Category Archives: Microsoft Azure

Exam 70-533 Module 2 – Lesson 2 (Part 2) – Implementing and managing virtual networks

In this lesson, as a continuation of the previous lesson, I get into details of Azure Virtual Networks and how to implement them in Azure PowerShell and CLI 2.0. I will be primarily using Visual Studio Code as my editor and Azure Cloud Shell to run the PowerShell and CLI commands. Watch my previous module (link below in description) to get started with Azure PowerShell and CLI. Like the previous lesson, this is a jam-packed lesson with loads of hands-on stuff. After explaining some concepts, we go hands-on in building an actual Azure virtual network with two subnets through the Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI. As a bonus I also show how to create virtual machines in Azure PowerShell and CLI.

Exam 70-533 Module 2 – Lesson 2 (Part 1) – Implementing and managing virtual networks

In this lesson I get into details of Azure Virtual Networks and how to implement them. This is a jam-packed lesson with loads of hands-on stuff. I explain the characteristics of virtual networks and subnets. After explaining some concepts, we go hands-on in building an actual Azure virtual network with two subnets through the Azure portal. As a bonus I also show how to create virtual machines through the Azure portal. After creating the virtual machines in the virtual networks, I show how the Azure built-in DHCP and DNS works.

Exam 70-533 Module 2 – Lesson 1 – Overview of Azure networking

In this lesson I explain why Azure networking is one of the building blocks of Azure and go over almost all the Azure networking components available today. I go over each component in a very high-level and leave it at that to get into the subsequent lessons to actually implement them.
– Virtual networks (VNet)
– Subnets
– Network Interface Cards (NICs)
– IP Address (Public and Private)
– Network Security Groups
– VNet DNS
– Azure DNS
– Azure Load Balancers
– Azure Application Gateway
– Azure Traffic Manager
– Routing
– Virtual Network Connectivity
– Virtual Network Gateway

Exam 70-533 Module 1-Lesson 5 – Managing Azure with Azure CLI

You can really use Azure PowerShell from both Windows and Linux platforms to script things but then there are times you feel like using a native Linux styled to do your scripting. In this lesson we go over how to use Azure CLI, specifically Azure CLI 2.0, to get connected and work with Azure resources from both Windows and Linux. I also go over how to use Azure CLI 2.0 from the new Azure Cloud Shell quite easily.

 

Microsoft Azure Training 47 – Azure SQL Database – Part 4 – Business Continuity (Exam 70-533)

This is part 4 of the Azure SQL Database series. In this session I cover the business continuity within the context of Azure SQL Databases. I start off with what business continuity is how it is important for an organization. I discuss how the terms RTO, RPO and Retention are important to understand and establish business continuity plans. In this session I go over first the Database Export method of backing up the data. I explain how this should not be your first choice for database backup in Azure SQL. I further divulge into the Automated point-in-time restore backups and discuss the details of it. Finally, I discuss what Active geo-replication of database is and how that’s the premium choice of ultimate Disaster Recovery and High Availability of Databases in Azure SQL Database.

 

Microsoft Azure Training 46 – Azure SQL Database – Part 3 – Database Security (Exam 70-533)

This is part 3 of the Azure SQL Database series. In this session I cover the Azure SQL Database security related concepts. This is a very demo heavy session. I start off with what Azure SQL server-level security is; I cover concepts such as firewall rules and logins with master database roles. Then next I move onto explaining what database-level security is and how users are created for each databases by mapping them to logins. Clear explanations are given on why logins and users are both required in Azure SQL. I also demonstrate each concept in details.

 

Microsoft Azure Training 45 – Azure SQL Database – Part 2 – Advanced Topics (Exam 70-533)

This is part 2 of the Azure SQL Database series. In this sequel of Azure SQL, the session is jam packed with hand-on demo of  creating Azure SQL server and database and exploring all the features and properties. I then demo how to use SQL Server Management studio to connect to the Azure SQL server and browse Azure databases and as create databases to SQL Azure. The latter half of this session dives into creating an On-premise SQL and a database and finally migrating that on premise database to SQL Azure through a wizard in the SQL Management Studio.

 

 

Azure Subscription limits and quotas

Often every cloud services provider, including Microsoft Azure, have the ultimate sales pitch of being highly scalable and elastic; unlimited resources come to mind. In every sense this happens to be true but with certain technological limitations. It is of course hard to say if such limitations are in place due to the actual limitations of the underlying technology or if they are set to make the provider’s manageability manageable. But these limitations are real and therefore it is advisable to be aware of such limitations in a production environment.

So if you are wondering what type of limits your subscription has then you can quick run the following PowerShell cmdlet to get some interesting information.

Get-AzureSubscription -ExtendedDetails

An example of an output of the above cmdlet from my subscription is below:

azuresubscriptionlimits

 

While the above cmdlet provides some exposure to the limits you have on your Subscription, Azure website has a very detailed article in its documentation regarding Azure Subscriptions and Service Limits, Quotas and Constraints that will give you a full picture of all limits your subscription may have.

General Availability – G-Series size for Azure VM for East US 2 Region

WOW! I was very excited to read the announcement of G-series VMs in Azure available for people using East US 2 region. This is my home region! The best part is that the prices for the East US 2 region is comparatively cheaper than West US region for the same G-series. Makes me wonder why.

Prices of G-series in East US 2 (Canadian Dollars)

EastUS2GSeriesPrices

Prices of G-series in West US (Canadian Dollars)

WestUSGSeriesPrices
Looking at these prices above, the East US 2 region is about 6 cents cheaper than its counterpart in West US.

Things to remember about G-series VMs in Azure in case you are going to spin one up this weekend for testing:

  • G-series VMs cannot be in the same Cloud Service as A-series, D-Series or DS-Series VMs.
  • You cannot re-size an existing VM to a G-series from any other series. This means your existing VMs will have to be recreated if you want to bump up its’ performance to G-series.

As the top tier G5 can run about $10 an hour, do not forget to de-allocate these VMs after you are done testing with them!