DEV Community: Ikuesan Adeola

IoT solution using IoT Hub, involves setting IoT Hub, device registering and to send telemetry data to Azure Blob Storage

Ikuesan Adeola — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 21:35:37 +0000

Azure IoT (Internet of Things) hub is a cloud-based service that allows for secure and reliable communication between an IoT application and its connected devices. It provides a cloud-hosted solution back end to connect virtually any device. Azure IoT hub provides a secure channel for sending and receiving data between devices and the cloud. It offers build-in device management including per-device authentication and scaled provisioning. it allows for over-the-air updates to keep devices up to date and secure. It can also track device creation, connections, and failures.
Azure IoT hub can connect millions of devices and their backend solutions. It enables real-time interaction between devices and the cloud, which allows for immediate responses to changes in device conditions.

To get started,
Open the Azure portal
Sign-up or Sign-in
Search for and select "IoT hub"

When the "IoT hub" page opens, on the page click on "+ Create" or "Create IoT hub

When the page opens, fill the details for the IoT hub such as Subscription, Resource group, IoT hub name, Region, Tier, Daily message limit.
Other tabs remain as default. Click on "review + create" then click on "create"

After that has been done, click on "Go to resource"

Under "Overview" of IoT hub, go to "Device management"

Click on "Devices", when the page opens. Click on "+ Add Device"

When the "Create a device" page opens, input the "Device ID" then "save" the device.

After creating the device, click on the device created to explore

When the device opens, copy the "primary connection string".

Return back to the "IoT hub" overview, go to "Hub setting" from the dropdown, select "File upload", when the page opens. Turn on "File notification settings" then Click on the "Select Azure Storage Container"

When the "Storage account" page open. Click on "+ Storage account" to create a storage account.

When the "Create storage account" opens. Input the storage account name, leave other option on default then click on "Ok

Click on the storage account created, the "Container" page opens. Click on "+ Container" to create container. New container page opens on the side, input the new container name then click "create"

After creating the container, select the created container then click on "Select"

Click on "Save"

Return back to the "IoT hub" overview, go to "Hub setting" from the dropdown, select "Message routing", click on "+ Add"

When "+ Add a route" page open, select "Storage" in Endpoint type, input the "Endpoint name" then click on "Pick a container"

Click on the storage account created, the containers page opens. Select the container you created then click on "Select"

Click on "create + next"

Click on "create + skip enrichment"

Get a mobile device, download "IoT plug and play" on mobile device. Tap "Scan QR code"

Then tap "Connect manually"

On the next page, select "IoT Hub device connection string". Paste the "primary connection string" copied in the box then tap "connect"

To upload a file to the Blob storage, tap "Image upload". Select a file from the gallery or take a picture

Creating an Azure Virtual Network with four subnets with 192.148.30.0/26 address

Ikuesan Adeola — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 20:26:37 +0000

A virtual network is a network that uses software and wireless technology to connect devices, servers, and data centers. Virtual networks are not wired, so devices interact with each other through the internet. An Azure virtual network enables many types of Azure resources to securely communicate with each other, the internet and on premises network.

In creating an Azure virtual network with four subnets, begin by.

Signing up or logging onto the Azure portal.
When the portal is opened, search for and select virtual network

Click on "+ create" to open the page to select and enter network details
When the create virtual machine page opens, input the virtual network details such as project details which comprises of the subscription and resource group, then the instance details such as virtual network name and region.
Click on "Next" to open the other tab

When the security tab opens, leave the details as default

Click on "next" to move to the next tab

The "IP addresses" tab opens then input 192.148.30.0 IP address with CIDR class 24

Click on "Add a subnet" to add the four subnets

The sub-page opens, add the four subnets. In the sub-page, input the subnet name and change the CIDR size to 26

Click on "Add" to add the subnets

Click on "Review + create" then "create"

Creating a Linux Virtual Machine in Azure Portal, Implementing Virtual Machine Scale Set

Ikuesan Adeola — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 19:44:35 +0000

To get started, user is required to create an account by visiting portal.azure.com, fill in the required details and information or create a free then the user receives a confirmation message via email, the confirmation mail redirect the user to portal.azure.com homepage.

Azure virtual machine is a pre-built computer that runs in the cloud that allows users to create and manage computing resources, it can be used just like a physical desktop, laptop or server machine. It provides a number of benefits such as flexibility, portability, scalability and load distribution.

Azure virtual machine scale set (VMSS) is a feature in azure that allows users to manage and create groups of virtual machines (VMs) and offers the following benefits: Easy deployment and management, Elastic scaling, Centralized management and Higher availability and security. They are available on all Azure Windows or Linux VM sizes.

The process of creating a virtual machine using Azure resources on the Azure portal involves the following steps which would be broke piece by piece:

Sign in to the azure portal
Initiate the create wizard.
Assign the scaling configurations.
Validate the assigned configurations.
Initiate the VM.
Run a test

SIGN IN TO AZURE PORTAL
STEP 1

You sign up to create a free account if you don't have an Azure subscription, once your Azure subscription is created. Sign-in to the Azure portal using your mail and password to get started.

