Tag Archives: Azure

Allgemein, Azure, Azure Bastion, Azure Network, Azure VM, Cloud, Microsoft, Remotedesktop

Azure Bastion supports SCALABILITY for SSH/RDP Connections with the new Standard SKU

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Update 1 on 01/12/2021 :

Microsoft has changed the #AzureBastion minimum subnet size from /27 to /26. Installed #Azure Bastion are unaffected, but new deployments require the new subnet size. Please remember this. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-faq#subnet

Azure Bastion is a fully managed PaaS service to secure access Azure VMs via SSH/RDP without the need for Internet connectivity on the selected VMs. Azure Bastion was released as part of the Microsoft Ignite 2019. As part of the ongoing Microsoft Inspire 2021, Microsoft has launched a new SKU for Azure Bastion called Standard.

Difference between Basic and Standard SKU

When you create an Azure Bastion instance Microsoft creates in the backend an optimized Azure VM that runs all the processes they are needed for Azure Bastion. This Azure VM is called a Instance and had some limitations. In general when you deploy the Azure Bastion Basic SKU Microsoft deploys two instances which supports 20-24 concurrent sessions which means each instance support 10-12 sessions.

The Standard SKU allows you to specify the number of instances called as host scalling.

Please note that when using an Azure Bastion Standard SKU, the AzureBastionSubnet size should be increased to a subnet size of approximately /26 or larger.

Azure BastionBasicStandard
Instances2 Defaultup to 50
Max. supported concurrent sessions20-24up to 500
Supported configurationAzure Portal, Powershell, CLIOnly Azure Portal

Deploy an Azure Bastion Standard SKU

Only the Azure Portal allows to deploy an Azure Bastion Standard SKU with the host scalling feature, because the feature is in public preview.

Continue reading Azure Bastion supports SCALABILITY for SSH/RDP Connections with the new Standard SKU →
Allgemein, Azure, Cloud, Community, Microsoft, MVP

Microsoft MVP for Azure 2021-2022

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The first of July starts with the new fiscal year for Microsoft and with some important informations for many people around the globe. This date marks the Renewal date for awarded Microsoft MVPs.

I am very honored and grateful to be recognized as an MVP in the Microsoft Azure category for the third year in a row. This makes me happy about many different reasons:

Continue reading Microsoft MVP for Azure 2021-2022 →
Allgemein, Azure, Azure Arc, Cloud, Community, Events, Microsoft, Windows Server, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019

Connect physical/virtual servers to Azure Arc for centralized Azure management

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The Cloud usage grows in the last years rapidly, but in many customer environments we had servers and applications they can´t migrate to the cloud about different reasons. There are many reasons why applications can not migrated to the cloud e.g. data regulations, connections and latency challenges and more. On the other hand customers whish to use different cloud providers. In summary the hybrid cloud is one of the most use cases in many customer environments. Microsoft released Azure Arc as a solution for hybrid cloud environments. Azure Arc was announced as public preview at Ignite 2019 and going GA on Ignite 2020.

In this article I will cover how connect Windows VMs to Azure Arc.

Azure Arc in General

Azure Arc capabilities – Image from Microsoft Docs

Azure Arc is a solution to extend the Azure management capabilitites to services outside of Azure. This gives the possibilites to manage different services, in different environments from one central place with same capabilities across different services layers.

Microsoft release the first version for Server management and has since expanded the range of functions over Dataservices, Kubernetes and new since some days Azure applications.

Continue reading Connect physical/virtual servers to Azure Arc for centralized Azure management →
Allgemein, Azure, Azure Backup, Azure File Sync, Azure Files, Cloud, Community, Events, Microsoft, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022

Speaking at Cloud Eight Conference about 7 Best Practices for Azure File Sync

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Update 1 on 22/06/2021

The recording of the session is now available on Youtube. I have added the link at the end of the article.

I am glad to announce that I was invited as a speaker to the Cloudeight conference. This is the 3rd edition of this conference and the conference is grown to a really big conference with a lots of great speakers and sessions. The conference itself was founded by Drago Petrovic as a free community driven conference.

