- Coming up, we look at updates to Windows Admin Center
and Windows Server 2019 that line up
practical hybrid management scenarios with Microsoft Azure.
Starting with Azure File Sync to sync your local files
to the cloud and virtually unlimited storage
with fast and secure access.
Azure Network Adapter for streamlined and encrypted
connectivity from your Windows Server environment
to Azure, using your existing hardware,
and how you can now easily protect and failover
your virtual machines to Azure.
(upbeat electronic music)
I'm joined once again by Jeff Woolsey,
welcome back to the show. - It's great to be back.
- Now on our last show we covered some major enhancements
in Windows Server 2019, and if you missed it,
you can check out that show with the link shown.
Now one of the things you highlighted is how
Windows Admin Center is the new
management plane for Windows Server.
That's only one aspect of Admin Center.
It also enables hybrid scenarios as well.
- It sure does.
Windows Admin Center makes it much easier
for you to take advantage of safe, practical,
and secure ways to leverage the cloud with Azure.
It's built for hybrid management,
giving you a single pane of glass to discover Azure services
from networking to security, and much more.
In addition, you can leverage Azure
for critical, everyday scenarios,
such as file storage, backup, server replication,
and disaster recovery. - Okay, great.
So I know that we have got a packed show here,
so let's make it real for people.
Would you agree that the number one use
for a server is to share files?
- Yes, it's the number one scenario for a server.
In fact, file servers, they're ubiquitous.
- So our viewers are likely gonna know
what a headache it is to ensure that there's enough
storage capacity for their organization.
If you think about it, how many times
have you had to send out those
please delete your old files emails?
So what are we gonna do to help there?
- Matt, I could not agree more.
We asked many of you about your file server pain points,
and heard that there's never enough capacity.
- Which isn't surprising, because users just tend to
leave their stuff on file shares forever.
- Yes, and purchasing more and more storage
with no end in sight is really a costly proposition.
And finally, people struggle with the need
for better and easier data sharing across sites.
So we developed Azure File Sync to address
these challenges and more.
So let's say I have a file server in Seattle.
When I purchased it, I thought, hmm,
20 terabytes, that's gonna be plenty.
Well, now my storage is getting low.
And before, I would have to purchase and add more hardware.
Instead, we can set up Azure File Sync,
which allows us to tier the least-used files to cloud.
What this means is that all of the data being used,
really the hot data, that stays local,
while the data that hasn't been touched
transparently tiers up to Azure.
This provides virtually bottomless storage
and your file server becomes a hot cache.
- [Matt] Okay, so how did you set this up?
Can you show us? - Absolutely.
So setup is naturally done
through the Azure File Sync tool in Admin Center.
You can see we've done some really cool things here.
So let's go ahead and click on the setup button,
and this begins the setup process,
which walks you through the process step by step.
Now you can see that the server does not have
the Azure File Sync agent installed.
So let's go ahead and click on the next button,
and here you can see the installation directory,
and configure this option to update this agent
via Microsoft Update.
Now if you use a proxy in your environment,
we support that as well.
In this case, I'm gonna leave everything as is,
and I'm just gonna click to deploy the agent.
Now right now, in just a couple of clicks,
we're installing the Azure File Sync agent
on the file server, all remotely from a Windows 10 system.
While that continues, let's go ahead
and switch to this other file server, just like this,
and you can see that the Azure File Sync agent
is already installed on this server.
Now notice it provides the installed
and latest versions for your convenience.
So let's go ahead and click on the next button
to configure our subscription information.
The resource group, the storage sync service.
Now give me one second while we go ahead
and adjust the resource group, just like that.
So let's go ahead and click next
to take us to the next step, which is to register
the file server, your on-premises file server,
with the Azure storage sync service.
So let's go ahead and click on the register server button,
where it will take a few moments to establish
the trust relationship between these resources.
And you can see the process is done,
the button will turn into a finish button
to let you know that the whole process is complete.
- This is awesome, Jeff, and so easy,
but let's just recap what happened.
On your Windows 10 system, without RDPing into a server,
you just deployed the Azure File Sync agent
on a file server remotely, configured
the storage sync service with your Azure subscription info,
and registered the file server
with the Azure storage sync service.
- Yes. - All from Admin Center?
