Merge pull request #277887 from tejaswikolli-web/connected-registry

Connected registry -overview changes

Author: denrea

articles/container-registry/intro-connected-registry.md

@@ -1,30 +1,61 @@
 ---
-title: What is a connected registry
-description: Overview and scenarios of the connected registry feature of Azure Container Registry
+title: What is a connected registry?
+description: Overview and scenarios of the connected registry feature of Azure Container Registry, including its benefits and use cases.
 ms.author: jeburke
 ms.service: azure-container-registry
 ms.topic: overview
 ms.date: 10/31/2023
 ms.custom: references_regions
+#customer intent: As a reader, I want to understand the overview and scenarios of the connected registry feature of Azure Container Registry so that I can utilize it effectively.
 ---
 
 # What is a connected registry? 
 
-In this article, you learn about the *connected registry* feature of [Azure Container Registry](container-registry-intro.md). A connected registry is an on-premises or remote replica that synchronizes container images and other OCI artifacts with your cloud-based Azure container registry. Use a connected registry to help speed up access to registry artifacts on-premises and to build advanced scenarios, for example using [nested IoT Edge](../iot-edge/tutorial-nested-iot-edge.md).
+In this article, you learn about the *connected registry* feature of [Azure Container Registry](container-registry-intro.md). A connected registry is an on-premises or remote replica that synchronizes container images with your cloud-based Azure container registry. Use a connected registry to help speed-up access to registry artifacts on-premises or remote.
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> The connected registry is a preview feature of the **Premium** container registry service tier, and subject to [limitations](#limitations). For information about registry service tiers and limits, see [Azure Container Registry service tiers](container-registry-skus.md).
+## Billing and Support
+
+The connected registry is a preview feature of the **Premium** container registry service tier, and subject to [limitations](#limitations). For information about registry service tiers and limits, see [Azure Container Registry service tiers](container-registry-skus.md).
+
+>[!IMPORTANT]
+> Please note that there are **Important upcoming changes** to the connected registry Deployment Model Support and Billing starting from January 1st, 2025. For any inquiries or assistance with the transition, please reach out to the customer support team.
+
+### Billing
+
+- The connected registry incurs no charges until it reaches general availability (GA).
+- Post-GA, a monthly price of $10 will apply for each connected registry deployed.
+- This price represents Microsoft's commitment to deliver high-quality services and product support.
+- The price is applied to the Azure subscription associated with the parent registry.
+
+### Support
+
+- Microsoft will end support for the connected registry deployment on IoT Edge devices on January 1st, 2025.
+- After January 1st, 2025 connected registry will solely support Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters as the deployment model.
+- Microsoft advises users to begin planning their transition to Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters as the deployment model.
 
 ## Available regions
 
-* Canada Central
-* East Asia
-* East US
-* North Europe
-* Norway East
-* Southeast Asia
-* West Central US
-* West Europe
+Connected registry is available in the following continents and regions:
+
+```
+| Continent     | Available Regions |
+|---------------|-------------------|
+| Australia     | Australia East    |
+| Asia          | East Asia         |
+|               | Japan East        |
+|               | Japan West        |
+|               | Southeast Asia    |
+| Europe        | North Europe      |
+|               | Norway East       |
+|               | West Europe       |
+| North America | Canada Central    |
+|               | Central US        |
+|               | East US           |
+|               | South Central US  |
+|               | West Central US   |
+|               | West US 3         |
+| South America | Brazil South      |
+```
 
 ## Scenarios
 
@@ -40,19 +71,27 @@ Scenarios for a connected registry include:
 
 ## How does the connected registry work?
 
-The following image shows a typical deployment model for the connected registry.
+The connected registry is deployed on a server or device on-premises, or an environment that supports container workloads on-premises such as Azure IoT Edge and Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes. The connected registry synchronizes container images and other OCI artifacts with a cloud-based Azure container registry.
+
+The following image shows a typical deployment model for the connected registry using IoT Edge. 
 
