Changes to how to prepare cluster

Author: SoniaLopezBravo

articles/iot-operations/deploy-iot-ops/howto-deploy-iot-operations.md

@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ ms.date: 04/08/2025
 
 # Deploy Azure IoT Operations to a production cluster
 
-Learn how to deploy Azure IoT Operations to a Kubernetes cluster with secure settings using the Azure portal.
+Learn how to deploy Azure IoT Operations to a Kubernetes cluster with secure settings for production using the Azure portal.
 
-If you deployed a [test instance](./howto-deploy-iot-test-operations.md) of Azure IoT Operations to a cluster want to use the same cluster for production scenarios, follow the steps in [Enable secure settings on an existing Azure IoT Operations instance](./howto-enable-secure-settings.md).
+If you deployed a [test instace](./howto-deploy-iot-test-operations.md) of Azure IoT Operations to a cluster and you want to use the same cluster for production scenarios, follow the steps in [Enable secure settings on an existing Azure IoT Operations instance](./howto-enable-secure-settings.md).
 
 ## Before you begin
 

articles/iot-operations/deploy-iot-ops/howto-deploy-iot-test-operations.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ ms.topic: how-to
 ms.custom: devx-track-azurecli
 ms.date: 07/08/2025
 
-#CustomerIntent: As an OT professional, I want to deploy Azure IoT Operations to a Kubernetes cluster.
+#CustomerIntent: As an OT professional, I want to deploy Azure IoT Operations to a Kubernetes cluster for testing and evaluation scenarios, so that I can evaluate the solution before deploying it to production.
 ---
 
 # Deploy Azure IoT operations to a test cluster

articles/iot-operations/deploy-iot-ops/howto-prepare-cluster.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ ms.date: 10/23/2024
 
 An Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster is a prerequisite for deploying Azure IoT Operations. This article describes how to prepare a cluster before you deploy Azure IoT Operations. This article includes guidance for Ubuntu, Windows, Azure Local, and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG).
 
-The steps in this article prepare your cluster for a secure settings deployment, which is a longer but production-ready process. If you want to deploy Azure IoT Operations quickly and run a sample workload with only test settings, see the [Quickstart: Run Azure IoT Operations in GitHub Codespaces with K3s](../get-started-end-to-end-sample/quickstart-deploy.md) instead. For more information about test settings and secure settings, see [Deployment details > Choose your features](./overview-deploy.md#choose-your-features).
+If you want to deploy Azure IoT Operations quickly and run a sample workload in a test environment, see the [Quickstart: Run Azure IoT Operations in GitHub Codespaces with K3s](../get-started-end-to-end-sample/quickstart-deploy.md).
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ Connect your cluster to Azure Arc so that it can be managed remotely.
    ```
 ---
 
-## Advanced configuration
+## Advanced configuration 
 
 At this point, when you have an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster but before you deploy Azure IoT Operations to it, you might want to configure your cluster for advanced scenarios.
 
@@ -349,4 +349,7 @@ At this point, when you have an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster but before
 
 ## Next steps
 
-Now that you have an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster, you can [deploy Azure IoT Operations](howto-deploy-iot-operations.md).
+Now that you have an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster, you can choose to deploy Azure IoT Operation with test settings or with production settings.
+
+- [Test deployment](howto-deploy-iot-test-operations.md): Recommended for quick evaluation and prototyping before deploying in production. Test deployment isn't suitable for production, it lacks observability and hardened security.
+- [Production deployment](howto-deploy-iot-operations.md): Recommended for production-ready workloads. Production deployment is suitable for real-world IoT deployments with compliance and security needs.

articles/iot-operations/deploy-iot-ops/overview-deploy.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ author: SoniaLopezBravo
 ms.author: sonialopez
 ms.topic: conceptual
 ms.custom:
-ms.date: 04/28/2025
+ms.date: 07/16/2025
 
 #CustomerIntent: As an IT professional, I want to understand the components and deployment details before I start using Azure IoT Operations.
 ---
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ When you deploy Azure IoT Operations, you install a suite of services on an Azur
 
 [!INCLUDE [supported-environments-table](../includes/supported-environments-table.md)]
 
->[!NOTE]
->Billing usage records are collected on any environment where Azure IoT Operations is installed, regardless of support or availability levels.
+> [!NOTE]
+> Billing usage records are collected on any environment where Azure IoT Operations is installed, regardless of support or availability levels.
 
 To install Azure IoT Operations, have the following hardware requirements available for Azure IoT Operations. If you're using a multi-node cluster that enables fault tolerance, scale up to the recommended capacity for better performance.
 