- Yes, and there's more.
You can see Azure File Sync configured for this file server.
You can see the installed server agent version,
as well as the latest version available.
So I know, at a glance, I'm all set.
Now because we just configured this server,
I don't have any shares synced.
So I'm gonna go ahead and click to the next tab,
where I have a file server already configured,
and now you can see the larger picture.
Again, we have the local agent info,
and we can immediately see it's up to date.
We can see the Azure Storage subscription we're synced to.
We have a link to the Azure portal
for this registered server, along with
any docs you need for reference.
Now if you look below at the server endpoints,
we can see all the file shares synced to Azure,
whether cloud tiering is enabled,
and what the cloud tiering policy is, for example, 20%.
Finally, if you wanna see a specific sync group in Azure,
all I have to do is click on the sync group,
and it takes you to the exact right spot in Azure.
- Awesome, I love that integration between on-premises
and Azure, and this is a great solution
for your storage needs, and we can stop sending out
those nagging emails, please delete your files, et cetera.
How does this solve for sharing between locations?
- The great thing about Azure File Sync
is when you sync your file server to the cloud,
it provides the ability to sync
across all your branch offices.
So my files that I saved to the file share in Seattle,
they get uploaded via Azure File Sync,
and shared to my offices in New York, or Tokyo, for example.
- Okay, but what if I've got apps
running in Azure, and I need to access the data
in those synced file shares in branch offices?
How does that work?
Do the apps in Azure have to access the on-premises network?
- Well, that's where the advantage
of direct cloud access comes into play.
Let's say you have some Azure Paas services or IaaS VMs
that need access to data on a synced file share.
Because everything already resides in Azure,
you can access the data in Azure
and don't need to use up precious network bandwidth
going all the way back down to the branch office.
- So this all sounds awesome.
But speaking of branch offices, what about networking?
What about those smaller branch offices
where you wanna securely access
Azure resources but might not wanna buy
a bunch of extra networking hardware?
Do we have anything to help there?
- Yes, now ideally you'd set up
a secure point-to-site VPN, and that's exactly
what we've done with the Azure Virtual Network Adapter.
Before Windows Admin Center, you'd need to spend money
and purchase a hardware appliance to create a secure tunnel.
Or you could try to configure this in software.
Well, honestly, this was a arduous process to set up.
Our guidance amassed dozens of pages of documents.
He had to do things like create the gateway subnet,
create an Azure public IP,
figure out the client address space,
create the Azure Virtual Network Gateway,
create certificates, obtain public key file
for the root certificate, et cetera,
et cetera, and the list goes on.
And then of course you had to download
and configure the VPN client.
- Yup, I've actually done this,
and it's a huge amount of work.
- I'm sorry, by the way.
So look, it took a networking expert
on my team about 90 minutes.
This guys knows networking in and out.
Took him about 90 minutes to set this up
without Admin Center, and we knew
we could make this much easier.
So let me show you how easy it is
to create an encrypted network to Azure,
all using your existing hardware
with the Azure Network Adapter.
So here's one of my servers, and I'm gonna go ahead
and click here to launch a PowerShell console
to try and access an Azure IP address.
I'm gonna go ahead and paste in 172.17.3.4.
I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna ping this server right now,
and you'll see, oh, request timed out.
So you can see this server doesn't have access
to my resources in Azure.
So I'm gonna go ahead and leave the PowerShell console
and go to the network tool, where I have a new option
to add the Azure Network Adapter.
Now I'm gonna go ahead, and I'm gonna select
my network adapter and click add Azure Network Adapter.
Now once I do that, I have the option
to put in our subscription information,
put in our location information,
for example, the western US,
and we're gonna attach it to our virtual network.
That's it.
Matt, something that took once 90 minutes in four clicks.
So now we're gonna click create.
This is the fifth one, and we've created
this point to site VPN.
And so we're gonna go ahead, click confirmation,
we're connecting, and just like that
we're connected to Azure.
And to prove it, I'm gonna go back to the PowerShell console
and ping that same IP address running in Azure.
This time you can see we have access
securely through VPN just like that.
I did all this in software in less than 60 seconds,
and all through Windows Admin Center.
- This is great stuff.
