Azure Workspace Management and Optimization is a crucial aspect of getting the most out of your Azure environment. Effective management and optimization can help you reduce costs, improve performance, and enhance security.
By implementing Azure Monitor, you can gain visibility into your workspace's performance and identify areas for improvement. This includes monitoring usage, detecting anomalies, and receiving alerts to take corrective action.
Properly configuring Azure Active Directory (AAD) is essential for secure workspace management. This includes setting up multi-factor authentication, conditional access policies, and role-based access control.
Regularly reviewing and adjusting your workspace's configuration can help optimize performance and reduce costs. This includes disabling unused resources, right-sizing virtual machines, and optimizing storage usage.
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Getting Started
To get started with an Azure workspace, you need an Azure account with an active subscription, which can be created for free.
You can create an account for free and start working with Azure.
To create a Log Analytics workspace, you'll need to have an Azure account set up first.
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An Azure account with an active subscription is the first step to creating a Log Analytics workspace.
After creating a workspace, you'll need to configure it in Azure Monitor using PowerShell.
Configuring a Log Analytics workspace in Azure Monitor is a straightforward process that can be done with PowerShell.
You can find samples and guidance on deploying Azure Monitor samples in your Azure subscription through Azure Resource Manager.
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Data Management
Data retention in Azure Monitor is a clever feature that lets you retain data in two states: interactive retention and long-term retention. You can retain data up to 12 years in low-cost, long-term retention.
You can manage your log data in one place without moving it to external storage, and get the full analytics capabilities of Azure Monitor on older data when you need it. This is especially useful for data that's not frequently accessed.
Data collection rules (DCRs) allow you to transform data into your Log Analytics workspace before it's ingested. You can filter and transform data for each table in your workspace, applying transformations to all data sent to that table, regardless of the source.
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Data Retention
Data retention is a crucial aspect of data management. You can retain data in a Log Analytics workspace for up to 12 years in low-cost, long-term retention.
Interactive retention allows you to retrieve data through queries, making it available for visualizations, alerts, and other features. This is based on the table plan.
Each table in your Log Analytics workspace has a 12-year limit for long-term retention. You can retrieve specific data from long-term retention to interactive retention using a search job.
This means you can manage your log data in one place, without moving it to external storage.
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Monitoring Data Collection
Monitoring data collection is a crucial step in managing your data effectively. You need to set up a Log Analytics workspace to collect data from various sources.
A Log Analytics workspace is a unique environment for Azure Monitor log data, and you require one if you want to collect data from Azure resources, on-premises computers, device collections, or diagnostics from Azure storage.
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You can create a new Log Analytics workspace using the browser, Azure CLI, or PowerShell. It's advisable to create a new workspace to separate your data from other logs.
Once you have a workspace set up, you can start ingesting data to query using KQL. To do this, navigate to "Advanced Settings" under the "Settings" section from the menu.
There are several data source types you can connect to your workspace, including Virtual Machines. You can connect a VM to a workspace by clicking on the VM and selecting "Connect". The Log Analytics agent will be configured in the background to send data to your new workspace.
Here are some ways to connect your VMs to a workspace:
- Manually installing a Log Analytics agent into the VM and configuring it to send data to a workspace set by its primary key.
- Using SCOM (System Centre Operations Manager) to directly connect your SCOM Management group to the workspace.
Note that the agent can only connect to one workspace at a time.
Removing Folders
Removing folders from your workspace can be done with ease. You can simply use the Remove Folder from Workspace context menu command.
If you want to go back to working with a single project folder, you have two options. You can either close the Workspace and open the folder directly.
Removing a folder from your Workspace is a straightforward process.
Extensions
Extensions can still work in a multi-root workspace even if they don't support multiple folders, but they'll only work in the first folder.
If you're an extension author, you can learn how to make your extension work well across multiple folders by reviewing the Adopting Multi Root Workspace APIs guide.
Some extensions have already adopted the multi-root workspace APIs and are working smoothly across multiple folders.
Note that if an extension doesn't yet support multiple folders, it will still work in the first folder of your multi-root workspace, so you can still get some functionality out of it.
Using the Browser
To create a Log Analytics workspace, you can browse to it in Azure or use the direct link https://portal.azure.com/#blade/HubsExtension/BrowseResourceBlade/resourceType/Microsoft.OperationalInsights%2Fworkspaces.
You can access the Log Analytics workspace by clicking on the direct link provided.
To start the process, click on ‘Add’ to create a new workspace.
Fill in the required information and click on OK to proceed.
Once the workspace is created, click on the newly created Log Analytics workspace.
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Data Processing
Azure Workspace offers a robust data processing system that enables users to process and analyze large datasets efficiently.
With the ability to handle petabytes of data, Azure Workspace's data processing system is designed to scale with your needs.
Data is processed in real-time, allowing for quick insights and decision-making.
Transform Ingested Data
Data collection rules (DCRs) allow you to transform data before it's ingested into Azure Monitor.
You can define transformations for each table in a workspace, which apply to all data sent to that table, even if sent from multiple sources.
These transformations only apply to workflows that don't already use a DCR.
Azure Monitor agent uses a DCR to define data collected from virtual machines, which won't be subject to any ingestion-time transformations defined in the workspace.
Creating a transformation for the table that collects resource logs can filter out records you don't need, saving you ingestion cost.
Extracting important data from certain columns and storing it in other columns in the workspace can support simpler queries.
Creating a Report
You can create a report in Log Analytics by using a JSON template file.
This template file is used to deploy the Log Analytics workspace.
The template file should be created in the .json format.
You can create a .json file with the template file contents on the local disk.
For example, you can create a file named "LAWBlog2.json" with the template file contents.
To start the deployment, you need to create a connection to Azure.
You can create a connection to Azure by running the command "Connect-AzAccount" in PowerShell.
This command will authenticate you with Azure and allow you to deploy resources.
Once connected, you can start the deployment by running the command "New-AzResourceGroupDeployment".
This command will deploy the Log Analytics workspace based on the template file.
You can specify the name of the deployment, the resource group, and the template file.
For example, you can run the command "New-AzResourceGroupDeployment -Name LogAnalyticsWorkspaceBlog2 -ResourceGroupName rg-blog -TemplateFile "C:\Temp\LAWBlog2.json"" to deploy the workspace.
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This command will create a Log Analytics workspace with the specified name and location.
The workspace will be created in the "West Europe" location by default.
You can change the location by specifying a different value for the "location" parameter.
The workspace will also be created with the "PerGB2018" service tier by default.
You can change the service tier by specifying a different value for the "sku" parameter.
The "PerGB2018" service tier is a cost-effective option that charges based on the amount of data stored.
You can create a report in Log Analytics by using the "New-AzResourceGroupDeployment" command.
This command will deploy the workspace and allow you to create reports.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Azure workspace?
An Azure Monitor workspace is a dedicated environment for storing and managing data collected by Azure Monitor, with its own repository, settings, and permissions. It's a centralized hub for all your Azure Monitor metrics and data.
What is an Azure ML workspace?
An Azure ML workspace is a central hub for machine learning activities, where you can experiment, train, and deploy models. It's the foundation for building and managing machine learning projects in Azure Machine Learning.
Sources
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/log-analytics-workspace-overview
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/logs/quick-create-workspace
- https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/multi-root-workspaces
- https://www.cloudsecuritea.com/2019/09/creating-a-log-analytics-workspace-in-azure/
- https://squaredup.com/blog/azure-monitor-part-2-azure-monitor-logs-getting-started/
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