-:::image type="content" source="media/intro-connected-registry/connected-registry-overview.png" alt-text="Diagram of connected registry overview":::
+:::image type="content" source="media/intro-connected-registry/connected-registry-edge.png" alt-text="Diagram of connected registry overview using IoT Edge.":::
+
+The following image shows a typical deployment model for the connected registry using Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes. 
+
+:::image type="content" source="media/intro-connected-registry/connected-registry-azure-arc.png" alt-text="Diagram of connected registry overview using Arc-enabled Kubernetes.":::
 
 ### Deployment
 
-Each connected registry is a resource you manage using a cloud-based Azure container registry. The top parent in the connected registry hierarchy is an Azure container registry in an Azure cloud.
+Each connected registry is a resource you manage within a cloud-based Azure container registry. The top parent in the connected registry hierarchy is an Azure container registry in the Azure cloud. The connected registry can be deployed either on Azure IoT Edge or Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters.
+
+To install the connected registry, use Azure tools on a server or device on your premises, or in an environment that supports on-premises container workloads, such as [Azure IoT Edge](../iot-edge/tutorial-nested-iot-edge.md). 
 
-Use Azure tools to install the connected registry on a server or device on your premises, or an environment that supports container workloads on-premises such as [Azure IoT Edge](../iot-edge/tutorial-nested-iot-edge.md).
+Deploy the connected registry Arc extension to the Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster. Secure the connection with TLS using default configurations for read-only access and a continuous sync window. This setup allows the connected registry to synchronize images from the Azure container registry (ACR) to the connected registry on-premises, enabling image pulls from the connected registry.
 
 The connected registry's *activation status* indicates whether it's deployed on-premises.
 
-* **Active** - The connected registry is currently deployed on-premises. It can't be deployed again until it is deactivated. 
+* **Active** - The connected registry is currently deployed on-premises. It can't be deployed again until it's deactivated. 
 * **Inactive** - The connected registry is not deployed on-premises. It can be deployed at this time.  
 
 ### Content synchronization
@@ -65,56 +104,47 @@ It can also be configured to synchronize a subset of the repositories from the c
 
 A connected registry can work in one of two modes: *ReadWrite* or *ReadOnly*
 
-- **ReadWrite mode** - The mode allows clients to pull and push artifacts (read and write) to the connected registry. Artifacts that are pushed to the connected registry will be synchronized with the cloud registry. 
-        
- The ReadWrite mode is useful when a local development environment is in place. The images are pushed to the local connected registry and from there synchronized to the cloud.
+**ReadOnly mode** - The default mode, when the connected registry is in ReadOnly mode, clients can only pull (read) artifacts. This configuration is used in scenarios where clients need to pull a container image to operate. This default mode aligns with our secure-by-default approach and is effective starting with CLI version 2.60.0.
 
-- **ReadOnly mode** - When the connected registry is in ReadOnly mode, clients can only pull (read) artifacts. This configuration is used for nested IoT Edge scenarios, or other scenarios where clients need to pull a container image to operate.
-
-- **Default mode** - The ***ReadOnly mode*** is now the default mode for connected registries. This change aligns with our secure-by-default approach and is effective starting with CLI version 2.60.0.
+**ReadWrite mode** - This mode allows clients to pull and push artifacts (read and write) to the connected registry. Artifacts that are pushed to the connected registry will be synchronized with the cloud registry. The ReadWrite mode is useful when a local development environment is in place. The images are pushed to the local connected registry and from there synchronized to the cloud.
 
 ### Registry hierarchy
 
-Each connected registry must be connected to a parent. The top parent is the cloud registry. For hierarchical scenarios such as [nested IoT Edge](overview-connected-registry-and-iot-edge.md), you can nest connected registries in either mode. The parent connected to the cloud registry can operate in either mode. 
+Each connected registry must be connected to a parent. The top parent is the cloud registry. For hierarchical scenarios such as [nested IoT Edge][overview-connected-registry-and-iot-edge], you can nest connected registries in either mode. The parent connected to the cloud registry can operate in either mode. 
 
