Content freshness and misc updates.

articles/cloud-services-connect-virtual-machine.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	ms.tgt_pltfrm="vm-multiple" 
 	ms.devlang="na" 
 	ms.topic="article" 
-	ms.date="10/30/2014" 
+	ms.date="02/10/2015" 
 	ms.author="kathydav"/>
 
 

articles/storage-windows-detach-disk.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	ms.tgt_pltfrm="vm-windows" 
 	ms.devlang="na" 
 	ms.topic="article" 
-	ms.date="10/22/2014" 
+	ms.date="02/10/2015" 
 	ms.author="kathydav"/>
 
 

articles/virtual-machines-linux-how-to-detach-disk.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	ms.tgt_pltfrm="vm-linux" 
 	ms.devlang="na" 
 	ms.topic="article" 
-	ms.date="10/31/2014" 
+	ms.date="02/10/2015" 
 	ms.author="kathydav"/>
 
 

articles/virtual-machines-load-balance.md

@@ -13,11 +13,69 @@
 	ms.tgt_pltfrm="na" 
 	ms.devlang="na" 
 	ms.topic="article" 
-	ms.date="02/04/2015" 
+	ms.date="02/10/2015" 
 	ms.author="cherylmc"/>
 
 
+#Load Balancing for Azure Infrastructure Services#
 
+There are two levels of load balancing available for Azure infrastructure services:
 
+- **DNS Level**:  Load balancing for traffic to different cloud services located in different data centers, to different Azure websites located in different data centers, or to external endpoints. This is done with Traffic Manager and the Round Robin load balancing method.
+- **Network Level**:  Load balancing of incoming Internet traffic to different virtual machines of a cloud service, or load balancing of traffic between virtual machines in a cloud service or virtual network. This is done with the Azure load balancer.
+
+##Traffic Manager load balancing for cloud services and websites##
+
+Azure Traffic Manager allows you to control the distribution of user traffic to endpoints, which can include cloud services, websites, external sites, and other Traffic Manager profiles. Traffic Manager works by applying an intelligent policy engine to Domain Name System (DNS) queries for the domain names of your Internet resources. Your cloud services or websites can be running in different datacenters across the world. 
+
+You must use either REST or Windows PowerShell to configure external endpoints or Traffic Manager profiles as endpoints. 
+
+Azure Traffic Manager uses three load-balancing methods to distribute traffic:
+
+- **Failover**:  Use this method when you want to use a primary endpoint for all traffic, but provide backups in case the primary becomes unavailable.
+- **Performance**:  Use this method when you have endpoints in different geographic locations and you want requesting clients to use the "closest" endpoint in terms of the lowest latency.
+- **Round Robin:**  Use this method when you want to distribute load across a set of cloud services in the same datacenter or across cloud services or websites in different datacenters.
+
+For more information, see [About Traffic Manager Load Balancing Methods](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn339010.aspx).
+
+The following figure shows an example of the Round Robin load balancing method for distributing traffic between different cloud services.
+
+![loadbalancing](./media/load-balancing-vms/TMSummary.png)
+
+The basic process is the following:
+
+1.	An Internet client queries a domain name corresponding to a web service.
+2.	DNS forwards the name query request to Traffic Manager.
+3.	Traffic Manager chooses the next cloud service in the round robin list and sends back the DNS name. The Internet client's DNS server resolves the name to an IP address and sends it to the Internet client.
+4.	The Internet client connects with the cloud service chosen by Traffic Manager.
+
+For more information, see [Traffic Manager](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/hh745750.aspx).
+
+## Azure load balancing for virtual machines ##
+
+Virtual machines in the same cloud service or virtual network can communicate with each other directly using their private IP addresses. Computers and services outside the cloud service or virtual network can only communicate with virtual machines in a cloud service or virtual network with a configured endpoint. An endpoint is a mapping of a public IP address and port to that private IP address and port of a virtual machine or web role within an Azure cloud service.
+
+The Azure Load Balancer randomly distributes a specific type of incoming traffic across multiple virtual machines or services in a configuration known as a load-balanced set. For example, you can spread the load of web request traffic across multiple web servers or web roles.
+
+The following figure shows a load-balanced endpoint for standard (unencrypted) web traffic that is shared among three virtual machines for the public and private TCP port of 80. These three virtual machines are in a load-balanced set.
+
+![loadbalancing](./media/load-balancing-vms/LoadBalancing.png)
+
+For more information, see [Azure Load Balancer](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn655058.aspx). For the steps to create a load-balanced set, see [Configure a load-balanced set](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn655055.aspx).
+
+Azure can also load balance within a cloud service or virtual network. This is known as internal load balancing and can be used in the following ways:
+
+- To load balance between servers in different tiers of a multi-tier application (for example, between web and database tiers).
+- Load balancing for line-of-business (LOB) applications hosted in Azure without requiring additional load balancer hardware or software. 
+- Including on-premises servers in the set of computers whose traffic that is load balanced.
+
+Similar to Azure load balancing, internal load balancing is facilitated by configuring an internal load-balanced set. 
+
+The following figure shows an example of an internal load-balanced endpoint for a line of business (LOB) application that is shared among three virtual machines in a cross-premises virtual network. 
+
+![loadbalancing](./media/load-balancing-vms/LOBServers.png)
+
+For more information, see [Internal load balancing](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn690121.aspx). For the steps to create a load-balanced set, see [Configure an internal load-balanced set](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn690125.aspx).
+
+<!-- LINKS -->
 
