Individual Contributor-Level Well-Architected Architecture
What is needed in an Azure Infrastructure (Pre-Migrate): (9)
A valid Azure Subscription – Add in or put in a resource group; create/name your instance.
Azure Virtual Network (VNet) with at least one Subnet.
Azure Storage Account – Storage needs (see #9 Backup Solutions). How much data needs to be migrated?
Azure Storage-Types (5): (1) Azure Blob Storage (2) Azure Disk Storage (3) Azure File Storage (4) Azure Data Lake Storage (5) Azure Archive Blob Storage.
Azure Virtual Machines (VM) -- # of VMs needed? w/ GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit). OS: Windows & Linux.
Azure Network Security Group (NSGs) -- Controls inbound/outbound network traffic to/from Azure resources. Create network security rules (to allow/deny traffic to/from resources). Apply controls to individual subnets, individual VMs w/in a subnet, & a single network interface (NIC), or multiple NICs.
An Azure DNS Zone (Domain Names System) -- A hosting service for DNS domains/URLs. A container for DNS records.
Load Balancing (Fault Tolerance & Failover) & Clustering. (5)
Azure Load Balancer: BLUF: operates at layer 4 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, distributing incoming traffic across a group of backend servers or resources. It acts as a single point of contact for clients, efficiently forwarding requests to healthy backend instances based on configured load-balancing rules and health probes. [Doc] [Overview]
Azure Availability Sets: BLUF: The OS/Auto-responds to a failer and continues (maybe w/a backup). This is a basic offering that groups virtual machines (VMs) within a data center to ensure fault tolerance. If one VM fails, other VMs in the set remain operational.
Clustering -- Azure Stack HCI -- BLUF: This is a hyperconverged infrastructure solution that integrates compute, storage, and software-defined networking for building highly available clusters (A group of independent servers that work together to maintain high availability of applications and services).
Azure Application Gateway (AAG): This is a Layer 7 (Application in OSI) load balancer. Features:
Path-based routing: Directs traffic based on the specific path or URL in a request.
Uses Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF): Provides built-in protection against common web application vulnerabilities.
SSL/TLS offloading: Improves performance by handling the encryption/decryption process on the load balancer. HTTP, HTTPS.
Azure Load Balancer: This is a Layer 4 (Transport in OSI) load balancer. It excels at high-performance traffic distribution across healthy backend resources (virtual machines, cloud services, etc.). It offers:
Global and regional load balancing: Distributes traffic across different Azure regions or globally for high availability.
Support for TCP and UDP protocols: Handles various types of network traffic.
Health probes: Monitors the health of backend instances and automatically routes traffic away from unhealthy ones.
Azure Traffic Manager (ATM): This is a Domain Name System (DNS)-based traffic routing service. It doesn't directly handle traffic itself but directs users to the most appropriate endpoint based on factors like:
Geographic location: Routes users to the closest regional endpoint for better performance.
Performance routing: Directs users to the endpoint with the best health and response times.
Failover: Automatically switches traffic to a healthy secondary endpoint if the primary one becomes unavailable.
Add in Azure AD – Identity & Access Management (IAM), Single Sign-On (SSO), and Multifactor Authentication (MFA).
Backup Solution(s) – Several options –
Azure Backup -- Back up VMs, SQL databases, and other data stored in Azure.
Azure Site Recovery – Protects app & data from outages and disasters. Can replicate (exact copy) data & apps to a secondary location in the Cloud or On-prem.
Additional Azure Storage (5) (also see #3) -- Provides a secure, durable, and highly available storage for data. Can store backups of data in Azure.
Azure Blob Storage:
BLUF: For unstructured data like media files or backups.
Focus: Ideal for storing unstructured data like text, images, videos, audio files, archives, and log data.
Use Cases (4): (1) Media libraries for websites and applications. (2) Backup and disaster recovery. (3) Big data analytics workloads. (4) Archive infrequently accessed data.
Azure Disk Storage:
BLUF: For persistent storage for virtual machines (VMs).
Focus: Provides block-level storage volumes that function like traditional hard drives.
Use Cases (3): (1) Attaching storage disks to Azure virtual machines for persistent data storage. (2) Running databases on Azure VMs. (3) High-performance computing workloads.
Azure File Storage:
BLUF: For collaborative file sharing.
Focus: Offers cloud-based file shares accessible from various devices using industry-standard protocols (SMB, NFS).
Use Cases (3): (1) Sharing files across applications and users. (2) Collaborative document editing. (3) File server migration to the cloud.
