Note: A Visual Studio 2012 version of this Hands-on Lab can be found in GitHub.

Hands-On Labs are sets of step-by-step guides that are designed to help you learn how to use key Windows Azure services and features. Each Lab provides instructions to guide you through the process of developing a complete application.

Windows Azure Traffic Manager enables you to manage and distribute incoming traffic to your Windows Azure cloud services whether they are deployed in the same data center or in different centers across the world. In this hands-on lab, you will explore different load balancing policies available in Traffic Manager and how you can use them to enhance performance, increase availability, and balance traffic to your cloud services.

Note: You can download the latest build of the Windows Azure Training Kit which includes a tested version of this HOL from here: http://bit.ly/WindowsAzureTK.

Visit our GitHub Homepage for more information about the Windows Azure Training Kit.

In the root folder of this repository you will find the Hands-On Lab (HOL) document, HOL.md. Before beginning with the HOL exercises, make sure you have followed all the required steps indicated at the setup section of the HOL document.

In the Source folder you will find the source code of each of the exercises, as well as the assets and setup scripts. Throughout the HOL you will be instructed to open and explore the different solutions from the source folder. It is typically comprised of the following subfolders:

• Assets: This folder contains files that are used throughout the exercises.
• Exercise Name: Each exercise that requires a programming solution has its own code folder.
  • Begin: The begin solution is the initial incomplete solution that you will finish by following the steps of the corresponding exercise.
    • End: The end solution is the final result you will achieve at the end of an exercise.
• Setup: This folder contains the dependency files and the setup scripts necessary to initialize specific configurations of the lab, being its execution is required in the majority of the Hands-on Labs.

In order to run the solutions of the exercises provided by this lab you will first need configure your environment and install any necessary prerequisites such as runtimes, components, or libraries. For your ease, you can download and run the dependency checker [here] (http://contentinstaller.blob.core.windows.net/dependency-checker/DC.exe) to automatically check and install all the requirements. Each lab also includes setup instructions for getting started.

If you find any issues or opportunties for improving this hands-on lab, fix them! Feel free to contribute to this project by forking this repository and make changes to the content. Once you've made your changes, share them back with the community by sending a pull request. Please see GitHub section How to send pull requests and the Windows Azure Contribution Guidelines for more information about contributing to projects.

If you find any issues with this hands-on lab that you can't fix, feel free to report them in the issues section of this repository.