Tag: Azure Kubernetes Service

Oct132022October 13, 2022October 17, 20220Commentby Thomas Maurer
Manage your AKS on Windows Server cluster from the Azure Portal using Azure Arc

New AKS hybrid deployment options enabled by Azure Arc, AKS Lite and Hybrid Benefit

Posted in Microsoft Azure, Virtualization, Windows Server

This week at Microsoft Ignite Microsoft announced some new features and improvements to the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) hybrid deployment options enabled by Azure Arc. This allows you to run the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) you know as a managed Kubernetes on Azure, in a hybrid cloud environment on-premises, and edge locations. These include AKS Lite, new lifecycle management for AKS hybrid clusters, and the Azure Hybrid Benefit for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

Azure Arc enabled AKS Hybrid at Microsoft Ignite
Azure Arc enabled AKS Hybrid at Microsoft Ignite

AKS Lite

AKS Lite allows you to deploy AKS as a light weight, static Kubernetes platform that enables rapid innovation and application modernization at the edge on Windows devices. AKS lite is designed PC-class devices running Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise, Windows 10/11 Pro or Windows Server. AKS Lite is Microsoft-managed light-weight Kubernetes distribution, which can run both Linux and Windows containers, and coupled with Azure Arc customers can manage their edge Kubernetes cluster from Azure. You can learn more about AKS Lite here.

Lifecycle management of AKS hybrid clusters using Azure

With the new preview feature you can now directly deploy and manage AKS hybrid clusters running on Azure Stack HCI or Windows Server directly via Azure Portal or Azure CLI. This means you can also use Azure Resource Manager (ARM) or Bicep templates. This will provide a great management experience similar to the one for AKS in Azure. You can learn more about the AKS hybrid lifecycle management here.

Azure Hybrid Benefit for Azure Kubernetes Service

Microsoft Azure already offers great Azure Hybrid Benefits if you already own Windows Server and SQL Server licenses. With the Azure Hybrid Benefit for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and your existing Windows Server Datacenter and Standard Software Assurance (SA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) licenses you can run AKS on Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI at no additional cost in your datacenter and edge locations.

In addition to this, Windows Server Datacenter SA customers can now use Azure Stack HCI at no additional cost.

Learn more about these announcements on the official Tech Community blog.

If you are interested to get a sneak of some AKS hybrid deployment options, check out my video here (this doesn’t include the new lifecycle management)


Jun132022June 13, 2022June 15, 20220Commentby Thomas Maurer
Learn Live – Manage Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack HCI

Learn Live – Manage Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack HCI

Posted in Microsoft Azure

As you know we are currently running the Learn Live Azure Hybrid Cloud Study Hall on Microsoft Learn TV. The first learn live episodes around our hybrid services with Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI are now done and available on-demand. But we have more to come! In the upcoming episode I have the chance to go through the Manage Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI Microsoft Learn module together with Senior Cloud Advocate Vinicius Apolinario.

The session will run Thursday  June 16, 2022 10:00AM – 11:30AM (Pacific) and will also be available on-demand. You can download a calendar invite right here.

In this Learn Live episode we will go through the Manage Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack HCI and AKS on Windows Server. You can watch live and later the recording here:

Manage Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack HCI

This module describes how to implement and manage Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI. In this episode, you will:

  • Describe Kubernetes and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
  • Describe Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI.
  • Deploy AKS and Kubernetes clusters.
  • Connect Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI to Microsoft Azure Arc for Kubernetes.
  • Manage pod placement on multi-pool Kubernetes clusters.
  • Manage pod storage on Kubernetes clusters.

I hope you will enjoy the Learn Live Manage Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI session, if you want to learn more and check out the upcoming Learn Live Azure Hybrid Cloud Study Hall sessions, check out the main page on Microsoft Learn.

About the Learn Live Azure Hybrid Cloud Study Hall

Join us for the new Azure Hybrid study hall series. This fourteen-part weekly series will answer your questions live, walk through how to configure, deploy, manage your hybrid cloud resources using services and hybrid cloud technologies, and walk-through Microsoft Learn modules focused on Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI. You will learn how you can manage your on-premises, edge and multicloud resources, and how you can deploy Azure services anywhere with Azure Arc and Azure Stack



Nov022021November 2, 2021November 1, 20210Commentby Thomas Maurer
Deep Dive on AKS on Azure Stack HCI at Microsoft Ignite

Deep Dive on AKS on Azure Stack HCI at Microsoft Ignite

Posted in Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization, Windows Server

Do you want to learn more about how you can run the Azure Kubernetes Service in your own datacenter running on Azure Stack HCI and get a deep-dive understanding of how it works? Join our deep-dive session on AKS on Azure Stack HCI and get your questions answered in the Ask the Experts session.

What is Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI?

Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI is an on-premises implementation of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), which automates running containerized applications at scale. Azure Kubernetes Service is available on Azure Stack HCI and Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, making it quicker to get started hosting Linux and Windows containers in your datacenter.

To get started with Azure Kubernetes Service on-premises, on Windows Server 2019 or Azure Stack HCI, set up Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI.

Bring Azure Kubernetes Services to a Hybrid Environment (The Blueprint Files)

In this session, Mike Kostersitz will provide you with an in-depth view of deploying Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) anywhere in your hybrid environment using Azure Stack HCI. Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI is an on-premises implementation of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), which automates running containerized applications at scale and allows customers to bring Azure services to their on-premises environment using Azure Arc.

Register here on Microsoft Ignite!

Ask the Experts: Bring Azure Kubernetes Services to a Hybrid Environment (The Blueprint Files)

Join our experts to answer your questions with an in-depth view of deploying Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) anywhere in your hybrid environment using Azure Stack HCI. Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI is an on-premises implementation of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), which automates running containerized applications at scale and allows customers to bring Azure services to their on-premises environment using Azure Arc.