-[AZURE.INCLUDE [load-balancing-vms](../includes/load-balancing-vms.md)]

articles/virtual-networks-setup-hybrid-cloud-environment-testing.md

@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ There are five major phases to setting up this hybrid cloud test environment:
 4.	Create the site-to-site VPN connection.
 5.	Configure DC2. 
 
-If you do not already have an Azure subscription, you can sign up for a free trial at [Try Azure](http://www.windowsazure.com/pricing/free-trial/). If you have an MSDN Subscription, see [Azure benefit for MSDN subscribers](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/msdn-benefits-details/).
+If you don't already have an Azure subscription, you can sign up for a free trial at [Try Azure](http://www.windowsazure.com/pricing/free-trial/). If you have an MSDN Subscription, see [Azure benefit for MSDN subscribers](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/msdn-benefits-details/).
+
+>[AZURE.NOTE] Virtual machines and virtual network gateways in Azure incur an ongoing monetary cost when they are running. This cost is billed against your free trial, MSDN subscription, or paid subscription. To reduce the costs of running this test environment when you are not using it, see [Minimizing the ongoing costs of this environment](#costs) in this topic for more information.
 
 ##Phase 1: Configure the computers on the Corpnet subnet
 
@@ -291,9 +293,11 @@ Your hybrid cloud environment is now ready for testing.
 
 [Set up Office 365 Directory Synchronization (DirSync) in a hybrid cloud for testing](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-networks-setup-dirsync-hybrid-cloud-testing/)
 
-##Minimizing the ongoing costs of the Azure VPN gateway
+##Minimizing the ongoing costs of this environment
+
+To minimize the costs of running the virtual machines in this environment, perform your needed testing and demonstration as quickly as possible and then delete them or shut down the virtual machines when you are not using them.
 
-The Azure VPN gateway is implemented as a set of two Azure virtual machines that incur an ongoing monetary cost. This cost is billed against your free trial, MSDN subscription, or paid subscription. For the details, see [Pricing - Virtual Network](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-network/). To minimize the costs of the VPN gateway, create the test environment and perform your needed testing and demonstration as quickly as possible or delete the gateway with these steps. 
+The Azure VPN gateway is implemented as a set of two Azure virtual machines that incur an ongoing monetary cost. For the details, see [Pricing - Virtual Network](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-network/). To minimize the costs of the VPN gateway, create the test environment and perform your needed testing and demonstration as quickly as possible or delete the gateway with these steps. 
 
 1.	From the Azure Management Portal on your local computer, click **Networks** in the left pane, click **TestVNET**, and then click **Dashboard**.
 2.	In the task bar, click **Delete Gateway**. Click **Yes** when prompted. Wait until the gateway is deleted and its status changes to **The Gateway Was Not Created**.

articles/virtual-networks-setup-simulated-hybrid-cloud-environment-testing.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	ms.tgt_pltfrm="na" 
 	ms.devlang="na" 
 	ms.topic="article" 
-	ms.date="01/30/2015" 
+	ms.date="02/09/2015" 
 	ms.author="josephd"/>
 
 #Set up a simulated hybrid cloud environment for testing
@@ -42,7 +42,11 @@ There are four major phases to setting up this hybrid cloud test environment:
 3.	Create the VNet-to-VNet VPN connection.
 4.	Configure DC2. 
 
