cloudecon.com https://cloudecon.com Cloud Architecture and Economics Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:30:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 The Advantages of AVS: Reducing Host Overallocation Through Supply Chain Elimination https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/title-the-advantages-of-avs-reducing-host-overallocation-through-supply-chain-elimination/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=title-the-advantages-of-avs-reducing-host-overallocation-through-supply-chain-elimination https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/title-the-advantages-of-avs-reducing-host-overallocation-through-supply-chain-elimination/#respond Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:30:03 +0000 https://cloudecon.com/?p=1922 Traditional supply chain constraints have long burdened organizations with over-provisioning, forecasting dilemmas, and space allocation issues. Discover how embracing cloud solutions like Azure VMware Solution (AVS) frees enterprises from these limitations, allowing for resource optimization in real time. Learn how to bid farewell to costly guesswork, adapt to organic growth seamlessly, and drive cost savings by eliminating supply chain dependencies. Embrace the future of resource management with AVS and revolutionize your enterprise's IT infrastructure.

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Azure VMware Solution (AVS) is a powerful software-defined datacenter seamlessly integrated into Microsoft Azure Cloud. It provides users with the flexibility to purchase resources on an hourly basis or through one- or three-year reserved instances, offering various host sizes to accommodate diverse resource needs. In this article, we’ll delve into how AVS can reduce your reliance on hosts by removing traditional supply chain constraints.

Right Buying is Right Sizing

The central theme of Azure VMware Solution is its ability to optimize resources, resulting in tangible cost reductions. Let’s explore this in the context of AVS’s approach to resource allocation and how it relates to the absence of supply chain constraints.

Breaking Free from Supply Chain Limitations

Unlike traditional on-premises datacenters, which often require extensive capacity planning and substantial upfront investments, AVS offers remarkable flexibility. In the cloud environment, resources are acquired on-demand, eliminating the need to predict future capacity requirements or make significant initial investments.

Shedding On-Premises Supply Chain Constraints

Let’s take a closer look at the typical constraints encountered in traditional on-premises environments:

  • Free Space for New Projects: On-premises datacenters must predict needs for future projects, which can lead to unnecessary over-provisioning.

  • Discount Dilemmas: To secure the best discounts, organizations often find themselves forecasting future capacity needs and purchasing resources prematurely.

  • Upgrades with Minimal Disruption: Space must be reserved for equipment upgrades without causing operational disruptions.

  • Equipment Failures: Adequate space must be set aside for the prompt replacement of failed equipment.

  • Accommodating Organic Growth: Additional space must be allocated to accommodate natural growth in data and workloads.

These constraints often result in data centers being over-provisioned, especially during the initial stages of equipment ownership due to supply chain limitations. However, Azure VMware Solution operates on a more flexible principle.

Unleashing Cloud Freedom

In the cloud landscape, these constraints no longer apply. Organizations leveraging AVS can acquire resources based solely on real-time virtual machine utilization. During migration and ongoing operations, hosts can be added as needed, eliminating the guesswork and over-provisioning that are common in conventional datacenters.

Data-Informed Decision-Making

By analyzing utilization data from existing virtual machines, organizations can accurately estimate their host requirements. This allows for the adoption of versatile reservation strategies, including rapid migration with on-demand resources or prudent estimation of host needs with the purchase of reserved instances upfront.

The Benefits of Supply Chain Elimination

By freeing themselves from supply chain constraints, organizations significantly reduce their dependence on additional hosts to ensure fault tolerance, allocate free space for upgrades, and accommodate organic growth. In a scenario where a failed node can be replaced in just 15 minutes, the need for extra nodes to support compute fault tolerance becomes almost unnecessary. AVS’s use of VMware VSAN as the primary storage solution has its own fault tolerance requirements. Ensure you take all software constraints into account when designing fault tolerance. 

Enhancing Cost Efficiency

The key takeaway here is that the elimination of supply chain constraints can substantially reduce the number of hosts required, resulting in significant cost savings. Azure VMware Solution encompasses various factors contributing to a diminished total cost of ownership, enhancing its appeal in terms of resource efficiency.

