Introduction to Azure Virtual Networking

Cloud-based virtual networks are software based, and they provide a standard way to organize and isolate Virtual Machines running in the cloud. A virtual network controls addressing, DNS settings, security policies, and routing tables.

Virtual Networks which are commonly referred to as “v-nets”, are isolated from one another. Due to the isolation, you can create networks for development, testing, and production that use the same address blocks.

To allow even further isolation, v-nets support subnets, which allow you to segment the network. Subnets will allow you to break out VMs by their purpose, which is common with tiered architectures. For example, if you have an application broken out into front-end and back-end tiers, then you might want to create two subnets, one for the front-end VMs, and another for the back-end tier.

If you're familiar with traditional networking components then you're going to feel right at home working with v-nets. So, if you're looking to learn more, then start in on the first lesson!