DEV Community: Franklin Onuegbu

Creating a Virtual Machine Scale Set

Franklin Onuegbu — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:37:12 +0000

Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets allow you to deploy and manage a group of auto-scaling virtual machines.
the Benefit of virtual machine scale set include

1. Easy Management: Maintain consistent configurations across multiple VMs. All VM instances are created from the same base OS image and configuration. No extra configuration tasks or network management needed.

2. Automatic Scaling: Scale the number of VMs manually or define rules for autoscaling based on resource usage (CPU, memory, or network traffic). An Azure load balancer distributes traffic to VM instances in the scale set.

3. High Availability: Distribute VMs across availability zones or fault domains. Maintain fault domain isolation for quorum-based or stateful workloads.

4. Large-Scale Support: Flexible orchestration for up to 1000 VMs.
Mix virtual machine types or use Spot and on-demand VMs together.

To create a Virtual Machine Scale Set in Azure, follow these steps

Log in to Azure: Sign in to the Azure portal
Search for “Scale set” in the portal and click create virtual machine scale set.

Choose an existing resource group or create a new one
Set a name for your scale set (e.g., VM-SS), Select a region close to your area, set availability zone to "None" and Ensure the “Uniform” option is selected for Orchestration mode.

Choose a marketplace image (e.g., RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, or SLES).

Scaling we have two types of scaling Manual and automatic but for this session we will go with automatic scaling.

Instance details and Administrator account details.

7.Networking: we will need to modify the network interface, like allowing selected ports, selecting the ports, enabling public Ip address

Load balancer we can select an existing load balancer or create a new one, we will select azure load balancer then only give it a name and leave every other things as default

Deployment

Azure Virtual Machine (VM) and It's Deployment

Franklin Onuegbu — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 19:36:17 +0000

Azure virtual machines

These are on-demand, scalable computing resources offered by Azure.

Purpose:

Azure virtual machines (VMs) give you more control over your computing environment than other choices. You can use them for various purposes.

Development and test: Quickly create a VM with specific configurations for coding and testing applications.

Cloud applications: Run applications on VMs in Azure, scaling up or down as needed.

Extended datacenter: Connect VMs in an Azure virtual network to your organization’s network.

Considerations Before Creating a VM

Resource Names: Decide on resource names.

Location: Choose where to store resources.

VM Size: Select an appropriate VM size.

Operating System: Decide which OS the VM will run.

Configuration: Plan how to configure the VM after it starts.

Related Resources: Consider other resources the VM needs.

Billing and Resources

When you create a VM, you also create supporting resources (e.g., virtual network, NIC).
These resources have their own costs, so be aware of them.
For example, a VM’s supporting resources include a virtual network and a Network Interface Card (NIC).

Deploying a Virtual Machine

Sign in to Azure: Access the Azure portal. If you don’t have an Azure subscription, create a free account.
Create a Virtual Machine:

Search for “virtual machines” in the Azure portal.
Select “Virtual machines” under Services.

Click “Create” and choose “Azure virtual machine.”

Select an existing Resource Group or create a new one (we will name it Example)

Provide a name for your VM (e.g., “Example-VM”).

Choose the Azure region that is right for you and your customers. Not all VN size are available in all regions.

Availability options & Availability Zone: Select the availability preferences. for this blog we will choose "no infrastructure redundancy required"

Select “Windows 11 Pro, version 22H2 - x64 Gen2 (free services eligible)” as the image.

Set up an administrator account (username and password).

Allow RDP (port 3389).

Review and create the VM.

We still have the storage, Networking, Management and tags but for this blog we will set it all as default so no changes is needed, we will finalize the deployment.

Now we will connect to the VM we just deployed.

Download RDP file

Click on download RDP file.
Open file, it will prompt a box.
Click connect, enter the admin username and password of the VM.

