Cloud Computing – Get Practical

Simplifying Azure Storage: Choosing the Right Type for Your Data

As an Azure Solutions Architect, I often come across clients who find Azure’s wide range of storage options overwhelming. In this post, I’ll break down Azure Storage into simple terms, so you can make the right choice for your needs.

What is Azure Storage?

Azure Storage is a cloud service that provides scalable, durable, and secure storage solutions. Whether you need to store files, structured data, or backups, Azure Storage has an option for you.

Types of Azure Storage

Here are the main storage options and their typical use cases:

Blob Storage
Think of this as a place for large files—videos, images, backups, or any unstructured data.
- When to Use: Hosting static website content, storing backups, or media streaming.
- Cool Feature: Access tiers (Hot, Cool, and Archive) let you optimise costs based on how often you access the data.
File Storage
Like a network share in the cloud! Ideal for replacing on-premises file servers.
- When to Use: Lift-and-shift applications that rely on file shares.
- Cool Feature: It supports SMB and NFS protocols, so it integrates easily with existing systems.
Table Storage
A NoSQL store for lightweight, structured data.
- When to Use: Logging, metadata storage, or applications requiring fast key-value lookups.
- Cool Feature: It’s incredibly cost-effective and lightning-fast for specific use cases.
Queue Storage
A messaging store to decouple application components.
- When to Use: When building distributed apps or processing background tasks.
- Cool Feature: Works seamlessly with Azure Functions for event-driven architectures.
Disk Storage
Persistent storage for Virtual Machines (VMs).
- When to Use: Running workloads like databases, where performance and durability matter.
- Cool Feature: Options like Ultra Disks offer high throughput for demanding workloads.

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Navigating the Transition from Azure Automation Update Management to Azure Update Manager: A Comprehensive Guide

As cloud technologies evolve, so too must the tools we rely on to maintain and secure our environments. Microsoft’s recent announcement regarding the retirement of Azure Automation Update Management is a prime example of this continuous evolution. By 31 August 2024, this service, along with the Log Analytics agent it uses, will be officially retired. Users will need to transition to the more advanced Azure Update Manager to ensure their virtual machines remain up-to-date and secure.

This blog post will explore the implications of this transition, the benefits of migrating to Azure Update Manager, and provide a detailed step-by-step guide for the most complex migration scenario—manual migration. This approach is ideal for those with intricate environments that require a high degree of customization and control.

The Shift to Azure Update Manager: What It Means for You

Azure Automation Update Management has been a reliable tool for managing the updates of virtual machines (VMs). However, with its retirement on the horizon, Microsoft is pushing for a transition to Azure Update Manager, a more integrated and feature-rich platform designed to offer greater flexibility, control, and scalability.

Why Migrate to Azure Update Manager?

Azure Update Manager is not just a replacement; it’s a significant upgrade. Here are some of the key improvements:

– Seamless Integration: Azure Update Manager is built natively into Azure’s infrastructure, providing zero-step onboarding for Azure VMs and Azure Stack HCI VMs, and easy integration with Azure Arc for managing non-Azure servers.

– Enhanced Control: With granular access control and role-based access control (RBAC), you can finely tune who has access to specific update management tasks, reducing the risk of unauthorized changes.

– Flexible Patching Options: Azure Update Manager offers advanced features such as customer-defined maintenance schedules, Azure-orchestrated automated patching, and hotpatching, which minimizes downtime by applying updates without requiring a reboot.

– Cost Efficiency: For managing Azure VMs and Azure Stack HCI VMs, Azure Update Manager is available at no extra charge. For Azure Arc-enabled servers, there’s a nominal fee of $5 per server per month.

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Microsoft Announces Mandatory MFA for All Azure Users

Microsoft has recently announced a significant change that will impact all Azure users: the mandatory implementation of Multifactor Authentication (MFA). This update aims to enhance security across the Azure platform by requiring additional verification for users accessing various Azure services.

Official Announcement: Read Microsoft’s MFA Requirement for Azure Users

Understanding the Changes

This update will affect all users interacting with the Azure Portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell Modules, and Terraform when deploying to Azure. This includes guest accounts, service accounts, and break glass accounts.

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Deploying Your Own Agents (VMs) in Azure for Azure DevOps CI/CD Pipelines

Introduction

In the world of software development, Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) practices are crucial for automating the testing and deployment of code. Azure DevOps provides a powerful platform for implementing CI/CD pipelines. While Azure DevOps offers hosted agents for running pipelines, there are scenarios where you might need to deploy your own agents in Azure. These scenarios can range from requiring a specific environment setup to needing to run pipelines on-premises or in a private network. This blog post guides you through the process of deploying your own agents in Azure to work with Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines.

Why Deploy Your Own Agents?

Customization: You can customize your agents to have any software and configuration you need.
Performance: You can choose the size and performance characteristics of the VMs that host your agents.
Control: You have more control over the environment and can implement stricter security measures.

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Creating Azure Support Tickets with PowerShell: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

As cloud services become increasingly complex, the ability to manage and troubleshoot them effectively is crucial. Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service, offers a range of tools to help with this. Today, we’ll explore how you can leverage PowerShell, to create support tickets in Azure. This is particularly useful for automating support processes or integrating them into your existing PowerShell scripts.

Prerequisites

An Azure subscription
PowerShell installed on your system
Azure PowerShell Module

Step 1: Installing Azure PowerShell Module

First, ensure that the Azure PowerShell module is installed on your system. Open PowerShell and run:

Install-Module -Name Az -AllowClobber -Scope CurrentUser

Step 2: Authenticating with Azure

Next, log in to your Azure account using:

Connect-AzAccount

Follow the prompts to complete the authentication.

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