@@ -29,35 +29,42 @@ To install Azure IoT Operations, have the following hardware requirements availa
 | Available memory for Azure IoT Operations (RAM) | 10-GB | Depends on usage |
 | CPU  | 4 vCPUs | 8 vCPUs     |
 
->[!NOTE]
->The minimum configuration is appropriate when running AIO only.
+> [!NOTE]
+> The minimum configuration is appropriate when running AIO only.
 
 ## Choose your features
 
 Azure IoT Operations offers two deployment modes. You can choose to deploy with *test settings*, a basic subset of features that are simpler to get started with for evaluation scenarios. Or, you can choose to deploy with *secure settings*, the full feature set.
 
 ### Test settings deployment
 
-A deployment with only test settings:
+A deployment with only test settings has the following characteristics:
 
-* Doesn't configure secrets or user-assigned managed identity capabilities.
-* Is meant to enable the end-to-end quickstart sample for evaluation purposes, so supports the OPC PLC simulator and connects to cloud resources using system-assigned managed identity.
-* Can be upgraded to use secure settings.
+* It doesn't configure secrets or user-assigned managed identity capabilities.
+* It's meant to enable the end-to-end quickstart sample for evaluation purposes, so supports the OPC PLC simulator and connects to cloud resources using system-assigned managed identity.
+* It can be upgraded to use secure settings.
 
-The quickstart scenario, [Quickstart: Run Azure IoT Operations in GitHub Codespaces](../get-started-end-to-end-sample/quickstart-deploy.md), uses test settings.
+For a quickstart experience, you can use the [Quickstart: Run Azure IoT Operations in GitHub Codespaces with K3s](../get-started-end-to-end-sample/quickstart-deploy.md) scenario. This scenario uses a lightweight Kubernetes distribution (K3s) and runs in GitHub Codespaces, so you don't need to set up a cluster or install any tools locally.
 
-At any point, you can upgrade an Azure IoT Operations instance to use secure settings by following the steps in [Enable secure settings](howto-enable-secure-settings.md).
+To deploy Azure IoT Operations with test settings, follow these articles:
+
+1. Start with [Prepare your Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster](./howto-prepare-cluster.md) to configure and Arc-enable your cluster.
+1. Then, follow the steps in [Deploy Azure IoT Operations to a test cluster](./howto-deploy-iot-test-operations.md).
+
+> [!TIP]
+> At any point, you can upgrade an Azure IoT Operations instance to use secure settings by following the steps in [Enable secure settings](howto-enable-secure-settings.md).
 
 ### Secure settings deployment
 
-A deployment with secure settings:
+A deployment with secure settings has the following characteristics:
 
-* Enables secrets and user-assignment managed identity, both of which are important capabilities for developing a production-ready scenario. Secrets are used whenever Azure IoT Operations components connect to a resource outside of the cluster; for example, an OPC UA server or a data flow endpoint.
+* It's meant for production-ready scenarios.
+* It enables secrets and user-assignment managed identity, both of which are important capabilities for developing a production-ready scenario. Secrets are used whenever Azure IoT Operations components connect to a resource outside of the cluster; for example, an OPC UA server or a data flow endpoint.
 
 To deploy Azure IoT Operations with secure settings, follow these articles:
 
 1. Start with [Prepare your Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster](./howto-prepare-cluster.md) to configure and Arc-enable your cluster.
-1. Then, [Deploy Azure IoT Operations](./howto-deploy-iot-operations.md).
+1. Then, follow the steps in [Deploy Azure IoT Operations to a production cluster](./howto-deploy-iot-operations.md).
 
 ## Required permissions
 
@@ -92,8 +99,8 @@ If you use enterprise firewalls or proxies to manage outbound traffic, configure
 
 * Endpoints in the [Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes endpoints](/azure/azure-arc/network-requirements-consolidated#azure-arc-enabled-kubernetes-endpoints).
 
-  >[!NOTE]
-  >If you use *Azure Arc Gateway* to connect your cluster to Arc, you can configure a smaller set of endpoints based on the [Arc Gateway guidance](/azure/azure-arc/servers/arc-gateway#step-3-ensure-the-required-urls-are-allowed-in-your-environment).
+  > [!NOTE]
+  > If you use *Azure Arc Gateway* to connect your cluster to Arc, you can configure a smaller set of endpoints based on the [Arc Gateway guidance](/azure/azure-arc/servers/arc-gateway#step-3-ensure-the-required-urls-are-allowed-in-your-environment).
 
 * Endpoints in [Azure CLI endpoints](/cli/azure/azure-cli-endpoints?tabs=azure-cloud#endpoints).