I’ve walked you through the process of creating a virtual machine in Microsoft Azure. You should have a solid grasp of the settings and configuration options. Virtual machines offer scalable computing resources and highly flexible approach to deploying and managing your applications in the cloud.

The Core Architectural Components of Microsoft Azure.

Franklin Onuegbu — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 09:03:05 +0000

These building blocks provide the foundation for any Azure solution.

Azure Regions
Availability Zone
Resource Group
Azure Resource Manager (ARM)

Let’s explore Azure Regions in more detail:
What are Azure Regions?

Azure Regions are geographically distributed data centers where Microsoft Azure services are hosted.
Each region is a separate geographic area with one or more data centers.
Azure currently has 60 regions worldwide, spanning multiple continents.
These regions are strategically placed to provide low-latency access to services for users and applications.

Key Points:

Data Sovereignty: Organizations can choose the region where their data resides to comply with data sovereignty laws.
High Availability: Azure services are replicated across regions for redundancy and disaster recovery.
Performance: Selecting the nearest region improves performance by minimizing latency.
Service Availability: Not all services are available in every region; some are region-specific.
Region Pairs: Each region is paired with another for failover scenarios.

Use Cases:

Global Applications: Deploy applications globally by leveraging multiple regions.
Disaster Recovery: Use paired regions for failover and business continuity.
Compliance: Ensure data compliance by storing it in specific regions.
Remember that choosing the right region impacts performance, compliance, and availability.

Let’s delve into Azure Availability Zones:
What Are Availability Zones?

Availability Zones (AZs) are physically separate data centers within an Azure region.
Each zone has its own power, cooling, and networking infrastructure.
Zones are designed to be isolated from each other to prevent correlated failures.
You can have a minimum of 3 availability zones.

Key Points:

High Availability: Deploy resources across multiple zones for redundancy.
Fault Domains: Each zone is divided into fault domains (groups of servers).
Update Domains: Zones also have update domains (groups for planned maintenance).
Applications: Distribute critical workloads across zones for resilience.

Use Cases:

Mission-Critical Apps: Run applications that require high availability.
Disaster Recovery: Use AZs for failover scenarios.
Data Resilience: Store data redundantly across zones.
Remember, Availability Zones enhance reliability and ensure your applications stay up even during failures.

Let’s explore Azure Resource Groups:
What Are Resource Groups?

Logical Containers: Resource Groups are logical containers that group related Azure resources.
Management Scope: They allow you to manage, secure, and organize resources together.
Billing Boundary: Resource Groups serve as a billing boundary for cost tracking.

Key Points:

Grouping: Resources within a group share the same lifecycle (create, update, delete).
Access Control: Apply RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) at the resource group level.
Tags: Assign tags to resources within a group for better organization.
Templates: Deploy resources together using ARM templates.

Use Cases:

Project-Based: Group resources for a specific project or application.
Environment Segmentation: Separate dev, test, and production environments.
Policy Enforcement: Apply policies at the resource group level.
Remember, resource groups simplify management and help you organize your Azure resources effectively!

Let’s explore Azure Resource Manager (ARM):
What Is Azure Resource Manager (ARM)?

Deployment and Management Service: ARM is Microsoft’s platform for managing and organizing resources within the Azure cloud.
Consistent Management Layer: It offers a structured and efficient way to create, deploy, manage, and monitor Azure resources12.

Key Concepts:

Resource: A manageable item available through Azure (e.g., virtual machines, storage accounts, web apps).
Resource Group: A container grouping related resources for management.
Resource Provider: Supplies Azure resources (e.g., Microsoft.Compute for virtual machines).
Declarative Syntax: Describes desired infrastructure state using ARM templates (JSON files) or Bicep files3.

Benefits:

Consistency: All requests handled through the same API, ensuring consistent results across tools.
Security: Access control, tags, and locks for resource organization.
Templates: ARM templates simplify resource provisioning.
Regional Resiliency: New deployment model (Cloud Services extended support) provides regional resiliency for Azure Cloud Services4.