In conclusion, Azure VMware Solution not only offers a seamless cloud-integrated datacenter solution but also revolutionizes resource allocation by removing supply chain constraints. It is essential, however, to consult with experts in cloud technology to effectively evaluate and compare your options. Embracing AVS not only ensures cost-efficiency but also unlocks scalability and agility, revolutionizing how organizations manage their IT infrastructure while reducing their reliance on hosts.

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]]> https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/title-the-advantages-of-avs-reducing-host-overallocation-through-supply-chain-elimination/feed/ 0 Why Your Enterprise Needs a FinOps Practice https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/mastering-cloud-economics-why-your-enterprise-needs-a-finops-practice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mastering-cloud-economics-why-your-enterprise-needs-a-finops-practice https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/mastering-cloud-economics-why-your-enterprise-needs-a-finops-practice/#respond Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:25:58 +0000 https://cloudecon.com/?p=1929 Discover how building a FinOps practice can provide enhanced cost visibility, precise budgeting, and efficient cost optimization, empowering your enterprise to make informed financial decisions in the cloud era. Embrace continuous improvement and robust policy governance to ensure your cloud journey remains cost-effective, predictable, and profitable

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In today’s digital landscape, the adoption of cloud computing has become more than just a trend; it’s a necessity for enterprises aiming to stay competitive and agile. The cloud offers unparalleled scalability, flexibility, and efficiency, but it also introduces a new set of challenges, particularly when it comes to managing costs. This is where FinOps, short for Financial Operations, comes into play. In this article, we’ll explore why your enterprise needs to build a FinOps practice to navigate the complex terrain of cloud economics successfully.

The Cloud Cost Conundrum

As enterprises migrate their workloads to the cloud, the promise of cost savings often drives these decisions. However, without effective cost management strategies in place, cloud spending can quickly spiral out of control. Unchecked cloud costs can lead to budget overruns, financial unpredictability, and missed opportunities for optimization. This is where a FinOps practice becomes indispensable.

Enhanced Cost Visibility

One of the foundational pillars of FinOps is cost visibility. When you move to the cloud, you gain access to a vast array of resources and services, each incurring its own cost. Without clear visibility into where your cloud dollars are going, it’s challenging to make informed decisions about resource allocation and optimization.

A FinOps practice enables you to track and categorize spending by projects, departments, or teams, providing insights into which areas are driving costs. With this transparency, you can allocate resources more efficiently and make data-driven decisions about where to invest or cut back.

Budgeting and Forecasting

Imagine having a crystal ball that lets you foresee your future cloud spending accurately. While we can’t provide you with magical powers, FinOps practices allow you to set budgets and forecasts for your cloud expenses. By establishing spending limits and aligning them with your business objectives, you gain control over your cloud expenditure.

With budgeting and forecasting, you can plan for growth, anticipate potential cost spikes, and avoid unexpected financial surprises. This proactive approach empowers you to make financial decisions that align with your enterprise’s strategic goals.

Cost Optimization

One of the most significant benefits of a FinOps practice is cost optimization. Cloud resources can be right-sized, reserved, or scaled based on actual usage patterns. A FinOps team can identify opportunities to save costs by eliminating idle resources, leveraging reserved instances, and implementing automation to turn off resources when they’re not needed.

By optimizing your cloud resources, you not only reduce your cloud spending but also ensure that your resources are aligned with your performance requirements, leading to improved efficiency and better ROI.

Policy and Governance

Cloud environments can quickly become chaotic without proper policies and governance. A FinOps practice helps you establish policies for resource provisioning, data retention, access control, and compliance. These policies ensure that cloud resources are used efficiently, securely, and in alignment with regulatory requirements.

Continuous Improvement

Cloud cost management is an ongoing journey. A FinOps practice encourages a culture of continuous improvement. It involves regularly reviewing and refining your cost management strategies, adjusting budgets, and exploring new cost-saving opportunities.

Conclusion

In the age of cloud computing, mastering cloud economics is essential for any enterprise. Building a FinOps practice is not just about controlling costs; it’s about optimizing your cloud resources to drive better business outcomes. It empowers you to make data-driven decisions, avoid financial pitfalls, and stay agile in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. If your enterprise is serious about harnessing the full potential of the cloud while maintaining financial sustainability, it’s time to embrace FinOps. Your cloud journey will be more cost-effective, predictable, and profitable as a result.

