Tag: Azure Stack HCI

Nov142019November 14, 2019November 14, 20190 Commentby Thomas Maurer

An Overview at the New Azure Stack Portfolio

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Virtualization

Last week at the Microsoft Ignite 2019 conference, the Azure team announced a lot of new updates. One of the significant focus topics at this year’s Ignite was the investment in the Azure Hybrid Cloud offerings. Starting with the buses driving attendees to the conference venue, over the Ignite keynotes, to the expo floor and breakouts, Hybrid Cloud was everywhere. Today, organizations rely on a hybrid technology approach to take advantage of utilizing cloud innovation in combination with their on-premises investments. Azure is Hybrid by design, and Microsoft is continuing the investment in our hybrid cloud technologies with the announcements of Azure Arc (link) and the new Azure Stack portfolio (link). I already was able to get an early look at Azure Arc for Servers, in this post, I am going to focus on the new Azure Stack portfolio with Azure Stack Hub, Azure Stack Edge, and Azure Stack HCI.

At and after Microsoft Ignite 2019, I got a lot of questions around the Azure Stack announcements. So in this blog, I want to give you a quick overview of that, and if you want to know more, check out the blog post from Talal Alqinawi, Senior Director Azure Marketing.

Azure Stack Portfolio

The Azure Stack family now consists of three members, Azure Stack Hub, formerly known as Azure Stack, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure Stack Edge (formerly known as Azure Databox Edge). This offers customers new capabilities, form factors, and solutions in the Azure Stack portfolio, to ensure that the customer has the right solutions for their edge infrastructure.

Azure Stack Hub

Azure Stack Hub (formerly known as Azure Stack) will continue to be the cloud-native offering for enterprise and public sector customers, especially those interested in operating a cloud environment that is disconnected from public internet or meeting regulatory and compliance requirements. It will continue to bring Azure services to locations where you need them. The Azure Stack Hub team also announced some new capabilities and features, which the team is working on:

Working on support for N-Series virtual machines (VMs) which included GPU support
Event Hubs Public Preview in 2020
Azure Stream Analytics Public Preview in 2020
General Availability (GA) of Kubernetes on Azure Stack with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) engine to automate the creation, update, and scaling of Kubernetes clusters.
Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) Private Preview
Azure Data Services with Azure Arc Private Preview

Azure Stack HCI

A couple of months ago, I already wrote a blog post about Azure Stack HCI, which enables customers to run a highly efficient hyper-converged virtualization infrastructure. From small 2-node deployments up to high-performance and high capacity clusters, the Azure Stack HCI catalog offers solutions for every scenario. Together with Windows Admin Center, you can also easily connect Azure hybrid solutions and services. With the new automated deployment of Azure Stack HCI clusters, it becomes even easier to deploy new installations. I had the chance to talk about this new feature with Cosmos Darwin on the Microsoft Ignite Live stage, and you can watch the recording here.

I also have an article on ITOpsTalk.com about how Azure Stack HCI fits into the Azure Hybrid Cloud offering.

Azure Stack Edge

Azure Stack Edge (formerly known as Azure Databox Edge) is an Azure managed appliance that brings the compute, storage, and intelligence of Azure to the edge.

Azure Stack Edge

This is a first-party appliance which customer can order and run as an Azure service with no upfront costs (billed monthly with your Azure bill). In addition to the name change, the Azure Stack Edge team also announced that it soon will be supporting new compute and AI features and capabilities like:

Virtual machines on Azure Stack Edge
Kubernetes clusters
NVIDIA GPU support
Support for high-availability

The Azure Stack Edge will also be available in a rugged version as well as in a battery-powered form-factor that can be carried in a backpack.

Azure Stack Edge Rugged series

Azure Stack Edge Rugged series with battery

Next to talking to Cosmos Darwin about Azure Stack HCI, I was also able to have Stephanie Krieger and Chris Dickens on the Microsoft Ignite Live stage to talk about Azure Stack Edge. You can watch the recording here.