After you're successfully authenticated, the Azure portal's home page displays. The page provide links to core services, recently accessed and favorite resources, built-in management tools, and online documentation. It also serves as a convenient entry point into your Azure environment.

If the functionality you're looking for isn't present on the home page, you can locate it by using either the portal menu or the global search textbox. They Both help to navigate through the portal.

INITIATE THE CREATE WIZARD
STEP 2
In the search bar, type "Virtual Machine Scale set" or select "Virtual Machine Scale Set" from the list of services.

STEP 3:
Click on "create" in the virtual machine scale set page.

STEP 4:
On the Virtual Machine Scale Set page, select the subscription, create new resource group or select from the list, select and input the scale set details such as Virtual Machine Scale Set name, Region and Availability Zone.

Assign the scaling configurations
STEP 5:
Still on the Virtual Machine Scale Set page, select the orchestration mode either flexible mode or uniform mode and the security type. Uniform mode will be selected for this Virtual machine.
Furthermore, under scaling mode. Select the Autoscaling mode.

STEP 6:
Under Autoscaling mode, click on "configure" to input the preferred configurations

STEP 7:
On scaling configuration page, edit the default conditions by clicking on "edit" icon

STEP 8:
Edit the conditions such as Scale out parameters, scale in parameters and the query duration. After editing the conditions, save the changes.

STEP 9:
When saving is done. It returns to the scaling configuration page where you can see the configurations made and under scaling-in policy, select the suitable policy then save the configurations.

STEP 10:
After saving the configuration. It returns to "create a Virtual machine scale set" then select the instance details consisting of Image, Virtual machine architecture and size. Continue by determining the authentication type, username, SSH public key source, SSH public key type and key pair name.

STEP 11:
Click on "Networking" tab. Under the networking tab, go to "Load balancing. Under load balancing options, select "Azure load balancer"

STEP 12:
Under the Inbound port rule, in the public inbound port. select "Allow selected ports". Select HTTP (80) and SSH (22) then enable the Public IP Address

STEP 13:
Under "select a load balancer". Go to "create a load balancer" then give the load balancer a name. select "public" as the outbound connection for the virtual machine. Leave other default settings as they are being selected then click on "create". It creates the load balancer.

Validate the assigned configurations
STEP 14:
Click on "Review + Create", after validation is complete. Click on "create" then "Download private key and create resource" pops up for download, the Virtual Machine Scale Set will be deployed. Click on "Go to resources".

Initiate the VM
STEP 15:
Open "command prompt", run as administrator.
Input
ssh -i "C:\user\USER\Download\Adeola-vmss_key.pem azureuser@172.167.45.138 -p 50000

Followed by
sudo apt-get update -y
and;
sudo apt-get -y install nginx
To see the VM in action, install the NGINX web server. From your SSH session, update your package sources and then install the latest NGINX package.

Run a test
STEP 16:
Use a web browser of your choice to view the default NGINX welcome page. Type the public IP address of the VM as the web address. The public IP address (172.167.45.138, my public IP Address) can be found on the VM overview page or as part of the SSH connection string you used earlier.

CREATING A LINUX VIRTUAL MACHINE USING AZURE PORTAL

Ikuesan Adeola — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:09:14 +0000

Microsoft azure is a web-based portal which has the interface that allows user to create azure resources. In creating the Linux virtual machine, ubuntu server 22.04 LTS will be used, ssh will be deployed and NGINX web server will be installed.

CREATING THE VIRTUAL MACHINE
STEP 1:
Search for virtual machine or select virtual machine under azure services.

STEP 2:
Click on "create" in the virtual machine page then select azure virtual machine. Create a virtual machine page opens.

STEP 3:
Fill in the required details for the virtual machine such as Subscription, Resource group, Virtual machine name, Region availability option, Security type, Image (which is the operating system to be used), Virtual machine architecture, Size, Administrator account etc. Under Image, select ubuntu server 22.04 LTS-x64 Gen 2, select SSH public key as the Authentication type. In Username enter "azureuser". Under SSH public key source, leave the default of Generate new key pair and Under Inbound port rules > Public inbound ports, choose Allow selected ports and then select SSH (22) and HTTP (80).

STEP 4:
Click on "Review+create". This allows the check through the properties and details provided then validate it.

STEP 5:
After validation is complete, click on "Create". then it generates new key pair. Click on "Download private key and create resource".

STEP 6:
Click on "Go to resource". It opens the page which the properties for the virtual machine created are listed. Scroll down to see more.

STEP 7:
Open command prompt on your PC, input "ssh -i c:\downloaded file path.pem azureuser@public address created in the virtual machine". then press enter.

STEP 8:
To update the package resources, input "sudo apt-get update -y"

STEP 9:
Input "sudo apt-get -y install nginx" to install the latest NGINX package.

STEP 10:
Open the browser. Input the public address, then press "Enter"

How to create a Windows 11 Virtual Machine on Azure.