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]]> https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/mastering-cloud-economics-why-your-enterprise-needs-a-finops-practice/feed/ 0 Understanding Azure Virtual Machine Reservations https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/vmreservations/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vmreservations https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/vmreservations/#respond Fri, 01 Sep 2023 19:44:47 +0000 https://cloudecon.com/?p=1891 A Reservation of a Virtual Machine in Azure is a contract you create in the Azure Portal committing to 1 or 3 years of usage of a specific virtual machine.

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n the fast-paced world of cloud computing, finding cost-effective solutions is paramount. Azure Virtual Machine Reservations offer an avenue to save significantly on your Azure VM usage costs. In this article, we’ll delve into the basics of Azure VM Reservations, discussing what they are, how they work, and various optimization strategies.

What is an Azure Virtual Machine Reservation?

An Azure Virtual Machine Reservation is essentially a commitment you make in the Azure Portal, pledging to use a specific virtual machine for either 1 or 3 years. Let’s illustrate this with an example: suppose you opt for a D2s_v5 for your application, with the confidence that it will be online for at least a year.

Without a reservation, you’d pay approximately $70.08 per month, totaling $840.96 annually. However, committing to Azure by reserving the D2s_v5 for a year can yield substantial savings. You’d pay only $495.99 annually, slashing your costs by $344.97, a 41% reduction. The savings become even more enticing with a 3-year commitment, where you can save a staggering 62%, totaling $958.96 over three years compared to on-demand pricing.

Here’s a concise table for easier reference:

Reservation TermD2s_v5 Annual Cost
No Reservation$840.96
1-Year$495.99
3-Year$319.65

How are Reservations applied?

It’s crucial to understand that reservations and virtual machines are separate entities. Your VM remains on a pay-as-you-go basis, while the reservation applies separately. Think of it as canceling out an hour of pay-as-you-go costs and replacing it with an hour of reservation costs.

For instance, if you purchase a 3-year reservation for a D2s_v5, the standard $0.188 hourly cost is eliminated, replaced by a reduced $0.0364 hourly rate. It’s important to note that this $0.0364 will be billed each hour for the entire reservation term, regardless of whether you turn off or delete the VM.

Upgrading a Virtual Machine with a matching reservation.

Azure Virtual Machine Reservations offer more flexibility than meets the eye. Consider two upgrade scenarios:

  1. Upgrading Instance Size: Suppose you need to scale up from a D2s_v5 to a D4s_v5. Since reservations and VMs are separate, upgrading poses no issues. By default, reservations feature “instance size flexibility,” allowing them to accommodate the D4s_v5 while deducting the applicable amount. This may result in a monthly charge of $96.72 (D4s_v5) – $70.08 (D2s_v5) + $26.64 (D2s_v4 reservation).

  2. Project-Based Updates: If you need to update an application by creating a new D2s_v5, make the necessary changes, and then switch off the original VM, reservations shine in this scenario. While the second D2s_v5 is active, you’ll pay $0.188 per hour. Once you power down the initial D2s_v5, the reservation will detect the second instance and remove the $0.188 hourly charge, replacing it with the $0.0364 reservation fee.

Keep in mind that instance size flexibility only applies within the same series, such as the Ds_v5 series used in our examples.

Other Azure Virtual Machine Reservation Options

Azure offers two additional options that significantly impact how you purchase and apply reservations:

  1. Capacity Priority: By toggling between “Instance Size Flexibility” and “Capacity Priority,” you can prioritize capacity over size flexibility. This means your VM gets placement and power-on priority over others, a valuable option in scenarios where immediate access is crucial.

  2. Reservation Scope: In large organizations with multiple subscriptions, resource groups, and diverse management structures, the reservation scope becomes pivotal. Azure allows for various combinations to accommodate complex procurement structures, catering to your organization’s specific needs.

For further information on reservation scoping, refer to the Microsoft article.

