Tag: Azure Stack

Jul302020July 30, 2020July 30, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Azure Stack Hub Partner Solutions Video Series

The Azure Stack Hub Partner Solutions Video Series

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Thomas Maurer

This week Tiberiu Radu (Microsoft Program Manager) and I had the chance to launch the Azure Stack Hub Partner Solutions video series. Azure Stack Hub is part of the Azure Stack portfolio, and has led the way for Microsoft’s Hybrid cloud offerings and partners have joined us to enhance the hybrid cloud journey of our customers. These partners and customers have built solutions that leverage Azure Stack Hub as part of their hybrid cloud strategy. In this video series, we explore the ways our customers and partners use, deploy, manage, and build solutions on the Azure Stack Hub platform.

Join Thomas Maurer (@ThomasMaurer) and Tiberiu Radu (@rctibi) in  this series, as we will meet customers that are deploying Azure Stack Hub for their own internal departments, partners that run managed services on behalf of their customers, and a wide range of in-between as we look at how our various partners are using Azure Stack Hub to bring the power of the cloud on-premises.

You can find more information check out Tiberiu’s blog post on Tech Community, and you can check out the first three videos:

Through August, we have quite a few partner videos following, and we will update this thread, as well as announce them on our Twitter feeds (#AzStackPartners) – follow us in this journey as we explore the partner solutions built on Azure Stack Hub!

If you want to learn more about Azure Stack and Azure Stack Hub, check out the following links:

I hope you enjoyed the blog and the videos, if you have any questions, let me know in the comments.


Jul232020July 23, 2020July 22, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
MJFChat Whats New in the Azure Hybrid Space

MJFChat What’s New in the Azure Hybrid Space?

Posted in Azure Arc, Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Hybrid Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Thomas Maurer

This week I had the honor to be on Mary Jo Foley podcast called MJFChat on Petri.com and talk about what’s new in the Azure Hybrid space. This was the perfect time since we had some great Hybrid Cloud announcements this week during Microsoft Inspire, especially when it comes to Azure Stack HCI.

MJFChat: What’s New in the Azure Hybrid Space?

This episode of MJFChat is all about what’s happening in the Azure hybrid space. Microsoft was the first of the major cloud vendors to offer not just a public cloud, but also a hybrid platform. Azure Stack was the core of Microsoft’s hybrid 1.0 strategy. More recently, Microsoft outlined its hybrid 2.0 plan, which centers around Azure Arc.

If you want to listen to the podcast, you can go to Petri.com or your favorite podcast platform, MJF Chat on Spotify; here for Apple Podcasts on iTunes; and here for Google Play.


Jul222020July 22, 2020July 22, 20209Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Azure Stack HCI version 20H2

Azure Stack HCI version 20H2 – everything you need to know!

Posted in Azure Arc, Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Hardware, Hybrid Cloud, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, PowerShell, Virtualization, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server

Microsoft just announced the new Azure Stack HCI, delivered as an Azure hybrid service, at Microsoft Inspire 2020. Azure Stack HCI, as a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) solution, is expanding the Azure Stack portfolio to offer a comprehensive and flexible lineup of edge infrastructure and hybrid cloud environments. In this blog post, I want you to provide you with an overview of the new Azure Stack HCI, version 20H2.

You can also find the full announcement blog on Azure.com.

What’s Azure Stack HCI

Azure Stack HCI is a hyper-converged cluster solution that runs virtualized Windows and Linux workloads in a hybrid on-premises environment. Some of the most popular use cases are datacenter modernization, Remote/Branch office scenarios, SQL Server based virtual applications, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and running Kubernetes clusters.

  • Hyperconverged infrastructure stack – The Azure Stack HCI operating system is based on core components from Windows Server, and it is designed and optimized on being the best virtualization host and hyper-converged platform. It is enhanced with software from Azure that includes our latest hypervisor with built-in software-defined storage and networking, that you install on servers you control, on your premises. This provides additional functionally, features and performance.
  • Delivered as an Azure hybrid service – Azure Stack HCI is now delivered as an Azure service with a subscription-based licensing model and hybrid capabilities built-in. You can enhance the cluster with Azure hybrid capabilities such as cloud-based monitoring, site recovery, and backup, as well as a central view of all of your Azure Stack HCI deployments in the Azure portal.
  • Familiar for IT to manage and operate – Runs on your choice of hardware, from your preferred vendor, and continue using the tools and processes your team already knows to manage virtual machines, including Windows Admin Center, System Center, and PowerShell.

This new Azure Stack HCI product takes its name from a program that Microsoft has run for several years with recent versions of Windows Server. That program was very popular, and it’s what inspired this new product.

Azure Stack HCI - Inspired by its popular predecessor

Azure Stack HCI – Inspired by its popular predecessor

Part of the Azure Stack Portfolio

Azure Stack HCI joins the growing family of Azure Stack solutions, which offers a comprehensive and flexible lineup of edge infrastructure. The Azure Stack portfolio ranges from Azure Stack Hub, which is an extension of Azure, bringing the agility and innovation of cloud computing to your on-premises environment, to Azure Stack Edge, which brings Azure compute for AI and machine learning at the edge.