I am very exited to deliver a session on 7 tips you need to know to use Azure File Sync perfectly. Azure File Sync is a perfect service to sync file servers across enterprise boundaries through a central Azure Fileshare. In this session, I will share the best practices to use Azure File Sync perfectly based on my real-world experience. I will cover the following topics:

Continue reading Speaking at Cloud Eight Conference about 7 Best Practices for Azure File Sync →
Allgemein, Azure, Certifications, Cloud, Microsoft

Microsoft Certified Trainer MCT for 2021-2022

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Today I received really great news from Microsoft, I got the confirmation that I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer for 2021-2022. It is a really great honor to be part of this great community and share knowledge about the different learning and exams about the Microsoft world. This is the first time, that I received this great award.

Microsoft descripe the MCT programm with the following words:

Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) are the premier technical and instructional experts in Microsoft technologies. Join this exclusive group of worldwide Microsoft technical training professionals and reap the benefits of MCT training certification and membership.

Continue reading Microsoft Certified Trainer MCT for 2021-2022 →
Allgemein, Azure, Cloud, Community, Events, Meetup, Microsoft

Global Azure NEWS Germany Meetup Konferenz für Global Azure

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Global Azure ist ein jährliches, von der Community getragenes Event, das von Microsoft initiiert wird. Zwischen dem 15.04. und 17.04. gibt es viele Global Azure Events rund um den Globus. Auch wir sind in diesem Jahr Teil dieses Community-Events und haben das Global Azure NEWS Germany gegründet. Ein Zusammenschluss von Azure Meetup Community basierend auf den 4 Himmelsrichtungen (Nord, Ost, West und Süd).

Am 16.4. werden wir im Rahmen von Global Azure ein 4-stündiges Azure Meetup veranstalten, und das Beste daran: Ihr bestimmt die Agenda!

Jedes Meetup stellte über seinen Twitter-Kanal 3 Sessions zur Auswahl und von jedem Meetup wurde die Session mit den meisten Zustimmungen ausgewählt und in unsere Agenda aufgenommen.

Sichert euch diesen Termin in Ihrem Kalender und wählt eure Session!

Die Agenda ist fertig und folgende Sessions wurden durch euch ausgewählt:

Die Session werden auf Deutsch stattfinden und nicht aufgezeichnet!

Continue reading Global Azure NEWS Germany Meetup Konferenz für Global Azure →
Allgemein, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Cloud, Microsoft

AZURE AD Connect Release 1.6.4.0 is available and moves synchronization to new Azure AD V2 endpoint and fixed a Bug in 1.6.2.4

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Update 1 – 31/032021

Microsoft released the new v. 1.6.4.0 this fixed a bug in the previous release 1.6.2.4, because after upgrade to that release, the Azure AD Connect Health feature was not registered correctly and did not work. When you installed 1.6.2.4 please do a upgrade to the new 1.6.4.0 release.

Microsoft has released a new Version of Azure AD Connect. The new release going a big step forward from 1.5.4.5 to 1.6.2.4 and brings a lots of improvements and changes.

Please note:

This release changes the sync process to the new Azure AD V2 endpoint and is not supported for the German national cloud, the Chinese national cloud and the US government cloud. Please be aware of this notes and only use this version in Global Cloud Tenants or switch back to V1 endpoint, when you install this version in National Cloud environments.

I install the new relase on the weekend for a customer, because of changing the Azure AD Connect server. The new relase allows to import settings from a previous version. The new relase brings a lot of new features:

  • This release defaults the AADConnect server to the new V2 end point
  • This release require a full sync after installation
  • This version changes the synchronization to the new Azure AD V2 endpoint
  • This release is only supported for Global Cloud user – if you using National cloud environments, please take a look at the MS Docs article for futher details
Continue reading AZURE AD Connect Release 1.6.4.0 is available and moves synchronization to new Azure AD V2 endpoint and fixed a Bug in 1.6.2.4 →
Allgemein, Azure, Azure Arc, Azure Automanage, Azure Files, Azure Migrate, Azure Network, Cloud, Events, Microsoft, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server 2022

My Microsoft Ignite 2021 Spring Highlights

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The corona situation brings new opportunities and one of them is that Microsoft Ignite going to a virtual conference twice a year. It used to be an in-person event only once a year. Last week the Microsoft Ignite 2021 spring conference started and in this article I will cover most of the highlights from my perspective. I would really appreciate your feedback on how valuable the article is.