In conclusion, Azure Virtual Machine Reservations offer a robust solution to optimize your cloud spending. By understanding their nuances and exploring various options, you can harness their full potential and maximize your cost savings in the Azure cloud.

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]]> https://cloudecon.com/2023/09/vmreservations/feed/ 0 Azure Hybrid Benefit Quick Reference https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/azure-hybrid-benefit-quick-reference/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=azure-hybrid-benefit-quick-reference https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/azure-hybrid-benefit-quick-reference/#respond Tue, 19 Jan 2021 17:27:19 +0000 https://gvtechtalks.com/?p=1856 As I go through the day-to-day of analyzing the economics of various VMware software on Azure, I find myself constantly referring back…

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As I go through the day-to-day of analyzing the economics of various VMware software on Azure, I find myself constantly referring back to nearly a dozen web pages for various Azure Hybrid Benefit information. The purpose of this article to collect the main points of the Azure Hybrid Benefit from the various publicly available places and organize it into a quick reference sheet.

Never make licensing decisions without talking to your Microsoft license specialist or a qualified partner.

Windows Server

Must have current Software Assurance

Azure VM (IaaS)

Legacy 2 physical socket licenses = 16 physical core licenses. Must license entire VM.

Azure Hybrid Benefit converts physical cores to virtual CPU (vCPU). Each Azure VM consumes a minimum of 8 core licenses.

Examples Per VM. Each VM uses a minimum of 8 core licenses.
1 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
2 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
3 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
4 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
5 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
6 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
7 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
8 vCPU = 8 physical core licenses
9 vCPU = 9 physical core licenses
10 vCPU = 10 physical core licenses
11 vCPU = 11 physical core licenses
12 vCPU = 12 physical core licenses
13 vCPU = 13 physical core licenses
14 vCPU = 14 physical core licenses
15 vCPU = 15 physical core licenses
16 vCPU = 16 physical core licenses

Azure Dedicated Host

On-Premises licenses map core for core.
Example – 16 cores on-prem = 16 cores of Azure Dedicated Host
Various host sizes. Minimum licensing depends on the host choice. 

Azure VMware Solution (AVS)

On-Premises Licenses map core for core.
Minimum – 16 cores on-prem = 16 cores of AVS
The minimum cluster size is 3 hosts, 36 core each. Customers will have to buy or migrate 108 cores for the three hosts.

Info to Note

Standard licenses have a 180-day Dual-Use (on-prem and Azure) grace period.
Datacenter licenses have perpetual dual-use. 

SQL Server

Must have Software Assurance

Azure Native IaaS SQL Server VMs [1]

Microsoft shift from using the common vCPU term to the term vCore.  vCore and vCPU both reference a logical compute unit and are interchangeable [2]

Similar to on-premises 4 core licenses are the minimum number of licenses possible per SQL server [3].   

1 Enterprise physical core license = 1 Enterprise vCore (min 4 per server)
1 Enterprise physical core license = 4 Standard vCore (min 4 per server)
1 Standard physical core licenses = 1 Standard vCore (min 4 per server)

SQL Managed Instance and SQL Database Service [4]

SQL managed instance removes the minimum and is a more direct mapping. The delineation is between general-purpose, hyperscale,  and business-critical

1 Enterprise physical core license = 1 Business Critical vCore
1 Enterprise physical core license = 4 General Purpose vCore
1 Enterprise physical core license = 4 Hyperscale vCore
1 Standard physical core licenses = 1 General Purpose vCore

Azure Dedicated Host [5]

On-Premises licenses map core for core.
Example – 16 cores on-prem = 16 cores of SQL running on Azure Dedicated Host.

Alternatively, you could convert your licenses to vCPU and run SQL as an Azure VM running on Azure Dedicated Host using the above SQL Server VM method.

