Create a Traffic Manager profile

In this lab, you’ll read about two instances of a web application. Each of them is running in a different Azure region. You’ll create a Traffic Manager profile based on endpoint priority. The profile directs user traffic to the primary site running the web application. Traffic Manager continuously monitors the web application. If the primary site is unavailable, it provides automatic failover to the backup site.

Prerequisites

For this quickstart, you’ll need two instances of a web application deployed in two different Azure regions (East US and West Europe). Each will serve as primary and failover endpoints for Traffic Manager.

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
2. On the upper-left side of the screen, select Create a resource. Search for Web App and select Create.
3. In Create a Web App, type or select the following values in the Basics tab:

   Setting	Value
   Subscription	Select your subscription.
   Resource group	Select Create new and enter myResourceGroupTM1 in the text box.
   Name	Enter a unique Name for your web app. This example uses myWebAppEastUS.
   Publish	Select Code.
   Runtime stack	Select ASP.NET V4.8.
   Operating System	Select Windows.
   Region	Select East US.
   Windows Plan	Select Create new and enter myAppServicePlanEastUS in the text box.
   Sku and size	Select Standard S1 100 total ACU, 1.75-GB memory.

4. Select the Monitoring tab, or select Next to the Monitoring tab. Under Monitoring, set Application Insights > Enable Application Insights to No.
5. Select Review and create.
6. Review the settings, and then select Create. When the Web App successfully deploys, it creates a default web site.
7. Follow steps 1-6 to create a second Web App named myWebAppWestEurope. The Resource Group name is myResourceGroupTM2, with Region of West Europe, and App Service Plan name of myAppServicePlanWestEurope. All the other settings are the same as myWebAppEastUS.

Create a Traffic Manager profile

Create a Traffic Manager profile that directs user traffic based on endpoint priority.

1. On the upper-left side of the screen, select Create a resource. Then search for Traffic Manager profile and select Create.
2. In the Create Traffic Manager profile, enter, or select these settings:

   Setting	Value
   Name	Enter a unique name for your Traffic Manager profile.
   Routing method	Select Priority.
   Subscription	Select the subscription you want the traffic manager profile applied to.
   Resource group	Select myResourceGroupTM1.
   Location	This setting refers to the location of the resource group. It has no effect on the Traffic Manager profile that will be deployed globally.

3. Select Create.

Add Traffic Manager endpoints

Add the website in the East US as primary endpoint to route all the user traffic. Add the website in West Europe as a failover endpoint. When the primary endpoint is unavailable, traffic automatically routes to the failover endpoint.

1. In the portal’s search bar, enter the Traffic Manager profile name that you created in the preceding section.
2. Select the profile from the search results.
3. In Traffic Manager profile, in the Settings section, select Endpoints, and then select Add.
4. Enter, or select, these settings:

   Setting	Value
   Type	Select Azure endpoint.
   Name	Enter myPrimaryEndpoint.
   Target resource type	Select App Service.
   Target resource	Select Choose an app service > East US.
   Priority	Select 1. All traffic goes to this endpoint when it’s healthy.

5. Select Add.
6. To create a failover endpoint for your second Azure region, repeat steps 3 and 4 with these settings:

   Setting	Value
   Type	Select Azure endpoint.
   Name	Enter myFailoverEndpoint.
   Target resource type	Select App Service.
   Target resource	Select Choose an app service > West Europe.
   Priority	Select 2. All traffic goes to this failover endpoint if the primary endpoint is unhealthy.

7. Select Add.

When you’re done adding the two endpoints, they’re displayed in Traffic Manager profile. Notice that their monitoring status is Online now.

Test Traffic Manager profile

In this section, you’ll check the domain name of your Traffic Manager profile. You’ll also configure the primary endpoint to be unavailable. Finally, you get to see that the web app is still available. It’s because Traffic Manager sends the traffic to the failover endpoint.

Check the DNS name

1. In the portal’s search bar, search for the Traffic Manager profile name that you created in the preceding section.
2. Select the traffic manager profile. The Overview appears.
3. The Traffic Manager profile displays the DNS name of your newly created Traffic Manager profile.
   

View Traffic Manager in action

1. In a web browser, enter the DNS name of your Traffic Manager profile to view your Web App’s default website.
   
2. To view Traffic Manager failover in action, disable your primary site:
   1. In the Traffic Manager Profile page, from the Overview section, select myPrimaryEndpoint.
   2. In myPrimaryEndpoint, select Disabled > Save.
   3. Close myPrimaryEndpoint. Notice that the status is Disabled now.
3. Copy the DNS name of your Traffic Manager Profile from the preceding step to view the website in a new web browser session.
4. Verify that the web app is still available.

The primary endpoint isn’t available, so you were routed to the failover endpoint.