What is Azure Stack and How Does It Work

Azure Stack is a hybrid cloud platform that allows you to run Azure services in your own datacenter. It's designed to bring the power of Azure to your on-premises environment.

Azure Stack is built on top of the Azure Stack Hub, which is a software platform that provides the core infrastructure for running Azure services.

With Azure Stack, you can deploy and manage Azure services on-premises, just like you would in the cloud. This allows you to maintain control over your data and applications, while still benefiting from the scalability and flexibility of Azure.

Azure Stack is a hybrid cloud platform that brings the power of Azure to on-premises environments, allowing organizations to run Azure services in their own datacenters.

It's built on the same technology as Azure, with a similar architecture and management experience.

Azure Stack is designed to provide a consistent experience across both on-premises and cloud environments, making it easier to deploy and manage applications and services.

This consistency is achieved through a set of core technologies, including Azure Resource Manager, Azure Storage, and Azure Active Directory.

Azure Stack also provides a range of tools and services to help manage and monitor the platform, including Azure Monitor and Azure Advisor.

These tools help organizations optimize their Azure Stack deployments, reduce costs, and improve overall performance and security.

Azure Stack offers a range of features that make it a compelling choice for businesses. One of the key benefits is its ability to provide disconnected and connected edge solutions, allowing businesses to operate offline or with low latency.

Azure Stack is designed to help businesses meet regulatory and compliance requirements, supporting a wide range of certifications including GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001.

It also allows businesses to build and deploy cloud-based applications within their own data centers, providing greater control and flexibility over their infrastructure. This enables organizations to leverage the benefits of cloud computing while keeping sensitive data on-premises.

Azure Stack offers a range of benefits that make it an attractive solution for businesses. It provides disconnected and connected edge solutions, allowing businesses to operate offline or with low latency.

One of the key benefits of Azure Stack is its ability to meet regulatory and compliance requirements. It supports a wide range of compliance certifications, including GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001.

With Azure Stack, businesses can deploy cloud-based applications within their own data centers, giving them greater control and flexibility over their infrastructure. This is particularly useful for organizations that need to keep sensitive data on-premises.

Azure Stack Hub also enables businesses to build and deploy cloud-based applications in disconnected environments, providing consistent and reliable cloud services to users regardless of location.

Azure Stack Hub's converged configuration allows you to share physical devices for storage, making it easier to manage your infrastructure.

This configuration lets you share the infrastructure, temporary VM storage, and supporting storage for blobs, queues, and tables. The local storage capacity is handled separately from the storage devices you manage under a Storage Spaces Direct configuration.

Azure Stack Hub allocates and handles storage capacity automatically, so you don't have to make configuration decisions. The Stack Hub infrastructure ensures these decisions align with your solution's requirements, considering resiliency.

You can choose between two storage configurations: all flash and hybrid. The all flash configuration uses either capacity devices or both capacity and caching devices, while the hybrid configuration uses a range of cache device options and an HDD capacity device.

Here are the key differences between the two configurations:

Azure Stack Hub also considers the storage capacity consumed by the operating system, dumps, logs, and other infrastructure needs when making storage decisions.

Azure Stack Hub provides a robust set of resource providers that enable users to create and manage various cloud resources. These providers are the foundation for all Azure Stack Hub IaaS and PaaS services.

The Compute Resource Provider allows users to generate their own Virtual Machines (VMs) and enhance them with VM extensions. This provider is essential for creating and managing VMs in Azure Stack Hub.

The Network Resource Provider offers a suite of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) features tailored for your private cloud. It enables you to create resources such as software load balancers, public IPs, network security groups, and virtual networks.

The Storage Resource Provider delivers four Azure-consistent storage services: blob, queue, table, and Key Vault account management. This provider provides management and auditing for secrets like passwords and certificates.

Here are the three core resource providers in Azure Stack Hub:

Azure Stack Deployment is a straightforward process that involves several key steps.

You can deploy Azure Stack on your own hardware, which gives you more control over the environment.

The deployment process typically takes around 2-3 hours, depending on the size of your environment.

You'll need to consider factors like network connectivity, power supply, and storage capacity when planning your deployment.