Hybrid Cloud in combination with Azure Arc

In conjunction with Azure Arc, which brings Azure services and management to any infrastructure. With Azure Arc, you can deploy Azure Data services on any Kubernetes cluster. Azure Arc and Azure Stack portfolio are complementary.

You can combine the benefits of Azure Arc with Azure Stack portfolio where Azure Arc can manage virtual machines, containers, and run Azure Data Services on Azure Stack portfolio of validated and integrated systems while leveraging the compute and cloud capabilities of Azure Stack.

If you want to know more about Azure Arc, check out my blog post, Azure Arc – Cloud-native Management for Hybrid Cloud, or you can watch my Microsoft Ignite 2019 session about Hybrid Cloud Management.

I hope this gives you an overview of the new Azure Stack portfolio, which was announced at Microsoft Ignite 2019. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Oct102019October 10, 2019October 23, 20190 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Speaking at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Microsoft MVP, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019

I am happy to let you know that I will be speaking online at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI Day. The Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI is an online event, organized and presented by Microsoft MVPs as part of the MVPDays. MVPDays was founded by Cristal and Dave Kawula back in 2013. It started as a simple idea; “There’s got to be a good way for Microsoft MVPs to reach the IT community and share their vast knowledge and experience in a fun and engaging way”.

The Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays is a full-day online event on October 23. you can find out more here. In my session, I will be speaking about Azure hybrid management services and how you can connect your Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI environment with Microsoft Azure.

MVPDays

Hybrid Management Technologies using Azure Stack HCI

Windows Server, Azure Stack HCI and Windows Admin Center not only provide you with great hyper-converged solutions but also enable you to connect to Azure Hybrid Cloud services. In this session, Thomas Maurer will show you how you can connect Azure services like Azure Site Recovery, Azure Backup, Azure File Sync, Azure Monitor and many more to your on-prem Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI environment.

As soon as it is available you can watch my session here:

And you will find the full MVPDays online event here.

If you want to know more about it check you the following blog posts:

How does Azure Stack HCI fit into Hybrid Cloud Services
How to configure Azure Hybrid Services in Windows Admin Center
More about Azure Stack on Microsoft Docs

I hope you will join us at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays. Let me know if you have any questions.

Aug052019August 5, 2019August 5, 20190 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Speaking at Techmentor 2019

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Events, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, PowerShell, Speaking, Virtualization, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019

I am currently on the Microsoft Redmond campus for some internal meetings and training, during the same time, there will be the Techmentor 2019 Microsoft HQ conference in Redmond. I am happy to announce that I will be one of the speakers during that conference. Since I am already on the Microsoft campus it is great to take some time to speak about some cool Azure things. Techmentor 2019 is a 5-day conference from August 5-9, 2019 on the Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond.

My Sessions at Techmentor 2019

I will be delivering two sessions about Cloud Shell and Azure Stack, as well as being part of a panel discussion.

TechMentor

A Look into the Hybrid Cloud Lifestyle of an Azure Stack Operator

Microsoft released Azure Stack as an Azure appliance for your datacenter. Learn what Azure Stack is, what challenges it solves, how you deploy, manage and operate Azure Stack in your datacenter. Learn about the features and services you will get by offering Azure Stack to your customers and how you can build a true Hybrid Cloud experience. In this presentation, Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations and experiences during the Azure Stack Early Adaption Program and Azure Stack Technology Adoption Program (TAP). You will learn: How to integrate Azure Stack into your Datacenter How to operate Azure Stack and how it is managed How to troubleshoot Azure Stack installations

TechMentor

Mastering Azure Using Cloud Shell, PowerShell, and Bash!

Azure can be managed in many different ways. Learn your command line options like Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI and Cloud Shell to be more efficient in managing your Azure infrastructure. Become a hero on the shell to manage the cloud!

