Final answer:
An Azure Application Gateway is needed for sophisticated load balancing and traffic management for web applications on Azure. It supports URL-based routing, SSL termination, autoscaling, and includes Azure security features like WAF for protecting against web vulnerabilities.
Step-by-step explanation:
An Azure Application Gateway is required if you need advanced load balancing features for your web applications hosted on Microsoft Azure. It is a web traffic management solution that enables you to manage traffic to your web applications. By routing traffic based on URL or path, the Application Gateway allows for the distribution of traffic across multiple servers or services. This is particularly useful in scenarios where you want to run multiple applications on the same domain but need to direct user requests to the correct application based on the URL.
Additionally, the Azure Application Gateway provides built-in Azure security features like Web Application Firewall (WAF) that can help protect your applications from common web vulnerabilities. This security component is crucial for maintaining the integrity and reliability of your application. With the Azure Application Gateway, developers and administrators can ensure a smooth user experience by providing SSL termination, autoscaling, and session affinity.