Prerequisite Knowledge
Before we start with the understanding of what Microsoft Azure Stack is, we should have:
Introduction of Microsoft Azure Stack
- If an organization wants to utilize the power of Azure cloud but doesn't want to utilize the Azure public data center because of factors like latency, intermittent connectivity, and regulations etc., we need to have a hybrid cloud approach in place.
- Microsoft has a solution for this need; i.e. Azure stack. Azure Stack is an extension of Azure that provides a way to run applications in an on-premises environment and deliver Azure services in your datacenter.
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Source – Microsoft Docs
- Microsoft delivers the Azure service from their own data center.
- Azure stack has the same level of standard architecture like Azure public cloud like Azure portal, application model etc.
- Azure stack's integrated system ranges in size from 4-16 nodes. The Azure Stack Development Kit (ASDK) is a single-node deployment of Azure Stack that you can download and use for free.
- We can process the data in Azure stack and can integrate with Azure public cloud for further analytics. We can even disconnect the internet from the Azure stack and disconnect from the Azure public cloud.
- Since Azure stack works on the same model as Azure public cloud, we can easily deploy applications to Azure stack without modifications in the code and approach to manage it.
- Microsoft has trusted hardware partners to rapidly set-up the Azure stack in on-premise environments.
- We can use the Azure active directory and active directory federation service in Azure stack too.
- We can easily integrate this DevOps for speedy process of implementing the solutions.
- Azure stack has common operational practices like Azure public cloud to deploy and operate Azure IaaS and PaaS services using the same administrative experiences and tools.
How to manage Azure stack
- As we said, Azure stack has the portal like Azure.
- Azure stack operator will deliver the services in Azure stack.
- Using administrative portal, we can configure services that will be provided to Azure stack tenant like subscription, plans, quotas etc. It is a process of configuring the Azure stack.
- Then, once it is ready then Azure stack user (tenant) can consume the services inside it which are provided by the Azure stack operator.
Resource Providers
- This is the web service and foundation of all Azure stack IaaS, PaaS services.
- Resource providers like:
- Compute – Create your own virtual machines and its extensions.
- Network Resource Provider – It provides software defined networking and network function virtualization.
- Storage Resource Provider – it delivers the storage services like blob, queue, KeyVault, table etc.
- There are other resource providers too like app service, SQL service, MySQL Server etc.
- Azure stack also has high availability features which allow us to configure and update domains for the virtual machines.
- We utilize the power of role-based access security like Azure in Azure stack for security.
Reference Links
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/overview/azure-stack/
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/operator/azure-stack-overview
- https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/azure-stack.html
- https://www.networkworld.com/article/3037483/truly-understanding-microsoft-s-azure-stack.html
Conclusion
Azure stack is extremely secure and nothing but your cloud, your way. In this article we have learned the overview of Microsoft Azure Stack and its services.