Linux

Azure VM (Azure Native IaaS)

Supported operating systems:

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Conditions

  • Must Deploy image from the marketplace and select existing Linux subscription
  • Must choose Paygo, 1- and 3-year reservations not eligible
  • Custom Images or BYOS imaged not yet supported.
  • Cannot stack SQL hybrid benefit and Linux Hybrid Benefit

“Reserved instances, Azure Dedicated Host instances, and SQL hybrid benefits are not eligible for Azure Hybrid Benefit if you’re already using the benefit with Linux VMs.” [6]

Azure Dedicated Host

Not currently supported

Azure VMware Solution

As of the date on this blog I suspect on Premises licenses can be brought to Azure VMware Solution. Subscriptions and compliance must be managed outside of Azure in the same method as used on-prem. Virtual Machines must be either moved from on-prem or built using VMware vCenter.

While it is documented that you can run RHEL and SUSE on AVS [7] I have not been able to find a document outlining the specifics.  Always speak to your Azure specialist or partner before making any decisions.

I hope you found this article helpful. I will update it as I learn more (or corrected) and as new and exciting benefits from Microsoft emerge. The Azure Hybrid Benefit can provide significant savings when understood and applied properly.

References

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]]> https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/azure-hybrid-benefit-quick-reference/feed/ 0 The Economics of Windows Server on Azure VMware Solution https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/the-economics-of-windows-server-on-azure-vmware-solution/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-economics-of-windows-server-on-azure-vmware-solution https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/the-economics-of-windows-server-on-azure-vmware-solution/#respond Tue, 19 Jan 2021 16:50:33 +0000 https://gvtechtalks.com/?p=1843 This article will analyze the cost of Microsoft Windows Server Datacenter running on Azure VMware Solution compared to running on-premises and in…

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This article will analyze the cost of Microsoft Windows Server Datacenter running on Azure VMware Solution compared to running on-premises and in Azure VM (Azure Native IaaS)

Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHub) is a licensing benefit provided by Microsoft for customers who own Microsoft Windows Server and SQL server, with Software assurance. The benefit allows customers to bring the licenses purchased for on-premises hardware to Azure. 

This article will not discuss Azure Hybrid Benefit in its entirety, only related to the economics of Azure VMware Solutions and other comparative solutions. We will primarily focus on the economics of Azure Hybrid Benefit (Ahub) of Microsoft Windows Server Datacenter.  Microsoft SQL server will be covered in a later article.

To learn more about Azure Hybrid Benefit please refer to my Azure Hybrid Benefit Quick Reference blog.

How Azure Hybrid Benefit applies to Azure VMware Solution

Azure Hybrid Benefit has two main methods of allowing customers to bring licenses to Azure. First, there is a conversion from physical cores to vCPUs. You would use this conversion method to move to a multi-tenant offering such as Azure VM or a SQL service.  The second option is to apply the licenses to the physical cores of dedicated servers in Azure. The physical core method is how Windows Server and SQL Server are licensed in Azure VMware Solution. [1]

What about Client Access Licenses (CALs)?

When writing this article, it is unclear if Client Access Licenses are required for Windows Server licenses brought to Azure using the Azure Hybrid Benefit. Azure FAQ says, “No. Windows Server CALs are not required for accessing Windows Server running in the Azure environment because the access rights are included in the per-minute charge for the Virtual Machines.” [2] This does not specify if it applies when you don’t choose to pay for Windows Server along with the Virtual Machine.

For this article, I will assume Client Access Licenses ARE required. It’s better to error on the side of caution when talking about money. The CALs don’t significantly impact the analysis either way.

Examining the cost of Windows Server in Azure

For this discussion, we will be using public information. The on-premises licensing covered will be an open license example and comparing it to an Azure OS subscription. It’s worth noting that larger organizations will most likely have an Enterprise Agreement with some discount level applied.  Talk to your Microsoft Licensing and Azure Specialist or partner to compare your actual costs.

Let’s examine a use case for the imaginary company, Super Spoons

Super Spoons has 4 VMware Hosts on-premises running 80 virtual machines. To keep the math simple, we will choose a VM configuration that aligns with Azure Instances and a host configuration that aligns with Azure VMware Solution. Super Spoons has a total of 800 employees that will access server resources.

Host Configuration
Qty
Cores

4

36

 

VM Configuration
Qty.
vCPU

20

1

20

2

20

4

20

8

Since we are only looking at Microsoft Windows Server Licensing, licensed by core, the ram and storage are irrelevant. If we were extrapolating a full TCO, licensing would be one dimension of many to be included.