Azure Data Lake Storage:
BLUF: For big data analytics workloads.
Focus: A scalable data lake solution designed for storing massive datasets used for big data analytics.
Use Cases (2): (1) Housing data from various sources for data warehousing and analytics. (2) Supporting data science and machine learning workflows.
Azure Archive Blob Storage:
BLUF: For archiving rarely accessed data.
Focus: Extremely low-cost storage for long-term archival of rarely accessed data.
Use Cases (2): (1) Backing up inactive data for regulatory compliance or historical records. (2) Medical imaging archives.
Azure Resource Manager (ARM). -- I USE. I DO NOT USE AZURE CLI
BLUF: (Uses templates) To manage and deploy your Azure resources in a declarative way (what is the end goal or the desired configuration). It uses JSON or Bicep files (a DSL for ARM templates) to define the infrastructure you want to create, including virtual machines (VMs), storage accounts, databases, and more.
3 Common Tasks: (3)
Infrastructure Deployment: Use ARM templates to define your infrastructure configuration and deploy it to Azure. This ensures consistency and repeatability in your deployments.
Resource Management: Manage individual resources within your Azure environment. This includes tasks like starting, stopping, deleting, and updating resources.
Resource Group Management: Organize related Azure resources into logical groups for easier management and access control.
Key Difference between Azure ARM and Azure CLI:
Azure ARM uses templates to define the infrastructure configuration, while Azure CLI provides commands to interact with Azure services.
Azure ARM templates are declarative (state what you want), while Azure CLI commands are imperative (specify the actions to take).
Azure ARM templates are typically used for deployment automation, while Azure CLI can be used for both interactive management and scripting.
Azure CLI (Command-Line Interface) -- I DO NOT USE. I USE AZURE ARM
BLUF: (Uses scripts) Azure CLI is a command-line tool that allows you to interact with Azure services from your terminal. It provides a powerful way to automate tasks, script deployments, and manage your Azure resources efficiently.
3 Common Tasks: (3)
Resource Management: Similar to ARM, you can use Azure CLI commands to manage individual resources. This includes creating, reading, updating, and deleting resources.
Subscription Management: Manage your Azure subscriptions, including viewing details, creating new subscriptions, and switching between subscriptions.
Deployment with ARM Templates: Use Azure CLI commands to deploy your infrastructure defined in ARM templates. This allows for scripted and automated deployments.
Migration from AWS to Azure:
Execution Plan. The migration from AWS to Azure is a structured process that minimizes risk and downtime.
AuthS: The Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) is an excellent resource for this.
Execution Steps (3)
Assess and Plan (Initial Phase) - (The "Why" and "What"):
BLUF: This initial phase is about understanding your existing AWS environment and planning the move to Azure.
Inventory AWS Environment: Use tools to discover and catalogue all your AWS resources (EC2 instances, S3 buckets, databases, etc.).
Azure Service Mapping: Map your current AWS services to their equivalent Azure counterparts. For example, AWS EC2 maps to Azure Virtual Machines, AWS S3 maps to Azure Blob Storage, and AWS RDS maps to Azure SQL Database or Cosmos DB.
Migration Strategy Selection: Choose a migration strategy for each workload. Common strategies include Rehost ("lift and shift"), Replatform (minor modifications), or Refactor (re-architecting for cloud-native benefits).
Cost Analysis: Use the Azure Pricing Calculator and other tools to estimate the cost of running your workloads in Azure.
Tools: (2)
Azure Migrate: This is your primary tool. It's a centralized service that helps you discover and assess your AWS virtual machines, databases, and web apps. It provides a dependency analysis to understand how your workloads are interconnected and recommends the appropriate Azure services and their estimated costs.
Azure Pricing Calculator: Before you migrate, you'll use this to estimate the total cost of ownership (TCO) on Azure. You can input your AWS resource usage and compare it to the equivalent Azure services to create a solid business case for the migration.
Migrate (Execution Phase) - (The "How"):
BLUF: This is the execution phase where you physically move your data and applications to Azure.
Landing Zone Creation: Build a foundational environment in Azure called a landing zone. This includes setting up your Virtual Networks, subnets, identity management with Azure Active Directory, and governance policies.
Pilot Migration: Start with a low-priority, non-critical application. This pilot allows your team to get hands-on experience, validate the process, and refine the migration plan without impacting business operations.
Data and Application Migration: Use native Azure tools and third-party solutions to move your data and applications. Data migration is often the most time-consuming part and may require a multi-stage process involving initial replication and a final cutover.
