, low-latency apps.
   • Security inspection happens in-line with L4–L7 traffic flows.
5. DevSecOps Friendly
   • Manage WAF policies with Terraform, ARM templates, or GitHub Actions.
   • Integrate into CI/CD workflows to "shift security left."
   • Apply consistent policies across dev, staging and production.
6. Zero-Trust & Compliance
   • Enforce authentication and granular access controls.
   • Meets compliance needs for PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR and more.

Use cases

• Application Security—Safeguard business-critical apps against OWASP Top 10 and zero-day threats.
• API Security – Enforce authentication, schema validation, and rate limiting.
• DevSecOps—Automate testing and policy enforcement directly in CI/CD pipelines.
• Zero-Trust Environments—Apply policies at the edge in hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
• Threat Detection—Monitor and respond to attacks using Azure dashboards and alerts.

F5 NGINXaaS: WAF in Action

With F5 NGINXaaS, deploying a WAF is simple—just turn protection on and off when setting up the service. Applications and APIs are protected against both common and sophisticated threats in a matter of minutes. Azure's observability stack receives security logs and data directly, allowing teams to query, analyze, and react instantly.

This as-a-service model eliminates the burdens of legacy WAF deployments:

• No hardware appliances
• No patching or capacity planning
• No fragmented management tools

Instead, enterprises gain unified L4–L7 application delivery and security in a single managed service, directly integrated with Azure.

Step-by-step procedure to test the Demo

 Go to the public GitHub link below and follow the steps to test the automation demo.

https://github.com/akananth/nginx_automation_examples/tree/main/workflow%20guides/nginxaas-nap

Summary

F5 NGINXaaS for Azure with integrated WAF is more than just a managed NGINX instance—it's a strategic platform for secure application delivery in the cloud. By combining the performance and flexibility of NGINX with the power of F5 WAF for NGINX, organizations can secure APIs, microservices, and distributed workloads while preserving agility.

Whether modernizing legacy applications or building next-generation digital services, F5's NGINXaaS WAF provides cloud-native simplicity with enterprise-grade protection, helping organizations deliver great experiences securely, reliably, and at scale.

Why WWT?

As an F5 Platinum Partner and trusted Azure integrator, WWT brings unmatched expertise in application services, cloud infrastructure, and secure DevOps practices. Through our Advanced Technology Center (ATC), we offer hands-on labs, proofs of concept, and customized deployment strategies to help you adopt NGINXaaS faster and smarter.

Transform your application delivery with WWT, F5 and Azure. Let us help you simplify operations, enhance security, and accelerate innovation.