On-Premises Licensing

Super Spoons would need 36 core licenses of Windows Server Datacenter per host with Software Assurance and Client Access Licenses for 800 employees. Their current cost for 2 years of Microsoft licensing, using available online pricing, is $75,168 plus $29,599.84 in CALs. This is assuming Super Spoons has no current Microsoft Licenses and starting from scratch.

QTY
Description
Online Price

9

16 core pack w/SA

$8,352.99 [3]

16

50 user CAL

$1,849.99 [4]

Moving your licenses to Azure VMware Solution

Super Spoons is considering four (4) AV36 hosts in Azure VMware Solution (AVS). Because they have the same size hosts on-premises, Super Spoons has all the Windows Server Licenses they need on Azure VMware Solution (AVS)

The Azure Hybrid Benefit makes migrating your Windows Server Licenses to Azure VMware Solution (AVS) very easy. In fact, it’s so easy you bring the licenses with you.

Moving your licenses to Azure VM (Azure Native IaaS)

Super Spoons has 80 VM’s of 4 configuration types using 300 virtual CPUs (vCPU). Super Spoons have previously purchased licenses to cover 144 physical cores.

The rule for Windows Server to Azure VM under Azure Hybrid Benefit is, “Each 2-processor license or each set of 16-core licenses are entitled to two instances of up to 8 cores, or one instance of up to 16 cores.”  A much simpler way to describe this is, every 8 cores of on-prem licenses equals 8 vCPUs as long as they are on the same VM.

Super Spoons has 6, 16 core, and 6, 2 core licenses. Luckily, Super Spoons doesn’t have any virtual machines over 8 vCPU, which makes the math very easy.

We take 144 core licenses and divide by 8 equaling 18 (144/8=18) to figure this out. We can move our on-premises licensing to 18 virtual machines with 8 vCPU or fewer. Super Spoons has 80 virtual machines that need Windows Server licensing. The Azure price calculator shows a Windows Server cost of 67.16 per month. If we take the same two-year time, horizon Windows Server would cost $128,847.20 (67.16*80*24). When we apply our Azure Hybrid Benefit to 18 virtual machines, the price drops to $99,934.08. That is a 29,013.12 savings!  

We don’t recoup our original $75,168, which means it doesn’t make sense to buy perpetual Microsoft Windows Server licenses to move to Azure VM. I find it’s more helpful to think of it as a pro-rated discount based on licenses already owned and in use.

Many use cases will be more economical licensed by core

As you can see in the previous use case example, the price advantage of licensing Microsoft Windows Server by Core and applying it to Azure VMware Solution dedicated hosts is significant. Even if you have to buy Windows Server licenses when you buy your Azure VMware Solution hosts, you are saving $24,079.36 ($128,847.20 – $104,767.84= $24,079.36) in the first two years.  Years three and four have even greater savings as you only have to buy software assurance in year three for $12,885.12.00 [5]. Savings for years 3 and 4 are $124,842.20 ($128,847.20 – $12,885.12 = $115,962.08).

Are there other products core licensing could be used in Azure?

For this article’s purposes, we are only discussing Windows Server mobility rights as allowed by Azure Hybrid Benefit. Many Microsoft products have mobility rights, and the economics may or may not have similarities to Windows Server. [6]

If, for whatever reason, Azure VMware Solution is not a fit for your business, but you are interested in a core-based Windows Server licensing model for Microsoft Azure, Azure Dedicated Host may be an option.

What about if I don’t have Windows Server Datacenter?

If you use Windows Server Standard for virtualization at some point, you have done the math to decide “stacking” core licenses of standard are more economical than purchasing Datacenter. With Windows Server Standard, you are licensed for two virtual machines per server license. A server licensed with Windows Server Standard must conform to the number of cores AND the number of virtual machines on the server. Each Microsoft Windows Server License licenses two core and two VM’s, making the math easy; your VM count can’t exceed your core count. When the virtual machine count exceeds the core count, you have to buy additional core licenses for the additional VM’s, i.e., “stacking.”