You will learn:

What cloud Shell is
Some new things in PowerShell Az
Tips and tricks on Azure command line options

TechMentor

Supercharging Hyper-V with quantum computing

Okay, I am not really talking about quantum computing, but hey there are some cool features in Hyper-V you should definitely know about! In this session, Thomas Maurer will talk about “hidden” Hyper-V features everyone should know about. This covers different features for Hyper-V on Windows Server as well as on Windows 10, like Containers, Windows Sandbox, WSL 2, VM Gallery and much more. Be prepared for a lot of demos!

TechMentor

Panel Discussion: The Future of IT

If something is certain in IT it’s change. With the current pace of getting new operating system versions twice a year and keeping the management tools around them up to date it’s no wonder one feels a little dizzy with the amount of things to learn. Take this opportunity to hear from industry experts what is most important to focus on and how to deal with this rapid change in real life. The panel includes experts on multiple technologies and topics and will include a Q&A portion to get all your questions answered.

Want to experience IT training at the mothership? Join TechMentor this August as it heads to Microsoft Headquarters for a full week of training, featuring our NEW full-day Hands-On Labs. I hope to see you there!

May232019May 23, 2019May 23, 20190 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Speaking at Experts Live Switzerland 2019

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Events, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Speaking, Work

I’m excited to be chosen again as a speaker at Experts Live Switzerland 2019. Experts Live Switzerland 2019 will take place on June 20 in the new Workspace Welle 7 in Bern Switzerland. Experts Live Switzerland is a one-day event with 17 sessions in three parallel tracks focusing on Microsoft Cloud, Datacenter and Workplace Management topics, with Microsoft MVPs, speakers from Microsoft and other industry experts.

I am happy to speak about Microsoft Azure Stack and how you can extend Azure to your locations. I will also give an overview of the newly announced Azure Stack HCI solutions.

Experts Live Switzerland 2019

Extend the Intelligent Cloud to the Edge with Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI

Azure Stack allows you to extend Azure to your datacenter and run Azure Services under your terms. With Azure Stack HCI, the latest member in the Azure Stack family, we also offer a great hyper-converged infrastructure solution, with optional Azure connected services. Find out more about Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI, how these solutions can help you to in your Hybrid Cloud strategy. Learn about the features and services you will get by offering Azure Stack to your customers and how you can build a true Hybrid Cloud experience.

Experts Live Switzerland 2019 is limited to only 200 attendees, so make sure you reserve your ticket right now! There will be a lot of other great sessions and a lot of experts from the Microsoft Cloud community. One of the main advantages of joining the Experts Live events is that you get this great networking opportunity to learn from each other.

Some more information about the conference:

1-day event
In the heart of Switzerland (Bern)
Keynote about Azure Switzerland
17 sessions
3 parallel tracks
Top Community speakers
limited to 200 attendees
Partner booths in the expo hall
modern location
focusing on Microsoft Cloud Technology

I hope to see you all there!

Apr232019April 23, 2019September 12, 20198 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Sync File Servers with Azure File Sync in Windows Admin Center

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Work

One of the biggest challenges a lot of customers are facing is the capability to provide access to files everywhere and have DR plans in place. This becomes especially true when you are dealing with classic file server infrastructures. Where it is difficult to manage capacity, availability, replication and much more. The Azure Storage team is addressing that need with Azure File Sync. Azure File Sync allows you to sync your file servers with an Azure Files. Azure File is a simple, secure, and fully managed cloud file share solution, using SMB 3.0 and HTTPS.

In addition, the service allows the customer to use functionality like:

Cloud Tiering
Cloud Access
Multi-site Sync
Cloud Backup
Rapid File Server DR

In this post I will cover how, Windows Admin Center will help you to deploy Azure File Sync, if you want to know more, check out the Azure File Sync documentation page.