So you can configure a Windows server instance
to securely access Azure resources, from anywhere,
without the need to set up new hardware,
and this new point-to-site VPN's great
for small, remote branch offices that need Azure access,
but would you use this solution to connect many servers?
- So Azure Network Adapter right now
is currently a point-to-site solution.
However, between you, me and our Mechanics viewers,
I'll let you know that we're working on
a site-to-site solution for larger deployments,
where you wanna have multiple servers
share the same secure VPN to Azure.
- Awesome, so let's switch gears and discuss backup.
Now in the data center, many customers are still using tape,
and in remote and branch offices,
backup coverage can be a little bit spotty.
So what's going on in this space?
- There's a lot going on in this space, Matt.
We wanna help you better protect
your on-premises investments,
and take advantage of virtually unlimited storage
in the cloud with Azure Backup.
- Cool, can we take a look? - Absolutely.
So with Backup, you wanna set it and confidently know
that it's protecting your data.
Here's a server with Azure Backup configured.
Now because I'm using Azure's virtually unlimited storage,
I don't need to deal with tape or running out of capacity.
Now at the top, I see my Azure subscription info.
I see the latest backup status,
the next scheduled backup, and whether I'm up to date.
Next you can see the job status,
and the number of recovery points,
including the option below to back up right now.
- But if backups are scheduled, why would I need
an option to back up now? - Ah, good question.
Well, most of the time you probably don't.
But suppose you're about to perform a big app upgrade
and want to have one more insurance policy.
Well, simply click on backup now,
and it will start an immediate backup.
Now let me show you what this looks like in Azure.
So by clicking on a smart link here,
it takes me directly to the Azure Backup vault,
and to the Backup dashboard.
- Cool, so we've seen Azure File Sync,
and now Azure Backup integration.
What about server replication and disaster recovery?
- Ah, great point, Matt.
Azure's site recovery replaces the need
for you to create your own secondary sites
in order to replicate servers for business continuity,
and we wanna make it as easy as possible.
Previously setting this up took many steps
and some PowerShell.
This can be a little overwhelming to say the least.
The good news is we've VM replication Azure
a lot easier all with Admin Center.
So let me show you the process now.
Here I have a number of VMs running Windows Server 2019,
2016, 2012, all the way back to Windows Server 2008.
So let's take a look at this HR server
running Windows Server 2008.
I wanna protect this VM by replicating it to Azure.
Simply select the VM, click on more,
and click on protect VM.
That's it.
If I click protect VM, it will begin
replicating up to Azure.
Now if you look at the next VM in this list,
this LOB inventory VM, it is running
Windows Server 2008 R2, and is already protected.
Notice there's a smart link to the side
that says protected.
When I click on the smart link,
it takes me to the exact right location
where this VM is replicated to Azure.
So now, if my on-premises server dies,
all I have to do is click on this planned failover button,
and this VM will immediately start running in Azure.
Now that the VM is running in Azure, you have options.
You can keep them running in Azure if you want,
and take advantage of the fact that we're providing
an additional three years of security updates
for Windows Server and SQL server 2008, 2008 R2
if you're running in Azure at no cost.
And if you still decide you wanna run this on-premises,
because you're running a workload
that needs to access devices in your local environment,
you still have that option too.
Just set up your new server, and click on
reverse replication. - Great stuff, Jeff.
Now you've shown a bunch of new hybrid capabilities,
the new Azure File Sync, the new Azure Network Adapter,
and easy VM replication with just a few clicks.
All great hybrid management scenarios.
So how can folks get started and learn more?
- First evaluate Windows Server 2019.
We have a trial available at the link shown.
And while you're evaluating Windows Server 2019,
standardize on Windows Server 2016 as your standard OS.
It's the fastest growing Windows Server OS
in Microsoft's history, and Microsoft provides
industry-leading security, hyper-converged infrastructure,
hybrid cloud, and more.
Finally, of course, adopt Windows Admin Center.
Every demo you saw today was in Admin Center.
All new server GUI investments are happening here,
and it's the hub for our hybrid cloud integration.
Furthermore, it's part of your Windows license,
so it's a free download. - Awesome, thanks Jeff.
And of course subscribe and keep watching
Microsoft Mechanics for the latest tech updates.
See you next time.