Tools: (5)
Azure Migrate: Beyond assessment, Azure Migrate also provides tools to perform the actual migration. It can handle a variety of workloads, including servers, databases, and web applications.
Azure DevOps: This suite of tools is crucial for building and managing your CI/CD pipelines. Azure Pipelines specifically automates the build, test, and deployment of your applications into the new Azure environment.
Azure Virtual Machines (VMs): If you're using a "lift and shift" approach (rehosting), you'll migrate your AWS EC2 instances to Azure VMs.
Azure Cosmos DB and Azure SQL Database: For migrating databases, these are your key targets. Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database that is ideal for applications that require low-latency access from anywhere in the world. Azure SQL Database is a managed relational database service that provides a good migration path for AWS RDS.
Azure Blob Storage: This is the equivalent of AWS S3. You'll migrate your unstructured data (images, videos, documents) to Azure Blob Storage, which is designed for massive scale and offers various tiers for cost optimization.
Optimize and Manage (The "After Migration"):
BLUF: After the migration is complete, the focus shifts to running the platform efficiently and securely on Azure.
Post-Migration Validation: After migration, thoroughly test all applications to ensure they function as expected in the new environment.
Cost Management: Use Azure Cost Management tools to monitor spending and identify opportunities to optimize resources (e.g., right-sizing virtual machines).
Continuous Monitoring: Implement monitoring and logging using Azure Monitor to track performance, security, and availability.
Tools: (6)
Azure Front Door: As a global, scalable entry point, this tool routes user traffic to the fastest available application endpoint, which is essential for a global platform. It also provides a Web Application Firewall (WAF) for enhanced security.
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): If you are modernizing your applications, AKS is the ideal managed service for deploying and scaling containerized applications. It simplifies the orchestration of your microservices.
MS Entra ID (aka Azure AD): This is the identity and access management service for your entire platform. It centralizes user authentication and authorization, which is critical for maintaining security and compliance.
Azure Monitor: This tool provides comprehensive observability. It collects metrics and logs from your applications and infrastructure, allowing you to monitor performance, diagnose issues, and set up alerts.
Azure Policy: This governance tool helps you enforce organizational standards and ensure compliance across your resources. You can create policies that prevent non-compliant resources from being provisioned, which is vital for a consistent global platform.
Azure Cost Management: This tool helps you monitor and optimize your cloud spending. It provides detailed reports and analysis, allowing you to identify opportunities for cost savings.
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App Migration to Azure. A common approach: (6)
Assessment: The first step is to assess the existing application and its dependencies. This includes understanding the application architecture, components, data sources, and any dependencies on other systems. It also involves assessing the compatibility and readiness of the application for migration to Azure.
Planning: This plan outlines the migration strategy, timeline, resource requirements, and any potential challenges or risks. It includes decisions on which Azure tools and services will be used for migration.
Data Migration: If the application relies on data stored in on-premises databases, migration of this data to Azure is necessary. Azure provides various tools and services for data migration, such as Azure Database Migration Service or Azure Data Factory, which can assist with transferring data from on-premises databases to Azure.
Network and Security Setup: Configuring the network infrastructure and security measures is an essential step in Azure application migration. Azure Virtual Network enables the creation of a logically isolated network environment, and Azure Network Security Groups help to define and enforce network-level access control policies.
Application Deployment (Migrate): Provides different options for application deployment, such as Azure App Service for web applications, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for containerized applications, or Azure VMs for more traditional application setups. The choice of deployment option depends on the application's requirements and architecture.
Monitoring and Management: After the application is migrated and deployed, it is crucial to set up monitoring and management tools. Azure offers several services for monitoring and managing applications, such as Azure Monitor, Azure Application Insights, and Azure Log Analytics. These tools help in gaining insights, troubleshooting issues, and ensuring the application's optimal performance.
Azure tools (AV-2) To Migrate Into Azure: (7)
BLUF: Use the below Azure Tools to migrate applications to Azure. Or, parts of a whole -- Alt: Find a similar application (Training/Guidance) -- Or, Develop a whole new application (Training & Cost Factors).
Azure Migrate Documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/
Azure Migrate: This tool helps with the assessment of on-prem apps for migration to Azure. It provides insights into the application's dependencies, performance characteristics, and suitability for migration.
Case: Migrate Physical Servers to Azure (Detailed Steps). Initial steps (5) -- (1) Set up an Azure account. (2) Prepare physical servers for discovery. (3) Create a project. (4) Set up the Azure Migrate appliance. (5) Start continuous discovery.