Apr202019April 20, 2019April 20, 20190 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Speaking at the Global Azure Bootcamp 2019

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, PowerShell, Speaking, Virtualization, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019, Work

On April 27, 2019, it is again time where all the Azure communites come together for the sixth Global Azure Bootcamp event. And I am happy to be part of it again this year. Last year I was speaking at Azure Global Bootcamp 2018 in Zürich, Switzerland, and I will be back to speak at the Global Azure Bootcamp 2019 in Zürich this year. Besides this in person session, I will also be presenting online at the Global Online Azure Bootcamp (Ireland). This is an Azure Global Bootcamp event for those who don’t have something local or cannot travel, organised by Microsoft MVP and Azure expert Aidan Finn from Ireland. Hosted on GoToWebinar, presenters will share their expert knowledge on Microsoft Azure with an audience that can join in from anywhere around the world.

Around the world, user groups and communities want to learn about Azure and Cloud Computing. On April 27, all communities will come together once again for a great Global Azure Bootcamp event. Each user group will organize their own one day deep dive class on Azure the way they see fit and how it works for their members. The result is that thousands of people get to learn about Azure and join together online under the social hashtag #GlobalAzure.

I will be speaking about two extremly interesting topics inluding Azure Cloud Shell and Azure Stack.

Global Azure Bootcamp 2019 in Zürich

Global Azure Bootcamp

Mastering Azure using Cloud Shell, PowerShell and Bash!

Azure can be managed in many different way. Learn your command line options like Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI and Cloud Shell to be more efficient in managing your Azure infrastructure. Become a hero on the shell to manage the cloud!

Oganized by:

Stefan Johner

Stefan Roth

Manuel Meyer

Global Online Azure Bootcamp 2019 (Ireland)

Global Azure Bootcamp (Online)

Extend the Intelligent Cloud to the Edge with Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI

If you have time and you want to spend a whole day learning about Azure, join one of the events around you, or check out the online streaming events. I am also happy to meet you in Zürich!

Apr182019April 18, 2019September 12, 20192 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Setup VM Protection in Windows Admin Center_LI

Configure Azure Site Recovery from Windows Admin Center

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Virtualization, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Work

With the Hybrid Cloud effort, Microsoft invested heavy to make Windows Server and Hyper-V better connect to Microsoft Azure. One way of doing that is with Windows Admin Center and Azure Site Recovery. The Azure Site Recovery integration in Windows Admin Center, allows you to easily replicate Hyper-V virtual machines to Microsoft Azure. The technology is not new, ASR does exist for a long time and allows you to not only replicate Hyper-V VMs, but also VMware VMs and physical servers. However, with the integration in Windows Admin Center, setting up Azure Site Recovery became super easy.

Set up Azure Site Recovery from Windows Admin Center

In the Virtual Machines extension, you can already see a recommendation to setup ASR: “Help protect your VMs from disasters by using Azure Site Recovery.” Which will guide you through the onboarding steps. If you don’t see that banner, just click on the VM you want to protect and replicate to Azure. Click on More and select “Set up VM Protection“, this will guide you through the same wizard.

If you haven’t connected your Windows Admin Center to Microsoft Azure yet, the wizard will help you to go through and set up this connection.

After your WAC is connected to Azure, you will now setup Azure Site Recovery for the Hyper-V host in Azure. This can directly be done from Windows Admin Center. For example, this will let you select the Azure Subscription you want ASR to connect to. It will let you create a new Resource Group and Recovery Services Vault or use an existing one. After you have done the configuration part, WAC will create the specific Azure resources and configure the Hyper-V host for Azure Site Recovery. This can take up to 10 minutes depending if you are using existing resources or creating new once.

If you have a look at the Hyper-V Replica settings in Hyper-V Manager, you will see that ASR is completely setup and configured.

Tag: Azure Stack HCI

An Overview at the New Azure Stack Portfolio

Azure Stack Hub

Azure Stack HCI

Azure Stack Edge

Hybrid Cloud in combination with Azure Arc

Speaking at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays

Hybrid Management Technologies using Azure Stack HCI

Speaking at Experts Live Switzerland 2019

Extend the Intelligent Cloud to the Edge with Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI

Configure Azure Site Recovery from Windows Admin Center

Set up Azure Site Recovery from Windows Admin Center

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