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Well into the 21st century, for a platform such as Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure, is still very relevant the ability to provide Infrastructure as a Service in an optimal manner. Whether it is about provision VMs or containers, application still need a basic infrastructure support to run upon.
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure’s architecture allows users to provision VMs in a modern, predictable manner.
Azure Arc resource bridge (in preview) is a VM that runs on your APEX Cloud Platform and hosts a management Kubernetes cluster. It supports VM self-service provisioning and management onto on-premises Azure Stack HCI-based platforms through the Azure portal and programmatically using ARM templates and Bicep files.
Resource bridge enables you to deploy Windows and Linux VMs from the extensive Azure Marketplace. There are many VM images supported in the marketplace with a wide variety of applications pre-installed and ready to go. One such application might be SQL Server.
These VMs that are provisioned in this manner get onboarded to Azure Arc through the installation of the Connected Machine Agent. If you have provisioning SQL Server VMs from the marketplace, they will receive those extra benefits available to SQL Servers.
For those VMs that are still running on existing infrastructure, Azure Migrate has a functionality (in preview) to allow migrating VMs from aging Hyper-V environments to Azure Stack HCI. The process is very agile, as no VM data is transferred to Azure, only VM metadata, and there is no need for guest agent for the operation to complete. The migration process involves downtime, and you have the ability to test your migrations before proceeding.
The architectural diagram is shown in the following figure:
Figure 54. VM self-service provisioning in Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
Of particular benefit result deploying and operating SQL server databases and SQL managed instances, and for many customers, databases constitute one of the most valuable applications in their business portfolio. Today, when many customers implement a hybrid approach to their cloud operating model, they must also consider a similar hybrid approach for their database deployments. Data can reside on-premises or in the cloud depending on specific dataset needs. This rich feature usually represents an important obstacle for IT administrators, now obliged to operate and maintain a complex and advanced architecture that can surpass their capabilities.
The challenges found in these hybrid environments are of a varied nature. They include keeping a consistent control version on database engines and their associated security updates or operating a diverse database toolkit between on-premises and cloud instances. If we add infrastructure inflexibility and variable infrastructure configuration needs to cope with database performance requirements, a heavy burden for many IT admins is the result.
In this already complex scenario, business demands can make it even harder. IT might be required to deploy the latest version of a database engine to get the most from its new features and performance, but simultaneously keep running legacy databases as they are key in the company’s strategy.
A smart way to respond to these challenges might be to adapt a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform. A DBaaS platform enables creating modern, cloud-native applications, minimizing the operational burden described previously, and optimizing cross-functional productivity for DBAs, IT admins, and software developers. Microsoft and Dell Technologies have created a modular, integrated solution that:
Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure provides a consistent platform to implement a DBaaS architecture. By providing the same Azure experience to data centers and edge locations, simplifying operations, and alleviating the cost of application development, Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure enables operations automation, life cycle management for the full system stack, as well as flexible consumption models with enterprise-level support and services.
Hybrid DBaaS with Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure helps IT and database admins, and software developers by providing:
The backend infrastructure supporting Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure is designed to provide node-based linear scalability, and the transactional and throughput performance required by DBaaS deployments.