-If you do not already have an Azure subscription, you can sign up for a free trial at [Try Azure](http://www.windowsazure.com/pricing/free-trial/). If you have an MSDN Subscription, see [Azure benefit for MSDN subscribers](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/msdn-benefits-details/).
+If you don't already have an Azure subscription, you can sign up for a free trial at [Try Azure](http://www.windowsazure.com/pricing/free-trial/). If you have an MSDN Subscription, see [Azure benefit for MSDN subscribers](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/msdn-benefits-details/).
+
+>[AZURE.NOTE] Virtual machines and virtual network gateways in Azure incur an ongoing monetary cost when they are running. This cost is billed against your free trial, MSDN subscription, or paid subscription. To reduce the costs of running this test environment when you are not using it, see [Minimizing the ongoing costs of this environment](#costs) in this topic for more information.
+
+
 
 ##Phase 1: Configure the TestLab virtual network
 
@@ -69,9 +73,9 @@ First, create a new virtual network named TestVNET.
 4.	Click the Next arrow.
 5.	On the DNS Servers and VPN Connectivity page, in **DNS Servers**, type **DC1** in **Select or enter name**, and then click the Next arrow.
 6.	On the Virtual Network Address Spaces page:
-- In **Address Space**, in **Starting IP**, select or type **192.168.0.0**.
-- In **Subnets**, click **Subnet-1** and replace the name with **TestSubnet**. 
-- In the **CIDR (Address Count)** column for the TestSubnet, click **/24 (256)**.
+	- In **Address Space**, in **Starting IP**, select or type **192.168.0.0**.
+	- In **Subnets**, click **Subnet-1** and replace the name with **TestSubnet**. 
+	- In the **CIDR (Address Count)** column for the TestSubnet, click **/24 (256)**.
 7.	Click the Complete icon. Wait until the virtual network is created before continuing.
 
 Next, use the instructions in [How to install and configure Azure PowerShell to install Azure PowerShell on your local computer](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/install-configure-powershell/).
@@ -227,9 +231,11 @@ You can also build these configurations in this test environment:
 [Configure a VNet to VNet Connection](http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/azure/dn690122.aspx)
 
 
-##Minimizing the ongoing costs of the Azure VPN gateways
+##<a id="costs"></a>Minimizing the ongoing costs of this environment
+
+To minimize the costs of running the virtual machines in this environment, perform your needed testing and demonstration as quickly as possible and then delete them or shut down the virtual machines when you are not using them. When you start the virtual machines on the Corpnet subnet again, start DC1 first.
 
-An Azure VPN gateway is implemented as a set of two Azure virtual machines that incur an ongoing monetary cost. This cost is billed against your free trial, MSDN subscription, or paid subscription. For the details, see [Pricing - Virtual Network](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-network/). To minimize the costs of the two VPN gateways (one for TestLab and one for TestVNET), create the test environment and perform your needed testing and demonstration as quickly as possible or delete the gateways with these steps.
+An Azure VPN gateway is implemented as a set of two Azure virtual machines that incur an ongoing monetary cost. For the details, see [Pricing - Virtual Network](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-network/). To minimize the costs of the two VPN gateways (one for TestLab and one for TestVNET), create the test environment and perform your needed testing and demonstration as quickly as possible or delete the gateways with these steps.
 
 1.	From the Azure Management Portal on your local computer, click **Networks** in the left pane, click **TestLab**, and then click **Dashboard**.
 2.	In the task bar, click **Delete Gateway**. Click **Yes** when prompted. Wait until the gateway is deleted and its status changes to **The Gateway Was Not Created**.

includes/howto-connect-vm-cloud-service.md

@@ -1,28 +1,52 @@
 <properties authors="kathydav" editor="tysonn" manager="timlt" /> 
 
 
-#How to Connect Virtual Machines in a Cloud Service
+#How to Connect Virtual Machines with a Virtual Network or Cloud Service
 
-When you create a virtual machine, a cloud service is automatically created to contain the machine. You can create multiple virtual machines within the same cloud service so virtual machines can communicate with each other. 
+Virtual machines must be in a cloud service, which acts as a container and provides a unique public DNS name, a public IP address, and a set of endpoints to access the virtual machine over the Internet. The cloud service can optionally be in a virtual network. 
 
