Why NPIP is an optional and not mandatory

[User16826994223]

Even though the NPIP is more secure as the network traffic travel through Microsoft backbone network why it is optional , it should be mandatory, is there some limitataion or a case where we may not able to use NPIP .

[sajith_appukutt]

NPIP / secure cluster connectivity  requires a NAT gateway (or similar appliance) for outbound traffic from your workspace’s subnets to the Azure backbone and public network. This incurs a small additional cost. Also, it is worth mentioning that network traffic between data plane and control plane travels through Microsoft backbone network irrespective of whether NPIP is enabled or not.

But given the fact that you could automate workspace creation via terraform etc and low cost for NAT gateway, IMO NPIP is a better choice.