Practical tools for system, network, security, and operations administrators.

CLD-C0033 · Cloud Networking

Hybrid Connectivity: VPN, Direct Connect, ExpressRoute

Compare a VPN, a direct connection, and a provider circuit as a note. Do not bring a circuit up during the reading.

Updated 25 October 2026 · Comparison

This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.

What this hour is for

Hybrid Connectivity writes the site you administer, the cloud network you administer, and which option is only a sketch. You do not configure a tunnel, and you do not share a pre-shared key in the note. prompt-for-this stands in for a secret.

Write the account, project, or repository you administer, the name of this change, and the time. A second change waits until this line has been read back.

The browser tool drafts text or reads a paste you already hold. It does not log in, it does not scan, and it does not apply.

192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced.

The change you can finish

Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the account named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the account, then decide.

Rollback is the previous file, the previous plan, or the lab resource you can delete because it was only a lab.

  1. Write the site and the cloud network.
  2. Name the option the ticket is asking about.
  3. Mark the others as unread.
  4. Do not configure a tunnel.
  5. Do not put a key in the note.
  6. Stop.

Mistakes that outlive the statement

Hybrid Connectivity: VPN, Direct Connect, ExpressRoute goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.

Decisions to write down

One decision for Hybrid Connectivity: VPN, Direct Connect, ExpressRoute: Both ends are yours, or the far end is only a name. Nothing is configured. No key is in the note. A cost figure is an estimate. And one option is the window.

Checks before you call it done

Confirm this before you call the change done: The site is written. Nothing was configured. No key is in the note. No circuit was ordered. And a second person can say which option is a sketch. If one of those fails, stop.

# Hybrid note. Do not configure a tunnel. Do not paste a key.

Before you leave the account

Hybrid Connectivity: VPN, Direct Connect, ExpressRoute ends when the account in the note is the account in the ticket. If it is not, stop.

The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log in, does not apply, and does not scan.

192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep. 10.0.0.0/16 is a sample prefix, not a network you publish unless you already use it.

prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not an access key, a token, or a password you save. An Azure secret draft may contain a sample password. Replace it. Do not file it.

One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it.

If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. Restore the copy you took first.

A second person reads the account and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done.

This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, not legal advice, and not an audit opinion. You do not apply it against an account you do not administer.

Tools for this guide

These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.

More in this cluster

The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.

Companion: Network: IPsec VPN Explained (IKEv1 vs IKEv2).