-> [AZURE.NOTE] When VMs are in the same cloud service, you also can load balance them and manage their availability, which both require additional steps. For details, see [Load balancing virtual machines](../../articles/load-balance-virtual-machines/) and [Manage the availability of virtual machines](../../articles/manage-availability-virtual-machines/). 
+If a cloud service is not in a virtual network, the virtual machines in that cloud service can only communicate with other virtual machines through the use of the other virtual machines’ public DNS names, and that traffic would travel over the Internet. If a cloud service is in a virtual network,  the virtual machines in that cloud service can communicate with all other virtual machines in the virtual network without sending any traffic over the Internet.
 
-First, you'll need to create a virtual machine with a new cloud service. Then you'll create additional virtual machines in the same cloud service. This 'connects' them. 
+If you place your virtual machines in the same standalone cloud service, you can take advantage of load balancing and availability sets. For details, see [Load balancing virtual machines](../../articles/load-balance-virtual-machines/) and [Manage the availability of virtual machines](../../articles/manage-availability-virtual-machines/). However, you cannot organize the virtual machines on subnets or connect a standalone cloud service to your on-premises network. Here is an example.
 
-1. Create the first virtual machine using the steps in [How to create a custom virtual machine](../../articles/virtual-machines-create-custom/).
+![Virtual machines in a standalone cloud service](./media/howto-connect-vm-cloud-service/CloudServiceExample.png)
+
+If you place your virtual machines in a virtual network, you can decide how many cloud services you want to use to take advantage of load balancing and availability sets. Additionally, you can organize the virtual machines on subnets in the same way as your on-premises network and connect the virtual network to your on-premises network. Here is an example.
 
-2. Follow the same basic process to create the other virtual machines, except you'll add them to the cloud service instead of creating a cloud service. For example, if you created a cloud service named *EndpointTest*, choose that service. The follow graphic shows this:
+![Virtual machines in a virtual network](./media/howto-connect-vm-cloud-service/VirtualNetworkExample.png)
 
-	![Add a virtual machine to an existing cloud service](./media/howto-connect-vm-cloud-service/Connect-VM-to-CS.png)
+Virtual networks are the recommended way to connect virtual machines in Azure. The best practice is to configure each tier of your application in a separate cloud service. This enables advanced user rights delegation through Role Based Access Control (RBAC). For more information, see [Role Based Access Control in Azure Preview Portal](../../articles//role-based-access-control-configure/). However, you may need to combine some virtual machines from different application tiers into the same cloud service to remain within the maximum of 200 cloud services per subscription.
 
-14. Complete the rest of the fields on this page and the next, then click the check mark to create the connected virtual machine.
+To connect virtual machines in a virtual network:
 
-#Resources
+1.	Create the virtual network in the Azure Management Portal. For more information, see [Virtual Network Configuration Tasks](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/azure/jj156206.aspx).
+2.	Create the set of cloud services for your deployment in the Azure Management Portal to reflect your design for availability sets and load balancing with **New > Compute > Cloud Service > Custom Create**.
+3.	When you create each new virtual machine, specify the correct cloud service and your virtual network. If the cloud service has been previously associated with your virtual network, its name will already be selected for you.
+
+Here is an example using the Azure Management Portal.
+
+![Selecting a cloud service for a virtual machine](./media/howto-connect-vm-cloud-service/VMConfig1.png)
+
+To connect virtual machines in a standalone cloud service:
+
+1.	Create the cloud service for your deployment in the Azure Management Portal with **New > Compute > Cloud Service > Custom Create**.
+2.	When you create the virtual machine, specify the name of cloud service created in step 1. 
+Alternately, you can create the cloud service for your deployment when you create your first virtual machine.
+
+Here is an example using the Azure Management Portal for the existing cloud service named EndpointTest.
+
+![Add a virtual machine to an existing cloud service](./media/howto-connect-vm-cloud-service/Connect-VM-to-CS.png)
+
+##Resources
+[Load balancing virtual machines](../../articles/load-balance-virtual-machines/)
+
+[Manage the availability of virtual machines](../../articles/manage-availability-virtual-machines/)
+
+[Virtual Network Configuration Tasks](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/azure/jj156206.aspx)
 
 After you create a virtual machine, it's a good idea to add a data disk so your services and workloads have a location to store data. See one of the following:
 
 [How to Attach a Data Disk to a Linux Virtual Machine](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-linux-how-to-attach-disk/)
 
 [How to Attach a Data Disk to a Windows Virtual Machine](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/storage-windows-attach-disk/)
 
-