Hub and Spoke network topology in Azure

6th of March, 2020 / / No Comments

Originally posted on Lucian.Blog. Follow Lucian on Twitter: @LucianFrango.

Back in late 2016 I was lucky enough to go Microsoft Ignite in Atlanta (USA), which was a bit of a big deal as it was my first major conference. One of the take aways from the various technical sessions on Azure networking I attended was that Microsoft wanted to put a great deal of emphasis on the usage of a Hub and Spoke network topology. … [Keep reading] “Hub and Spoke network topology in Azure”

AzureRecoveryServicesVault

Quick Intro to Azure Backup Explorer

10th of February, 2020 / / No Comments
Here’s what you need to know about Azure Backup Explorer which has been released in public preview as of 5th Feb 2020.

What is Azure Backup Explorer?

  • It’s currently available for use with Azure Virtual Machines
  • A single pane of glass for monitoring backups of your Azure Virtual Machines
  • Removes complexity and manpower associated with monitoring backups using Azure Log Analytics Workspaces

How do I access it?

TLDR = Azure Portal > any RSV > Overview > Backup Explorer
  1. Login to https://portal.azure.com
… [Keep reading] “Quick Intro to Azure Backup Explorer”

Azure VNets and 172.16.0.0/12

5th of February, 2020 / / No Comments

I’ve recently been digging into the weeds of doing an Azure VNet Hub and Spoke design for a customer and it’s brought about revisiting a topic from a while back.

For some quick context- for any given VNet in Azure there is a System RouteTable that holds basic routing information for that VNets network traffic flows within that VNet as well as inbound and outbound of the VNet. The following table outlines what the default System RouteTable routes consist of (table information source):

 

So, whats the problem with that?

… [Keep reading] “Azure VNets and 172.16.0.0/12”

0.09 ms latency using Azure Proximity Placement Groups

14th of January, 2020 / / 2 Comments

Reducing network latency for critical apps running on Azure IaaS has become easier since Microsoft’s announcement of General Availability for Proximity Placement Groups (PPG) on Dec 2019.

Today I’ll give you a quick intro to Proximity Placement Groups demonstrating how to deploy a test environment into your Azure Subscription using one of my favourite tools AzureCLI. I’ll also test network latency with a PPG and without to show you the difference.

If you’re undecided about using AzureCLI or ARM templates for your Azure deployments have a look @ Pascal Naber’s post https://pascalnaber.wordpress.com/2018/11/11/stop-using-arm-templates-use-the-azure-cli-instead/

… [Keep reading] “0.09 ms latency using Azure Proximity Placement Groups”

Azure Backup PowerShell removal of backup protection of a Azure VM

2nd of December, 2019 / / No Comments

Originally posted on Lucian.Blog. Follow Lucian on Twitter: @LucianFrango.

I’ve been looking at Azure Backup and migrating some Windows VM’s from one Recovery Services Vault to another. This is mainly because I’ve taken a look at some production deployed VM’s and found they were aligned to the reference architecture Disaster Recovery and Backup policies. Long story short, 6 VM’s needed to be moved to maintain consistency.

Things get interesting in that my previous level of access at a customer has changed and I’m time poor, so I thought I’d use PowerShell to achieve this faster.… [Keep reading] “Azure Backup PowerShell removal of backup protection of a Azure VM”

Interesting Azure announcements at Ignite 2019

8th of November, 2019 / / No Comments

The big one: Azure Arc

Announced: November 4th, 2019
Source: Azure services now run anywhere with new hybrid capabilities: Announcing Azure Arc

I read recently a stat that said that some ~90% of all workloads are still run on-premises. That’s mind blowing to think that there’s still so much potential for cloud utilisation and workload transformation. This seems like part of the driver for the announcement of Azure Arc – “a set of technologies that unlocks new hybrid scenarios for customers by bringing Azure services and management to any infrastructure.… [Keep reading] “Interesting Azure announcements at Ignite 2019”

Azure NSG security rule management like a boss with PowerShell and CSVs

14th of June, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Originally this blog post was posted on Lucian’s blog. Check it out, or check him out on @LucianFrango on Twitter.

* * *

Network Security Groups (NSG) are pretty good. I don’t mind them that much as for what they are, they do a good job. Designing them can be a little tricky, having to know all the nuances of working with them. When it comes to implementing them, changing them at scale… well that’s where things can be a little tiresome.… [Keep reading] “Azure NSG security rule management like a boss with PowerShell and CSVs”

Export Azure IaaS VM properties, including NIC IP address to CSV, #PromptPowerShell

8th of May, 2019 / / 1 Comment

Originally posted on Lucian.Blog. Follow Lucian on Twitter.

The other day I needed to export some data from Azure. I needed an output of all the IaaS VM instances high level configuration for a customer. Namely I needed the resource group, the hostname and the IP address of the instances to forward across for some cross reference analysis.

Now, I’ve had the unfortunate mishap of losing my PowerShell script repo during the change over / migration from my Macbook to my current Surface Pro.… [Keep reading] “Export Azure IaaS VM properties, including NIC IP address to CSV, #PromptPowerShell”

Quality of life user experience improvements to SharePoint Online through the use of 301 redirects and Azure App Service

12th of April, 2019 / / No Comments

Originally posted on Lucian.Blog. Follow Lucian on Twitter, @LucianFrango.

***

This is the third time in the last year that I’ve had to setup a HTTP 301 redirect in Azure for a customer.Doing so improves the general quality of life experience for users accessing various Microsoft 365 services, like for example specific SharePoint Online team sites, or Exchange Online OWA.

With each implementation I turned to Azure App Service to deliver the functionality needed.… [Keep reading] “Quality of life user experience improvements to SharePoint Online through the use of 301 redirects and Azure App Service”

Office365-AzureHybrid: Building an automated solution to pull Office 365 Audit logs

6th of February, 2019 / / No Comments

Custom reporting for Office 365 Audit logs is possible using data fetched from the Security and Compliance center. In the previous blogs here, we have seen how to use PowerShell and Office 365 Management API to fetch the data. In this blog, we will look at planning, prerequisites and rationale to help decide between the approaches.

The Office 365 Audit logs are available from the Security and Compliance center when enabled. At present, audit logging is not enabled by default and needs to be enabled from the Security and Compliance center.… [Keep reading] “Office365-AzureHybrid: Building an automated solution to pull Office 365 Audit logs”