 

Azure Hybrid Benefit works the same way for Standard as Datacenter. You count the number of cores and either bring them for Azure VMware Solutions or convert them for Azure VM.

The one difference with Standard, you can only run the license in one place, either on-prem or in Azure. Microsoft provides a 180-day grace period for migration. With datacenter, you can run both on-prem workloads and azure workloads simultaneously with no time limit.  For companies that want to run fully hybrid configurations with workload on-prem and in Azure, Windows Server Datacenter is the way to go.

Is Azure Hybrid Benefit exclusive to Azure?

Azure Hybrid Benefit is exclusive to Azure. The ability to bring your Microsoft licenses to other clouds such as AWS or Google Cloud is defined by the license mobility rights granted by software assurance, per product. Some software titles have mobility rights, and others do not. Microsoft Windows Server does not have mobility rights of any kind under Software assurance as of this article’s publish date. The only way to “bring” Windows Server to Azure is with Software Assurance plus Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Conclusion

When considering adding or moving to any cloud platform each company is going to have unique economics. With every analysis, “the devil is in the details” so to speak. I believe there is tremendous economic advantages to Azure VMware solution, the licensing benefit is just one example of many. The Azure Hybrid Benefit is a clear advantage for customers running Microsoft software and looking to move to Azure.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to share. If you are looking for more information on Azure VMware Solution, you can find that here – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/

If you would like more information about Azure Hybrid Benefit you can find that here – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/hybrid-benefit/

References

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]]> https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/the-economics-of-windows-server-on-azure-vmware-solution/feed/ 0 HCX AVS Gateway Cutover https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/hcx-avs-gateway-cutover/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hcx-avs-gateway-cutover https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/hcx-avs-gateway-cutover/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2021 22:34:22 +0000 https://gvtechtalks.com/?p=1795 The topic of L2 extensions with HCX comes up often when architecting HCX on AVS. Having the ability to do an L2…

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The topic of L2 extensions with HCX comes up often when architecting HCX on AVS. Having the ability to do an L2 extension from on-premises to AVS allows customers to migrate VMware based workloads without re-IP the VM while at the same time maintaining default gateway and local security policies throughout the migration process.

In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of setting up an L2 extension with HCX and how to terminate and migrate your gateway from on-premise to the cloud once the migration is over.

The image below illustrates how our on-premise HCX appliance uses our express route connection to establish a tunnel with our HCX instance on AVS.

The green network represents our on-premises management network. The management components on AVS, including NSX, HCX, and vCenter are automatically created during the AVS provisioning process. 

Our focus for most of this blog will be on the blue network representing our on-premises L2 segments for our compute workloads. 

Note: For simplicity purposes, we decided only to represent a single L2 segment for our compute workloads; typically, customers would have multiple; however, the process for stretching and un-stretching L2 networks is the same regardless of the number of networks. 

Note: HCX does not currently support extending your on-premises networks used for vSphere management, such as vMotion and HCX components. For more details, please read the HCX user guide. https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-HCX/services/user-guide/GUID-BFD7E194-CFE5-4259-B74B-991B26A51758.html

In this blog post, we will not be covering the installation process for HCX. If you want more information on this topic, please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-vmware/tutorial-deploy-vmware-hcx

From your on-premises vCenter, log into your HCX instance.

From the HCX UI, click on “Network Extension.”

Click on “Extend Networks”

Select the network you want to extend. In this case, we will be stretching our Contoso port group.

Note: This network can be VLAN backed, or VXLAN backed. The on-premise requirements for stretching networks with HCX are VDS (Virtual Distributed Switch), vSphere 5.5 or higher, express route, and an Intel-based processor.

Next, we need to enter the IP address of the gateway we want to extend into AVS. This process is the same regardless if your gateway is on a physical device or a virtual instance such as NSX. In our environment, the default gateway for our Contoso network is 10.255.255.1/24. 

I will be entering that information into the “Gateway IP Address” field and selecting my NSX-T1 router as the destination first-hop router in AVS. Keep in mind that this will not create another gateway on AVS; your default gateway will remain on-premise during the stretch. 