Azure Defender: Migrate to Azure (applications, data, and infrastructure) protected by MS Defender (PowerPoint).
Azure Database Migration Service: Migrates databases to Azure. It supports migration from various database sources, including on-premises and other cloud platforms.
Azure Site Recovery: This tool facilitates (an action) the migration of VMs and physical Servers to Azure. It enables replication and failover of workloads to Azure, maintaining their data integrity and minimizing downtime during the migration.
Azure App Service: A platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that simplifies the deployment and management of web apps. It provides scalability, automatic load balancing, and high availability for web applications.
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS or AK8s): It is a managed container orchestration service that simplifies the deployment and management of containerized apps. Provides scalability, auto-updates, & load balancing for app containers.
Create a VM (Pre-Migration).
Start with a migration strategy following a Well-Architected Architecture Framework.
The Plan – [EverNote Link]:
DISCOVER: Where content lives/how much.
ANALYZE: Identify relevant content to optimize.
MIGRATE: Know the impact, scope, and CCRM.
Steps to Create a VM (Gather Requirements): (8)
(Coming From) “Where” are you migrating from? On-Prem; Other VPN, Other CSP, etc
(Storage Needs) “How” much data needs to be migrated? < 10G; 10-20G; 30-50G; 50-100G; 100G+; Don’t migrate data; Not sure.
Example: See Storage or SP scope to create a report via Power BI
PLAN -- DISCOVER (where content lives/how much); ANALYZE (ID relevant content to optimize); MIGRATE (Know impact-scope changes)
(# of Licenses/Number of Users) How many licenses are needed? (leave blank if unknown) How many users?
(# of Domains/URLs) How many domains are being migrated? # of URLs.
(Compliances) What is your compliance requirements? Yes (with CSSP or NIST controls). No, Not sure.
In Az Portal, create an Instance…
Add Azure Load Balancer to provide traffic distribution to VMs
[Optimize] – Add IaC (Infrastructure as Code) to automate the process (aka TerraForm)
Program-Level
High-level common steps in creating, deploying, configuring, and scaling an Azure infrastructure are as follows: (12)
Define the project requirements: Determine the objectives, expected workloads, and scalability requirements.
Plan the architecture: Design the Azure infrastructure, including the selection of Azure services, resource groups, virtual networks, and storage accounts.
Create an Azure Subscription: Sign up for an Azure account and create a subscription to access Azure services and resources.
Provision Azure resources: Create virtual machines, storage accounts, databases, and other required resources based on the planned architecture.
Network configuration: Configure virtual networks, subnets, network security groups, load balancers, and other networking components required for the infrastructure.
Configure security: Implement identity and access management, set up firewalls, manage encryption, and define security policies to protect the infrastructure.
Deploy applications: Install and configure the required software and applications on the provisioned virtual machines or containers.
Monitor and optimize performance: Set up monitoring tools to track resource utilization, detect potential bottlenecks, and optimize performance.
Implement backups and disaster recovery: Configure backup and recovery solutions to ensure data protection and business continuity.
Scale the infrastructure: Monitor resource usage and scalability requirements, and scale up or down by adding or removing resources as needed.
Automate deployment and configuration: Utilize Azure Automation or other tools to automate the deployment and configuration processes, enabling repetitive tasks to be executed efficiently.
Continuous optimization: Regularly review and optimize the Azure infrastructure to ensure cost-effectiveness, security, and performance.
To operate a public and private Azure cloud, follow the daily operational procedures: (10)
Determine your cloud requirements: Identify your organization's needs and objectives for utilizing cloud technologies. Consider factors like scalability, security, compliance, and availability.
Choose between public and private cloud: Determine whether a public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud approach suits your business requirements. Public cloud offers scalability and cost-effectiveness, while private cloud provides greater control and security.
Prepare your infrastructure: Set up the necessary hardware, network, and software components required for Azure cloud deployment. Ensure proper connectivity, security measures, and integration with existing systems.
Create Azure accounts: Set up Azure accounts and subscriptions to gain access to Azure services. Choose the appropriate subscription model based on your usage requirements and budget.
Configure Azure resources: Deploy the required Azure resources, such as virtual machines, storage accounts, networking components, and databases. Follow Azure's documentation and guidance to properly configure these resources.
Implement security measures: Utilize Azure Security Center and Azure Firewall to protect your cloud infrastructure from potential threats. Configure security policies, enable network security groups, and implement identity and access management solutions for secure access control.
