Azure Service Endpoint vs Private Endpoint

Both are used for outbound connectivity from VNET to other Resources over Azure Backbone network without going through Internet.

Service Endpoint is used for Private connectivity between an Azure Resource and a Subnet. Without need of creating a Private IP Address.
Service Endpoint can be enabled on Resource Type and not on Resource.

In effect, you are extending the identity of the VNet to the service resource. You can then lock down the service resource, so it only accepts traffic from the subnet associated with the service endpoint.

For example, say you have a virtual machine (VM) in a VNet that needs to communicate with an Azure storage account. You can combine a service endpoint, storage account, and NSG so that traffic from a VM in a private subnet reaches the storage account without hitting the internet, the storage account blocks all traffic unless it’s from that subnet, and the NSG restricts outbound traffic from the subnet to the internet.

In Private Endpoint, we will create a Private IP address that sits in same VNET of VM, and it acts as a proxy and connects to a Resource.

Azure Private Link is a service that allows virtual network resources to privately connect to other resources as if they were part of the same virtual network, carrying traffic across the Microsoft Azure backbone instead of the internet.

Here we can pin a private endpoint to a specific resource, and sub resource as blob, container etc.,

You can assign the storage account a private IP address from a VNet, and a virtual machine (VM) in that VNet can access the storage account without going over the internet.
This is powerful because it means you don’t need to use public IP addresses, either at the traffic source or destination. It’s as if you’re bringing the storage account inside the VNet.

Differences:

With service endpoints, you’re still connecting to the target resource’s public endpoint. This effectively extends the identity of the VNet to the target resource.
With private endpoints, you’re assigning the target resource a private IP address from the VNet, essentially bringing it into the network. The target resource’s public IP address doesn’t go away, but you can lock it down so all traffic from the internet is denied.

Service endpoints are free. Private endpoints are charged according to resource hours used and inbound/outbound data processed

Service endpoints do not support on-premises traffic because they can only be secured to virtual networks. However, private endpoints support traffic from on-premises via ExpressRoute, private peering, and VPN tunnels.

Service Endpoint and Private Endpoint lab coming soon.

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