Deciding on an ExpressRoute connectivity model

When architecting an ExpressRoute connection, there are different connectivity models that we can implement for a circuit—a provider model and an ExpressRoute direct model. We need to specify the option that we’re using when we create our ExpressRoute gateway (Figure 6.4). Let’s have a look at the different models:

Figure 6.4 – Selecting an ExpressRoute connectivity model

Understanding the provider model

The provider model connects a remote network to the Azure network through a third-party provider connection network. To establish this connection, we need to work with a partner that specializes in ExpressRoute connectivity (as shown in Figure 6.3).

Figure 6.3, which we saw earlier, actually illustrates the logical connection of a customer network to the Microsoft network using the provider model.

Depending on the service offerings of the ExpressRoute partner that we choose...