Manage and monitor resources: Set up monitoring and alerting systems to track the performance, availability, and usage of your Azure resources. Utilize Azure Monitor, Azure Log Analytics, and Azure Application Insights to gain insights into resource usage and troubleshoot issues proactively.
Implement backup and disaster recovery: Configure Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery to ensure data protection and business continuity. Establish backup schedules, retention policies, and recovery plans to safeguard your critical data.
Optimize cost and performance: Continuously monitor and optimize your Azure environment to reduce costs and enhance performance. Utilize Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor, and Azure Resource Optimization tools to identify cost-saving opportunities, right-size resources, and optimize utilization.
Stay updated on Azure services: Regularly follow Azure updates and new features to leverage the latest capabilities offered by Azure. Keep your infrastructure and applications up to date to benefit from improved functionality, security patches, and performance enhancements.
Implementing an Azure Architecture and a ZTA involves several steps. Here's a high-level guide: (11)
Define your Azure architecture goals: Understand the objectives and requirements of your company. Determine what you want to achieve with Azure and set specific goals for your architecture implementation.
Assess your existing environment: Evaluate your current on-premises or cloud infrastructure, applications, network architecture, and security posture. Identify the areas that need improvement and plan accordingly.
Design your Azure architecture: Based on your goals and assessment, design a comprehensive Azure architecture that aligns with your company's needs. Consider factors such as scalability, performance, availability, disaster recovery, and cost optimization.
Choose Azure services: Determine which Azure services are the best fit for your architecture. Consider services for computing, storage, networking, databases, analytics, security, and more. Leverage Azure's capabilities, such as Azure VMs, Azure Functions, Azure App Service, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Sentinel (aka SIEM), etc.
Plan for connectivity: Define how your on-premises infrastructure will connect to Azure. Evaluate network connectivity options like Azure ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, or Azure Virtual WAN, depending on your requirements.
Implement IAM: Establish an IAM strategy using Azure AD. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), role-based access control (RBAC), and enforce password policies.
Implement a ZTA: An architectural security model that assumes no trust, even within the network boundary. Ensure all resources are protected, regardless of their location—inside or outside the network perimeter. Use Azure tools (5): (1) Azure Firewall, (2) Azure Security Center, (3) Azure AD (IAM, MFA, SSO, RBAC), (4) Azure PIM (Privileged Identity Management), (5) Azure ATP (Advanced Threat Protection), etc.
Use CISA ZTMM v2 Pillars (6): (1) Identity (2) Data (3) Devices (4) Network (5) Apps&Wrkload (6) Cross-Cutting
Use CISA ZTMM v2 Maturity-Levels (4): (1) Traditional; (2) Initial; (3) Advanced; (4) Optimized.
Follow security best practices: Implement encryption for data at rest and in motion using Azure Key Vault, Azure Disk Encryption, SSL/TLS certificates, etc. -- Best Practices (4): (1) Regularly patch and update all Azure resources. (2) Enable logging and monitoring using Azure Monitor. (3) Use Azure Security Center to detect and respond to potential threats. (4) Leverage the guidance from CISA, NIST, etc.
Researching to align with: Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)
Adapting: Crypto-Agility (to pivot/adapt automatically to PQC changes) and AI-Quantum (AQ)
Migrate and deploy your apps to Azure: Following the design and architecture you've defined. Use Azure Migrate for assessing and conducting migrations. Deploy your applications using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, Azure DevOps pipelines, or other deployment methods.
Continuously monitor and optimize: Monitor your Azure environment, set up alerts for potential security incidents, and analyze performance and cost-related metrics. Optimize configurations, and right-size resources, and refine security policies based on insights gained from monitoring and analytics.
Tools (6): (1) Azure Monitor: A centralized monitoring solution to monitor the performance and health of your Azure resources like VMs, databases, applications, and more. It offers metrics, logs, and alerts for proactive monitoring. (2) Azure Advisor: It analyzes your Azure resource configuration and usage patterns to provide recommendations for optimizing their performance, security, reliability, and cost-efficiency. (3) Azure Cost Management and Billing: It helps you to monitor and optimize your Azure spending. It provides cost analysis, budgeting, and recommendations to help you identify cost-saving opportunities and prevent overspending. (4) Azure Automanage: It helps simplify the management of your VMs by automatically configuring and optimizing their settings based on best practices and Azure recommendations. (5) Azure Security Center: It continuously monitors and provides security recommendations for your Azure resources to ensure compliance and protection against threats. It helps optimize the security posture of your environment. (6) Azure App Configuration: It provides a centralized configuration store for your applications. You can continuously update and optimize various settings of your applications without redeploying them.