Azure Stack HCI version 20H2 - Part of the Azure Stack portfolio

Azure Stack HCI version 20H2 – Part of the Azure Stack portfolio

You can learn more about the Azure Stack portfolio on Azure.com.

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Jun022020June 2, 2020June 7, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Skylines Summer Sessions - Azure Arc - Azure StackSkylines Summer Sessions - Azure Arc - Azure Stack

Skylines Summer Sessions – Azure Arc & Azure Stack

Posted in Azure Arc, Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Hybrid Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Webinar, Windows Admin Center, Work

I am happy to let you know that I will be speaking about Azure Arc and Azure Stack during the Skylines Summer Sessions. During the Summer months, Sklines Academy is bringing you a host of different interactive chats with Azure experts from around the world. You can join these sessions on YouTube. My video will air on Tuesday, June 2nd, at 7 pm CEST.

In this Skylines Summer Session, I am discussing Azure Hybrid together with Microsoft MVPs Richard Hooper and Gregor Suttie.

I hope you enjoy the Skylines Summer Sessions. You can check out more about the Azure Stack Portfolio or Azure Arc for Cloud-Native Hybrid Cloud management on my blog. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment, and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.


May242020May 24, 2020May 24, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
One Ops Question How do I integrate Azure Stack Hub in your Datacenter

One Ops Question – How do I integrate Azure Stack Hub in your Datacenter?

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Thomas Maurer

In this week’s One Ops Questions, I am going to answer how do I integrate Azure Stack Hub in your Datacenter?

How do I integrate Azure Stack Hub in your Datacenter?

If you want to integrate Azure Stack Hub into your on-premises environment, you will need to think and make about a couple of design decisions, like network integration, management considerations, and more. Here you can find more information about Datacenter integration planning considerations for Azure Stack Hub integrated systems. You can also learn more about the full Azure Stack portfolio including Azure Stack Hub, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure Stack Edge.

Find out more on Microsoft Docs.

Try Azure for free: https://aka.ms/TryAzure13

I hope you enjoyed watching the One Ops Question video on how do I integrate Azure Stack Hub in your Datacenter. If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment!


May192020May 19, 2020June 7, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Build 2020

Microsoft Build 2020 Expert Q&A Azure Hybrid Cloud Management

Posted in Azure Arc, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Events, Hybrid Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Webinar, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server 2019, Work

This year, the Microsoft Build 2020 (May 19-20) will be a global digital experience with a non-stop, 48-hour interactive livestream experience straight to your screen. In the digital event session catalog, you find out more about the learning content at the for Microsoft developers but also IT Pros. I am happy to let you know that I will be part of a Microsoft Build 2020 Expert Q&A session on Azure Hybrid Cloud Management together with Sarah Lean (Microsoft Cloud Advocate).

Expert Q&A: Azure Hybrid Cloud and Management

Wednesday, May 20 – 11:45 AM – 12:15 PM CEST 

Community Connections experience – Connect with experts to discuss Azure Hybrid Cloud and Management Technologies like Azure Arc, Azure Stack, Azure Stack HCI, Azure Management, Azure Governance, Azure Migrate, and Azure File Sync.

In this Microsoft Build Q&A session, we will be there to answer questions about Azure Hybrid Cloud and Management. Join us on topics like:

I hope you join us at this year’s Microsoft Build 2020 conference online! If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.


May102020May 10, 2020May 18, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Cloud with Chris Podcast

Cloud with Chris – Podcast on Hybrid Cloud

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Webinar, Windows Server

I was on the Cloud with Chris podcast to talk about Hybrid Cloud and especially what Microsoft Azure has to offer with the Azure Hybrid services. Cloud with Chris is a great podcast if you want to learn more about different cloud computing technologies and concepts. You can listen to the podcast right here.

Cloud with Chris

Exploring Cloud concepts with Chris Reddington (Welsh Tech Geek, Cloud Advocate, Musical Theatre Enthusiast and Improving Improviser!). We will regularly invite guests to talk about their experiences with the cloud and hear about some of the lessons learned around their cloud journey.

In episode 6, we focused on Hybrid Cloud and how Microsoft Azure can really provide value. Microsoft Azure is designed to be hybrid and helps our customers to run their services where ever they need them, connect existing services to the cloud, and make their on-premises environment even better. In the podcast, we are talking about how you can connect existing systems to Azure Hybrid services, the new Azure Stack portfolio, Azure Arc, and much more.

Joining me in this episode is Thomas Maurer, a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft who engages with the community and customers around the world! Most of the focus so far in Cloud with Chris has been on Public Cloud, so Thomas and I adjust course slightly, and talk about Hybrid Cloud, and the new and upcoming features of the Microsoft Azure platform. Get ready to be introduced to a wide variety of Azure Technologies, and how they may be able to strengthen your on-premises, public cloud or multi-cloud deployments. Let’s listen in…

You can check out his podcast site and listen to it on the platform of your choice. You can learn more about Azure Hybrid here:

I hope you will enjoy the Cloud with Chris podcast on Hybrid Cloud, and if you have any questions please let me know in the comments.



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    Thomas Maurer

    My name is Thomas Maurer. I am a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. I am part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. I am located in Switzerland. I am focusing on Microsoft technologies, especially cloud and datacenter solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and Windows Server. Opinions are my own.

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