Ikuesan Adeola — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 10:10:01 +0000

Before we begin the process of creating a Windows 11 virtual machine, we need to know the basic meaning of a Virtual Machine (VM).
What is a Virtual Machine? A virtual machine is a computer system created using software on one physical computer in order to emulate the functionality of another separate physical computer. Azure offers a computing resource that allows users to create a virtual machine of different specifications.

To get started, user is required to create an account by visiting portal.azure.com, fill in the required details and information or create a free account then the user receives a confirmation message via email, the confirmation mail redirect the user to portal.azure.com homepage

where the user gets started with creating Windows 11 virtual machine.

STEP 1:
Search for Virtual machine in the search box or click on the "Virtual machine" from the listed icons

STEP 2:
Click on "Create" which will provide a list of options. select Azure Virtual Machine

STEP 3:
Click on "Basics" tab, fill in or select from the project details like Subscription, Resource group, Virtual Machine name, Region, Availability option, Security type, Image (which is the operating system preferred by the user), Virtual Machine architecture, Size, Administrator account, Inbound port rules and the likes
Other tabs like disks, Networking, Management, Monitoring, Advanced and Tags allows user to select properties for the Virtual Machine.

STEP 4:
After filling all the details and selecting other properties. Click on "Review+Create", which allows Azure check through the properties and details provided for it to continue to the next Step.

STEP 5:
When validation is complete, click on "create" which created the Remote Desktop Protocol, then displays on the new page Your Deployment is Complete"

STEP 6:
Click on "go to resource". This page displays all the information about the Virtual machine being created

STEP 7:
On the new page, click on "connect" which connects the resources to the Virtual machine being created. It displays the public IP address, Admin username, Port, etc.

STEP 8:
Click on "Download RDP file" which download the Remote Display Protocol file on user physical computer.

STEP 9:
Open the downloaded file in the download folder on the PC, run it then click on "connect".

STEP 10:
Enter the password created while building the Virtual machine

THE CORE ARCHITECTURAL COMPONENT OF AZURE

Ikuesan Adeola — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 15:34:29 +0000

Azure is a Microsoft cloud computing platform that helps individuals and businesses to build, deploy, and manage applications and a wide range of services through a global network of datacenters. At its core, is its architectural components that work together to provide scalability, reliability and security. These components include: Compute, Networking, Databases, Security and Analytics. Each of these will be discussed extensively in the subsequent paragraphs.

The Azure compute service is the first component that will be discussed. This service provides the processing power and memory required to run applications and services. The primary compute services include; Virtual Machines (VMs) which allow users to create customized virtual environments for running applications, Container Instances that provide a lightweight, containerized environment for deploying applications, Azure Functions that enable event-driven, serverless computing for streamlined application development and an App Service that provides a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web applications.

The Storage service is another component of Azure. It provides durable, scalable, and secure storage for data. The primary storage services are: The Blob Storage that provides object storage for unstructured data, File Storage which offers shared file storage for applications. Queue Storage that enables message queuing for distributed applications disk storage which provides persistent storage for virtual machines.

Yet again, we have the Azure networking as another architectural component of Azure. It helps with network performance and security which includes virtual networks and load balancer. Load balancing refers to the distribution of workloads across multiple computing resources and it aims to optimize resource use, maximize output, minimize response time and avoid overloading any single resource. It can also improve availability by sharing the workload across redundant computing resources. Azure virtual network is basically, a core service that enables secure communication between various Azure resources, the internet and on-premises network. It also provides isolation, security and segmentation within the Azure environment.

In addition to all that has been previously discussed is the Database in Azure. This can be used to build and transform applications which offer a variety of databases including SQL, NoSQL, etc. On the one hand, the Azure SQL database is a fully managed database service that includes build-in AI, Auto-scaling and backups. It is a family of cloud-based products that use the SQL server database engine. It also supports modern cloud applications on an intelligent managed database service.
NoSQL databases on the other hand are based on data models other than relational tables. It is a non-relational database service that allows users to store, index and query JSON documents. It offers a variety of features such as Document data model, Automatic indexing, SQL query language, Vector search, API access etc. As technology advances, they are becoming more popular as organizations create large volumes and greater variety of unstructured data.

Furthermore, there is the Azure security which is a set of security tools and services that Microsoft Azure offers to protect data, applications and infrastructure on its cloud platform. It provides a cloud workload protection solution and also gives a service that helps developers and testers create environments in Azure. It offers a security rules feature on the portal that groups rules by inbound and outbound.

Finally, the Azure analytics offer a comprehensive set of intelligent solutions for data warehousing, advanced analytics on big data and real-time streaming. It combines SQL technologies, Apache spark technologies and Azure data explorers to accelerate time to insight across data warehouses and big data systems. It is a fully managed stream processing engine that analyzes and processes large volumes of streaming data in real-time. It can be used to identify patterns and relationships in data from various sources such as applications, devices, sensors and social media feeds.

In conclusion, Azure's core architectural components provide a robust foundation for building, deploying, and managing applications and services in the cloud. Understanding these components is essential for designing and implementing scalable, secure, and efficient solutions on the Azure platform.