Note: For the “Extension Appliance” field, you more than likely will leave the default settings; however, if you want to stretch multiple portgroups and the aggregated bandwidth exceeds 2.5gbps, then it will be a good idea to deploy additional extension appliances to distribute the load.

The extension process should take a few minutes to complete.

At this point, our network is stretched into AVS. Please see the below diagram illustrating our network stretch.

As you can see, our default gateway is still on-premises. Keeping the gateway on-premises gives us the ability to continue to use our on-premises security stack while at the same time reducing significant network changes during the migration process.

 

While HCX provides the feature of having an L2 stretch, it is essential to note that the desired outcome is to eventually decommission the tunnel and the L2 extension once the migration is complete.

As long as the default gateway remains on-premises, any type of routing will have to be hair-pinned back to our local gateway; this will cause slower network speeds and egress charges through the express route.

As you can see from the diagram below, our red network is AVS native (non-stretched). If a VM on our blue network wants to communicate to a VM on the red network, the traffic will have to transverse through on-premises.

Once you have finished migrating every VM out of your stretched portgroup, you want to decommission the L2 stretch and migrate your gateway into AVS; this will eliminate the hair-pinning of the traffic. 

Note: Make sure you have pre-populated your security policies required to protect your workloads in your NSX AVS environment. 

 

The image below illustrates our desired network layout.

To migrate our default gateway, we need to “unexted” our stretched network from our on-premise HCX environment.

Select “Connect cloud network to cloud edge gateway after unextending” this will create a gateway in our AVS environment and attach it to our T1 router.

Once the network is unstretched, you should see the network being advertised back to your on-premise environment through BGP via your express route connection.

Note: This process should take a few minutes to complete.

Note: This process should cause a network outage since you need to decommission the gateway from on-premises to eliminate multiple routes to the same network. It is also recommended that you stop advertising the on-prem decommissioned network to reduce the downtime that BGP reconvergence would take. Depending on your setup you might also need to edit your roue filters to allow the new advertised subnet from AVS after unextending.

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]]> https://cloudecon.com/2021/01/hcx-avs-gateway-cutover/feed/ 1 How to Access my vCenter and NSX Manager on AVS https://cloudecon.com/2020/10/how-to-access-my-vcenter-and-nsx-manager-on-avs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-access-my-vcenter-and-nsx-manager-on-avs https://cloudecon.com/2020/10/how-to-access-my-vcenter-and-nsx-manager-on-avs/#respond Fri, 23 Oct 2020 21:23:19 +0000 https://gvtechtalks.com/?p=1784 When you deploy a new instance of AVS (Azure VMware Solution), one of the first managerial tasks is to log in to vCenter and the NSX manager UI's.

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When you deploy a new instance of AVS (Azure VMware Solution), one of the first managerial tasks is to log in to vCenter and the NSX manager UI’s. If you are unfamiliar with working in an Azure environment and how vNet’s operate, this task could seem a bit trivial. This post aims to walk you through the process of accessing these management components through a Bastion host.

 

When your SDDC finishes deploying, one of the first things you want to do is collect your vCenter’s and NSX managers’ URLs and credentials. You can do this by navigating into AVS from your Azure subscription portal.azure.com

Your “Identity” tab contains the URL’s to manage your vSphere and NSX environments. The IP’s used are provisioned based on the IP range you specified when you deployed your SDDC. You want to make a note of these URLs and the credentials required for each.

 

Note: that our management stack’s IP range is private and not routable over the public internet.

I will be using a VM residing in Azure Native as my bastion host in my lab environment. For more information about Bastion in Azure, please see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/azure-bastion/#get-started

 

The diagram below shows how my bastion host can reach my AVS management stack through the vNET gateway we used when we created our VMware Private Cloud in Azure. For more information on how to create a Private Cloud in Azure please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-vmware/tutorial-configure-networking

Connecting via bastion is the recommended method, as opposed to RDP. With bastion, you don’t have to expose your jump box to the public internet, making it vulnerable to attacks.

Once you log into your Bastion instance, you can open a browser and navigate to your vCenter’s URL you collected from the “Identity” tab.

Enter the credentials collected.

You are now ready to start managing your vSphere environment!

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