Azure Stack can be deployed on-premises, in a colocation facility, or in a cloud service provider's datacenter.

This flexibility makes it easier to integrate with your existing infrastructure.

Azure Stack HCI Cluster is a server bundle configuration designed to bring Azure Stack HCI to your business, providing high-performance use of Azure technology from the comfort and security of your own facilities.

Our partner vendor has created two server bundle configurations to cater to both small to mid-range organisations and large corporations, each bundle expertly designed and configured by their experienced team and comes with an industry-leading warranty for full peace of mind.

You can choose from three variations of Azure Stack to suit your business needs, including Azure Stack Edge, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure Stack Hub.

Here are the three variations of Azure Stack:

You can run infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) on Azure Stack without upfront costs using the same subscription and Azure billing tools.

Azure Stack Hub has a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which means you only pay for what you use.

The pricing for Azure Stack Hub services includes Base VMs at $6 per vCPU per month.

Windows Server VMs are priced at $34 per vCPU per month, which is a significant premium over the Base VMs.

Here's a breakdown of the pricing for some of the Azure Stack Hub services:

Managed disks pricing varies based on the size of the disk, ranging from $0.385 to $10.24 per disk per month.

This pricing model allows you to scale up or down as needed, without being locked into a specific pricing tier.

Azure Stack management allows customers to create and manage their own cloud services in a local data center. This is done through the administrator portal and PowerShell.

Administrators use the administrator portal to create tenant services and resources, which are then made available to users. They also add items to the Azure Stack marketplace, such as VM images or templates.

The user portal provides a self-service location for users to select and provision available services and resources. Administrators can test services, plans, and offers through the user portal.

PowerShell helps administrators access and manage Azure Stack by providing a way to automate routine administrative tasks. Administrators can install compatible Azure PowerShell modules for the necessary cmdlets.

Azure Stack administration extends beyond the administrator portal and PowerShell. Administrators must also perform tasks such as adding user accounts through Azure Active Directory or Active Directory Federation Services and assigning roles through role-based access control.

The Azure Stack Hub provides both an administrator portal and a user portal. The administrator portal is used for regular management of Azure Stack Hub and can be accessed by browsing to the portal URL and signing on using Azure Stack Hub operator credentials.

Here are some tasks that administrators can perform through the administrator portal:

Azure Stack HCI and Azure Stack Hub share a mission to bring Azure services into your data center, providing a hybrid cloud experience that combines public cloud capabilities with on-premises security and control.

They help extend Azure management and services to on-prem, allowing you to maintain a consistent cloud strategy irrespective of workload placement.

Azure Stack HCI excels in situations requiring flexibility, minimal server footprint, access to Hyper-V features, and AVD, making it a practical solution for replacing aging infrastructure.

In contrast, Azure Stack Hub encourages the development of new skills, requires a larger server footprint, and provides a more controlled Hyper-V environment for consistency with Azure.

Azure Stack HCI provides direct access to software-defined infrastructure technologies, setting it apart from Azure Stack Hub, which lacks exposure to these technologies.

Azure Stack is a powerful tool that can be used in a variety of ways, depending on your organization's specific needs.

Azure Stack is ideal for scenarios requiring the virtualization of legacy applications, replacement of aging infrastructure, or maintaining a lower server footprint, such as in remote offices and branches. It also supports the AVD service, making it a solid choice for organizations with a remote workforce.

Azure Stack can be used to run virtualized workloads, such as virtual machines and AVD, which can be deployed and managed in remote or branch offices while still benefiting from centralized management and integration with Azure services.

Azure Stack is perfect for organizations needing to run PaaS services on-premises in a disconnected scenario, enforce strong multi-tenancy, or support modern DevOps practices. Azure Stack Hub's uniformity with Azure provides a consistent hybrid development and runtime environment.

Azure Stack allows organizations to run Azure PaaS in disconnected or low-bandwidth environments, maintain control over data and ensure compliance with local regulations by keeping data on-premises, and reduce latency and improve performance for applications that require real-time data processing.

Here are some examples of industries that can benefit from Azure Stack: