Azure Arc is a solution that allows you to manage diverse resources, such as virtual machines, containers, databases or servers, wherever they reside – in the cloud, on local servers or in other environments.
With Azure Arc, you can consolidate the management and control of resources, making them easier to monitor and maintain. Put differently, Azure Arc is a bridge that extends the Azure platform to make it easier to build applications and services, while giving you the flexibility to run them in data centres, on edge devices and in multi-cloud environments.
Hybrid IT infrastructure management
One of the main uses of the platform in companies is hybrid IT infrastructure management. With Azure Arc, IT resources can be managed simultaneously in different environments, allowing for flexibility and scalability of the infrastructure. The versatility and consistency of the solution negates the problems associated with distributed tools and configurations.
The tool allows you to extend the capabilities of the Azure cloud to IT resources that reside outside of it, giving you greater flexibility in terms of application deployment and infrastructure management. It enables collaboration with IT resources from different locations and products from different vendors, making it easier to integrate and manage a hybrid infrastructure. This enables faster application deployment and increased operational efficiency.
Safety and compliance
Azure Arc provides the ability to apply uniform security and compliance policies for IT assets managed by the platform, regardless of their location or provider. This allows us to avoid security gaps and comply with regulations related to data processing. By integrating with Azure Security Center, we can monitor resources and detect potential threats. In addition, we can apply security policies consistently across all resources, increasing the level of security and making them easier to manage.
How do I get started with the platform?
Using Azure Arc is simple and intuitive. To use the Azure Arc service, we need to go through a few steps:
- The starting point is an active subscription to the Azure platform (it is possible to start a subscription in the CSP model with support from Senetic experts).
- In the Azure portal, we need to find and launch the Azure Arc service.
- We then need to generate an installation script to automate the download, installation and establish a connection to the Azure Arc service.
- Once generated, run the script, install the agent.
- The next step is to verify that the server has been successfully connected to the Arc service.
- We can start using the Azure Arc service.
The Azure Arc service is offered at no additional cost for Azure Arc-enabled server management. Additional combined Azure platform services, such as Azure Defender or Azure Monitor, will be charged according to their price and may be charged differently for Azure platform virtual machines or Azure Arc enabled servers.
Azure Update Management service is available for non-Azure servers at no additional charge. When Azure Arc enabled servers are activated, additional Azure platform management services are charged, i.e. Azure Policy guest configuration, Azure Monitor, Azure Defender, etc.
Azure Policy’s guest configuration feature
This guest configuration component of the Azure Policy service manages the compliance and configuration of the operating system and the number of servers associated with the service to which at least one guest configuration is assigned, determines billing. Billing takes place on an hourly basis. Offline computers are not billed, such as those that are disconnected or offline for a full hour.
Kubernetes platform with Azure Arc service enabled
Customers can use the Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes platform to integrate clusters. We can attach and deploy any number of Kubernetes clusters in the Azure Portal site at no additional charge. Like Arc-enabled servers, fees for additional Azure platform management services, such as Kubernetes Configuration, are charged upon activation.
As an authorised Microsoft Partner, we have the ability to offer discounts to our customers, so please feel free to contact us.
If you’d like to talk to us about the best Azure solution for you, please get in touch, our team of experts will be happy to answer your questions:
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3666 5846
Email: microsoft@senetic.com
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