Provide user training and support: Train users on Azure services, security practices, and how to utilize the architecture effectively. Ensure support channels are available to address any queries or issues that may arise.
Design, Plan, Configure, and Implement Workloads in M365: (8)
Identify business requirements: Understand the business needs and goals that the M365 configuration will need to meet. This will help determine which workloads and settings are necessary.
Determine user requirements: Identify the number of users, their roles, and the devices they will be using. This will help determine the appropriate M365 configurations and settings for each user.
Design M365 configurations: Determine which workloads and settings are needed based on the business and user requirements. Consider factors such as security, compliance, collaboration, communication, and mobility.
Plan M365 configurations: Develop a detailed plan for configuring M365 based on the design. This plan should include timelines, resources, and any potential challenges that may need to be addressed.
Estimate costs: Calculate the costs associated with implementing the M365 configurations, including licensing fees, hardware, and any additional resources that may be needed.
Architect M365 configurations: Once the design, plan, and cost estimates have been approved, begin implementing the M365 configurations according to the plan. This may involve deploying and configuring services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, and Intune.
Test and review: After the M365 configurations have been implemented, thoroughly test them to ensure they meet the business and user requirements. Conduct a review to identify any issues or areas for improvement.
Monitor and optimize: Continuously monitor the M365 configurations to ensure they are performing as expected. Make any necessary adjustments or optimizations to improve performance, security, and compliance.
Designing Systems and Infrastructure. Key Goals and Objectives w/ Tools: (3)
Identify requirements: Understand the business needs and identify the specific requirements for high availability, such as uptime and recovery time objectives.
Design for redundancy: Design your system with redundant components so that if one component fails, another can take over seamlessly. This may involve using multiple virtual machines, multiple availability zones, or multiple regions.
Use Azure Load Balancer: This will distribute incoming traffic across multiple instances of your application, ensuring high availability and scalability. It can be used to distribute traffic across multiple VMs or availability zones.
Utilize Azure Traffic Manager: A DNS-based traffic load balancer that can be used to distribute traffic across multiple regions or data centers. It helps achieve global availability by directing users to the closest or healthiest endpoint.
Leverage Azure Availability Zones: Availability Zones in Azure ensure higher availability and fault tolerance for applications. By deploying resources to different Availability Zones, you can protect against data center or hardware failures.
Implement Azure Resource Manager templates: Azure Resource Manager templates provide a declarative approach to defining and deploying infrastructure as code. Use templates to define your infrastructure and ensure reproducibility and consistency.
Set up automatic scaling: Use Azure Autoscale to automatically scale your resources up or down based on predefined metrics such as CPU usage or network traffic. This ensures that your application can handle increased load and remains highly available.
Implement Azure Site Recovery: A disaster recovery solution that replicates and orchestrates the failover of virtual machines and physical servers to a secondary site. It helps in ensuring business continuity and minimizing downtime during outages.
Enable monitoring and alerting: Use Azure Monitor to monitor the health and performance of your Azure resources. Configure alerts to get notified in case of any issues or anomalies, allowing proactive response and troubleshooting.
Implement backup and restore: Leverage Azure Backup to regularly back up your data and applications. This ensures that even in the event of data corruption or accidental deletion, you can restore your systems to their previous state quickly.
Azure tools (AV-2):
Azure Load Balancer: Distributes traffic across multiple instances to ensure high availability and scalability.
Azure Traffic Manager: Manages incoming traffic and directs users to the closest or healthiest endpoint for global availability.
Azure Availability Zones: Provides fault tolerance and high availability by deploying resources across multiple data center zones.
Azure Resource Manager templates: Defines infrastructure as code, enabling reproducibility and consistency.
Azure Autoscale: Automatically scales resources based on predefined metrics to handle increased load.
Azure Site Recovery: Replicates and orchestrates failover of virtual machines and servers for disaster recovery.
Azure Monitor: Provides monitoring and alerting functionality to track resource health and performance.
Azure Backup: Enables regular backups of data and applications for recovery in case of data loss or corruption.
Additional Resources: (3)
Microsoft Azure documentation on High Availability: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/high-availability/building-solutions-for-high-availability
Azure Architecture Center: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/
Microsoft Learn modules on High Availability: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/high-availability/building-solutions-for-high-availability