Register here on Microsoft Ignite!

I hope these sessions provide you with a great deep-dive learning experience on AKS on Azure Stack HCI at Microsoft Ignite.

Also, make sure to join our live stream on Wednesday with Lior Kamrat and Thomas Maurer, where we cover the latest news around Azure Hybrid from Microsoft Ignite.


Dec112020December 11, 2020December 11, 20201Commentby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Azure Stack HCI version 20H2

Get and Download Azure Stack HCI now!

Posted in Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Virtualization, Windows Server

Yesterday, the Azure Stack HCI team shared some great news; the new Azure Stack HCI is now generally available. Azure Stack HCI is a new hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) operating system delivered as an Azure service that provides the latest security, performance, and feature updates. You can deploy and run Windows and Linux virtual machines (VMs) in your datacenter or at the edge using your existing tools, processes, and skillsets. It extends your datacenter to the cloud with hybrid cloud services like Azure Backup, Azure Monitor, and Azure Security Center. It also allows you to take advantage of the extended security updates offering for Windows Server and SQL Server 2008/2008 R2. Let’s have a look at where you can get and download Azure Stack HCI.

Azure Stack HCI offers a great hyper-converged infrastructure stack with Azure hybrid services built-in:

  • Hyper-converged Infrastructure (HCI) – Hyper-converged infrastructure stack for secure, efficient virtualization of Windows and Linux guests. Offers from small two-node systems for edge deployments in branch offices, factories, and retail stores, to large scale and high-performance clusters for your enterprise virtualization environment.
  • Flexible hardware offerings – You can choose the deployment scenario and hardware offering, which works best for your environment. Azure Stack HCI offers more than 20 hardware partners with over 200 solutions.
  • Hybrid Cloud built-in – You can extend your datacenter with Azure Hybrid Cloud services to make your on-premises environment even better. Azure Stack HCI has Azure Arc built-in. You can seamlessly connect to Azure services such as Azure Backup, Azure Security Center, Azure Update Management, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Monitor, and many more. It also offers a tightly-integrated Kubernetes service with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack HCI. This allows you to deploy and manage containerized apps with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on-premises, and you can take advantage of AKS consistent experience, extend to Azure with hybrid capabilities, run apps with confidence with built-in security, and use familiar tools to modernize Windows apps.
  • Familiar management and operations – You can use your existing skillsets to manage and operate your Azure Stack HCI infrastructure. You can use the built-in deployment GUI and familiar Windows Server and Hyper-V skills to build your hyper-converged infrastructure. And you can use the cross-platform PowerShell framework to automate your environment.

Azure Stack HCI operating system

Azure Stack HCI operating system

Obviously, there is much, much more. If you want to learn more about the new Azure Stack HCI offering, check out my blog post: Azure Stack HCI version 20H2 – everything you need to know!

You can also find the official announcement blogs on Azure.com and a technical blog on Microsoft Tech Community.

Get and Download Azure Stack HCI

You can download Azure Stack HCI directly from Azure.com with a free 30-day trial period. If you want to learn more about the pricing, check out the official Azure Stack HCI pricing page. To pick the right hardware for your scenario, check out the Azure Stack HCI hardware catalog.

You can also find more information on how to install an Azure Stack HCI host on my blog.

Read More

May072018May 7, 2018August 22, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Azure Kubernetes Service

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) – The best place to host your containers

Posted in Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Virtualization, Windows Server

Microsoft today at Build 2018 announced that they will rename Azure Container Service (AKS) to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) manages your hosted Kubernetes environment, making it quick and easy to deploy and manage containerized applications without container orchestration expertise. It also eliminates the burden of ongoing operations and maintenance by provisioning, upgrading, and scaling resources on demand, without taking your applications offline.

  • Drastically simplifies how you build and run container-based solutions without deep Kubernetes expertise
  • Auto Update, auto scale
  • New capabilities integrated with dev tools and workspaces, CI/CD networking, monitoring tools, etc.
  • All included in the Azure Portal

Create Azure Kubernetes Service AKS

This will be a great services to run containerized workloads in a very simple manor and reduce management overhead.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) will also be available on Azure Stack, as announced in the Azure Stack Roadmap update a couple of months ago.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack
Managed Kubernetes with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack will make it even easier for Azure Stack users to manage and operate Kubernetes environments in the same ways as they do in Azure, without sacrificing portability. This new service features an Azure-hosted control plane, automated upgrades, self-healing, easy scaling, and a simple user experience for both developers and cluster operators. With Container Service, customers get the benefit of open source Kubernetes without complexity and operational overhead. This update applies primarily to Azure Stack users.

With AKS on Azure and Azure Stack. and other services like the Azure Container Registry, Docker for Windows, Windows Server and Hyper-V Containers, Visual Studio Team Services Integration for Azure and Containers, the Microsoft container story becomes very strong. It allows you to run your container workloads in a very simple CI/CD pipeline (VSTS), deployment on Managed Kubernetes (AKS) and deploy it where ever you need it, in the public cloud (Azure) or on-premise (Azure Stack).

Yes Microsoft still has ACS (Azure Container Service), which allows you to deploy different pre-configured container environments and orchestrators, like Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, DC/OS, for scalable deployments and management of containerized workloads.


  • About Thomas Maurer

    Thomas Maurer

    My name is Thomas Maurer. I am a Senior Program Manager & Chief Evangelist for Azure Hybrid at Microsoft. I am part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. Opinions are my own.

  • Follow Me

  • Subscribe

  • Sponsors



    StarWind Ad

    Scriptrunner PowerShell Ad

    Altaro Ad