-Child registries must be compatible with their parent capabilities. Thus, both ReadWrite and ReadOnly mode connected registries can be children of a connected registry operating in ReadWrite mode, but only a ReadOnly mode registry can be a child of a connected registry operating in ReadOnly mode.  
+Child registries must be compatible with their parent capabilities. Thus, both ReadOnly and ReadWrite modes of the connected registries can be children of a connected registry operating in ReadWrite mode, but only a ReadOnly mode registry can be a child of a connected registry operating in ReadOnly mode.  
 
 ## Client access
 
-On-premises clients use standard tools such as the Docker CLI to push or pull content from a connected registry. To manage client access, you create Azure container registry [tokens][repository-scoped-permissions] for access to each connected registry. You can scope the client tokens for pull or push access to one or more repositories in the registry.
+On-premises clients use standard tools such as the Docker CLI to push or pull content from a Connected registry. To manage client access, you create Azure container registry [tokens][repository-scoped-permissions] for access to each connected registry. You can scope the client tokens for pull or push access to one or more repositories in the registry.
 
 Each connected registry also needs to regularly communicate with its parent registry. For this purpose, the registry is issued a synchronization token (*sync token*) by the cloud registry. This token is used to authenticate with its parent registry for synchronization and management operations.
 
 For more information, see [Manage access to a connected registry][overview-connected-registry-access].
 
 ## Limitations
 
-- Number of tokens and scope maps is [limited](container-registry-skus.md) to 20,000 each for a single container registry. This indirectly limits the number of connected registries for a cloud registry, because every connected registry needs a sync and client token.
+- Number of tokens and scope maps is [limited](container-registry-skus.md) to 20,000 each for a single container registry. This indirectly limits the number of connected registries for a cloud registry, because every Connected registry needs a sync and client token.
 - Number of repository permissions in a scope map is limited to 500.
 - Number of clients for the connected registry is currently limited to 20.
-- [Image locking](container-registry-image-lock.md) through repository/manifest/tag metadata is not currently supported for connected registries.
-- [Repository delete](container-registry-delete.md) is not supported on the connected registry using ReadOnly mode.
+- [Image locking](container-registry-image-lock.md) through repository/manifest/tag metadata isn't currently supported for connected registries.
+- [Repository delete](container-registry-delete.md) isn't supported on the connected registry using ReadOnly mode.
 - [Resource logs](monitor-service-reference.md#resource-logs) for connected registries are currently not supported.
-- Connected registry is coupled with the registry's home region data endpoint. Automatic migration for [geo-replication](container-registry-geo-replication.md) is not supported.
-- Deletion of a connected registry needs manual removal of the containers on-premises as well as removal of the respective scope map or tokens in the cloud.
+- Connected registry is coupled with the registry's home region data endpoint. Automatic migration for [geo-replication](container-registry-geo-replication.md) isn't supported.
+- Deletion of a connected registry needs manual removal of the containers on-premises and removal of the respective scope map or tokens in the cloud.
 - Connected registry sync limitations are as follows:
   - For continuous sync:
-    - `minMessageTtl` is 1 day
+    - `minMessageTtl` is one day
     - `maxMessageTtl` is 90 days
   - For occasionally connected scenarios, where you want to specify sync window:
     - `minSyncWindow` is 1 hr
-    - `maxSyncWindow` is 7 days
+    - `maxSyncWindow` is seven days
 
-## Next steps
+## Conclusion
 
 In this overview, you learned about the connected registry and some basic concepts. Continue to the one of the following articles to learn about specific scenarios where connected registry can be utilized.
 
 > [!div class="nextstepaction"]
-> [Overview: Connected registry access][overview-connected-registry-access]
-> 
-> [!div class="nextstepaction"]
-> [Overview: Connected registry and IoT Edge][overview-connected-registry-and-iot-edge]
-
 <!-- LINKS - internal -->
 [overview-connected-registry-access]:overview-connected-registry-access.md
 [overview-connected-registry-and-iot-edge]:overview-connected-registry-and-iot-edge.md