Windows Server 2022 in preview

With Windows Server 2022 there coming the next Major release for as Windows Server OS. This release coming as the next LTSC release with lots of new features, such as new hybrid and security capabilities. Take a look at the MS Ignite Session about latest Azure innovation for SQL and Windows Servers

Passwordless Azure AD authentication is GA

To prevent phishing attacks Microsoft is part of the FIDO2 alliance. Azure AD supports long time ago the login with FIDO2 keys, but the service are in public preview. With this Ignite Microsoft move the service from Public Preview state into GA state and add some new capabilities, like the Temporary access pass. To unterstand how FIDO2 and TAP works, take a look at the short video. Passwordless authentication with FIDO2 keys, brings Identity Security to a new level. This prevents custom user passwords, enable higher security and preventing phishing attacks.

To enable passwordless login for the own Azure AD Tenant take a look at my blog article “Setup passwordless login for Azure & Microsoft 365 mit Yubico and FIDO2 (german)“.

http://aka.ms/passwordlesswizard

Continue reading My Microsoft Ignite 2021 Spring Highlights →
Allgemein, Azure, Azure Arc, Azure Governance, Azure Security, Cloud, Community, Events, Microsoft

Speaking at Scottish Summit 2021 about Azure Policy and Azure Security Center

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I am pleased to have received an invitation to speak at the upcoming Scottish Summit 2021. The Scottish Summit was estabhlished in 2020. This year the conference is becoming an online-only conference and will be streamed on all social media channels. The conference itself is growing into a really big conference with many parallel tracks with different language. The main conference starts on Saturday 27/02/21 and there will be many sessions on Microsoft Cloud services (like Azure, M365 and so on).

Azure Governance is an important topic for any customer using cloud resources. In my session, I will show the power of Azure Policy and Azure Security Center to define guardrails for your Azure environment and bring it into a compliant and secure state. I will go live with my session at Saturday 27/02/21 starting 1PM. If you are interested in how Azure Policy and Azure Security Center work together and how these services are handled, please feel free to join my session and ask questions.

There are quite a few Microsoft Cloud sessions planned for the Conference. Go to the website, plan your agenda and grab your ticket. There’s also an App available for iOS and Android. I hope to see you there.

Active Directory, Allgemein, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Azure Files, Azure Network, Cloud, Community, Events, Microsoft, Remotedesktop, Windows Virtual Desktop

Speaking at WVD Tech Fest 2021 about Azure Files

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Due do the covid pandamy, many organizations in Germany are in a challenging phase as many employees need to be given the opportunity to work from home. Many companies have not yet made this option available to their employees, or only to a few. Microsoft has created a new option with Windows Virtual Desktop to give employees the ability to work from anywhere and the clients are always hosted in Azure and accessible via an app or browser.

I am very happy to have received an invitation to the WVD Tech Fest. The first conference only focusing on WVD with three parallel tracks around everything you need to know about Windows Virtual Desktop. The agenda is pretty complete and the organizers Simon Binder and Patrick Köhler are doing a great job. The conference will take place on 25/02/21 and is free. So take a look at the Website, plan your Agenda and grab your Ticket.

Azure Files is one of my favorite topics and due to many WVD projects in the past, I will address the question is Azure Files the optimal WVD profile store solution. And I can say: it depends – but you will learn more in my session on Thursday between 10:50 – 11:20 AM 🙂

Take this oppurtunity to learn more about Windows Virtual Desktop and hopefully this can be a solution for your organization to enable more people to work from anywhere and get everyone safely through these challenging time. I hope to see many of you there 🙂