🚀Dive into the future of Hybrid Cloud with Azure Local
If you want the flexibility of cloud but the control of the an on-premises set-up then Azure Local allows you to have the best of both worlds.
Azure Local is cloud connected infrastructure which allows you manage, govern and secure your on-premises infrastructure in an Azure consistent manner alongside your Azure infrastructures and services. This means you can keep your workloads where you need then to be whilst enabling them to take advantage of cloud innovation. It’s perfect for your VMs and containers needs as well as enabling you to run selected Azure services on-premises or at the edge.
On the container side of things Microsoft has made it even easier to adopt Azure consistent container technology on-premises. As of Ignite 2024 Azure Local now includes Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) at no additional cost! That’s right, Microsoft included something for ‘free’!!
Check out the Azure Local Announcement Blog
💲Azure Local Pricing
If you didn’t know, Azure Local is priced per core per month. This includes the Azure Local solution and all the key components it needs to run including the Azure Arc Resource Bridge, Hyper-V and Storage Spaces Direct (it does not include Guest OS Licenses – we can cover the cost model and all the options in another blog). As of Ignite 2024 it now it includes AKS at no additional charge (there was previously an additional charge), and there was no increase in the per core price. This is a pretty big development, removing the cost barrier to adopting containers on-premises and achieving consistency in container strategy across Azure and Azure Local.
Take a look at Azure Local Pricing
💭What are Containers?
Think of containers as magic boxes. They neatly pack up your applications and everything they need to run including their dependencies, allowing them to be easily portable. This ensures seamless deployment and scalability across different environments.
- Portability Across Platforms
Containers bundle an application and all its dependencies together, creating a self-contained unit that can run reliably in any environment—whether it’s on a developer’s laptop, a test server, or a production environment. - Efficient Resource Usage
Unlike traditional virtual machines, containers share the host operating system, which means they use fewer resources and can start up quickly. This efficiency can translate into lower costs and higher performance for your applications. - Scalability and Flexibility
Containers are inherently lightweight and modular, making them ideal for scaling applications to meet demand. Plus, they allow developers to update specific parts of an application without affecting the whole system, speeding up development cycles.
Find out more about containers: What is a Container? | Docker
💭What is Kubernetes?
Kubernetes is the brains behind container operations, it’s the head chef in a busy kitchen, the maestro in an orchestra or the air traffic controller at a busy airport.
Basically Kubernetes manages automation and orchestration of containers and can help with:
✅Resource Management – Figures out where to run containers based on available resources
✅Scaling – When an app suddenly needs to scale, K8s can scale up when demand is high and scale back down when demand drops
✅Healing – If there is an issue with a container, K8s can replace it with a healthy one
✅Network and Load Balancing – K8s looks after the flow of data between containers and ensures workload is evenly spread across containers
Find out more about Kubernetes: Overview | Kubernetes
💭What is Azure Kubernetes Service?
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is Microsoft’s managed Kubernetes service for Azure. Other examples of a managed Kubernetes Service are:
- Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
- Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
- Red Hat OpenShift
So what does it do?
- Handles initial setup, cluster provisioning and maintenance tasks like upgrades and patching
- Integrates seamlessly with other Azure Services like Azure Monitor and Azure DevOps
- Automatically scales clusters up or down based on demand and manages high availability across multiple nodes as well as being able to recover failed components.
Find out more about AKS on Microsoft Learn: What is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
🛬The perfect landing zone for Azure Services
Azure Arc is revolutionising hybrid cloud management by enabling the deployment and consumption of Azure PaaS services outside of Azure’s traditional boundaries. To leverage this capability, an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster is required. This acts as the deployment target for Azure services.
With AKS on Azure Local, this process is streamlined, offering a seamless way to deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters on-premises which create the perfect target to deploy services such as Azure SQL Managed Instance on infrastructure running in your datacentre or at the edge.
SQL Managed Instance enabled by Azure Arc
💡So what?
Azure Local + Azure Kubernetes Service really empowers those who have a need to run workloads in their datacentre or at the edge to modernise their applications using container technology and take advantage of cloud native innovation where they need it.
Developers can use AKS in Azure to develop and test their applications and then if there is then a need to deploy the application outside of Azure either for data regulatory reasons or to multiple distributed locations they don’t need to worry about compatibility. These can be consistently deployed inside and outside of Azure.
Removing the cost of using AKS on Azure Local is a great move from Microsoft. It removes the cost barrier to adopting container technology on-premises which opens the door to modernising application development and deployment across distributed locations. It also provides a landing zone to deploy and consume Arc-enabled Azure services on-premises and at the edge, meaning that you no longer have to run a workloads in Azure to take advantage of Azure innovation.
Pretty cool huh?
