Creating a successful infrastructure solution on Azure requires careful planning and the right set of tools. While it may seem daunting at first, with the right approach, you can streamline the process and make it efficient and effective. Before diving into resource build or migration, it's essential to understand the the Azure hierarchical structure.
In order to successfully design Azure landing zones, it's essential to understand how Azure resources fit into the Azure hierarchy. Each of the hierarchical components plays a unique role in organizing and managing Azure resources, and understanding how they interact with one another is critical for effective cloud adoption.
The Azure hierarchical structure consists of four main components: management groups, subscriptions, resource groups, and resources. Management groups are used to organize subscriptions into logical containers and governance policies are applied to them. Subscriptions are used to manage access and billing for Azure resources. Resource groups are used to group resources that share the same lifecycle, while resources refer to the actual services or components you create and manage within Azure.
By understanding this relationship, you can ensure that your cloud design aligns with your organization's goals and requirements. Ultimately, a strong understanding of the Azure hierarchy is crucial for designing a landing zone that maximizes the benefits of cloud adoption while minimizing risk and complexity.
Demonstration
In this blog post, we will demonstrate the Azure hierarchical structure by looking at a virtual machine deployment. We will deploy a virtual machine and indicate where it fits in the hierarchy.
This is not a "how to deploy a virtual machine" post, but walking through the deployment process will be beneficial for those new to Azure, as this is an Introductory post.
Virtual Machine deployment
One essential factor in selecting the right VM size is understanding the workload requirements, such as CPU, memory, and storage. Additionally, you must assess the availability and reliability requirement, so as to determine which high availability architecture to choose: Availability sets vs Zone redundant vs Scale sets.
Configuring networking and storage options is another crucial aspect of deploying an Azure VM. This includes setting up virtual networks, network security groups, and storage accounts. You should also consider security and access controls, such as configuring firewalls and encryption options, to ensure that your VM is secure and meets compliance requirements.
Azure provides built-in monitoring and management tools to track performance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize costs, which should be leveraged to ensure maximum efficiency. In this blog post I will deploy a basic virtual machine. Let's walk through the detailed steps of how to create a virtual machine, and then visually demonstrate where it fits in the hierarchy.
Creating an Azure Virtual Machine
Step 1: Log in to the Azure portal and click on the "create resource" under Azure Services.
Figure 1: VM Creation
Step 2: Click on the "Create" button to start the virtual machine creation process.
Figure 2: VM Creation
Step 3: Select the appropriate subscription and resource group or create a new one.
Step 4: Choose a name for your virtual machine and select the region where it will be located. We will name our virtual machine: HRA.
Step 5: For this exercise, skip the availability option tab.
Figure 3: VM Creation
Step 5: Select the appropriate image for your virtual machine, such as Windows Server or Ubuntu.
Step 6: Choose the appropriate size for your virtual machine, based on your business needs and budget.
Step 7: Configure the virtual machine settings, such as the username and password, network settings, and storage options.
Figure 4: VM Creation
Step 8: Review and confirm the settings, then click on the "Create" button to create your virtual machine.
Great job! You have successfully created a virtual machine on Azure!
Azure hierarchy
The hierarchical position of this newly created Virtual machine (HRA) is represented by figure 5 below:
Figure 5: Azure hierarchy structure
In conclusion, understanding the Azure hierarchy is crucial for organizations that want to manage their cloud infrastructure efficiently and effectively. By organizing resources into logical containers that align with an organization's goals and policies, the Azure hierarchy simplifies management and governance, reducing the risk of costly mistakes or compliance issues.
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