At their annual Ignite conference, Microsoft announced Azure Local—a new infrastructure option powered by Azure Arc. Designed to help customers unify their hybrid, multi-cloud, and edge infrastructure, Azure Local enables the deployment of cloud-connected infrastructure at physical locations under the customer’s operational control.

In this article, we’ll explore the current state of the new infrastructure option, along with its key features, noteworthy benefits, and the products and services that are now contained within Azure Local.

Azure Local: What’s Inside?

Azure Local is poised to enable customers to operate and scale distributed infrastructure using the Azure portal and APIs. This includes running foundational Azure compute, networking, storage, and application services locally. Customers can choose hardware from their preferred vendors, providing flexibility to meet their requirements and budget.

Key features include:

• Unified Management: Azure Local allows customers to manage physical machines as if they were cloud resources, performing lifecycle operations such as deployment, configuration, updates, and monitoring through the Azure portal and APIs.
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC): Customers can define and deploy infrastructure from the cloud using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, ensuring consistent configuration at scale.
• Security: Azure Local extends cloud security practices to distributed locations, safeguarding applications and data against advanced threats. Integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud also provides unified security tooling.
• Flexible Hardware Options: Azure Local supports more than 100 validated hardware platforms, including options for low-spec, low-cost edge use cases.
• Disconnected Operations: For prequalified customers, Azure Local offers disconnected operations, allowing them to host the backend Azure portal and services in their environment without any connection to an Azure region.

Products Moved Under Azure Local

• Azure Stack HCI: Azure Stack HCI is now part of Azure Local, continuing to offer the same features and functionality under the new name.
• Azure Stack Hub and Azure Stack Edge: These products remain available as standalone offerings but are recommended to be replaced by Azure Local once lower-spec hardware and disconnected operations are generally available.
• Hyper-V: Hyper-V is also part of Azure Local, providing enhanced virtualization and management capabilities under the new infrastructure option (note: Windows Server Hyper-V should be utilized when reusing existing hardware or supporting external hardware).

Benefits of Azure Local

Now, let’s dive into the most noteworthy benefits of Azure Local, highlighting how it revolutionizes infrastructure management and deployment:

• Management: With Azure Local, customers can manage their infrastructure as if it were a native Azure resource. These show up in the Azure portal and have APIs that can be used for deployment and updates, along with monitoring. This helps to eliminate complicated on-premises tools and infrastructure for management.
• Deployment: Azure Arc is front and center with Azure Local. When the machines are connected in the on-premises environment with Azure Arc, teams can deploy the nodes with a connected state, zero touch deployment, or in a disconnected state. Clusters can be configured in terms of storage and networking, and applications can be deployed and scaled easily – even using Azure Resource Manager templates.
• Updates: Azure Update manager can update not only Windows, but also firmware packages and drivers. With multi-node clusters, updates are not disruptive due to their ability to be completed in a rolling fashion.
• Monitoring: Azure Local integrates with Azure Monitor for comprehensive observability, providing over 50 metrics, customizable dashboards, and alert rules. Users can track utilization and set up automated actions for hardware failures to ensure proactive management.
• Application Support: Microsoft has designed Azure Local for both traditional workloads (virtual machines), and modern workloads (running on Kubernetes).
  • VM Support: Companies have many options with VM high availability and scalability, as well as integration with Azure Arc for benefits like Microsoft Defender for Servers and the use of Azure Monitor.
  • Kubernetes Support: Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) can be run on Azure Local, providing the benefits of a modern, containerized infrastructure built for support of GitOps operations and Microsoft Defender for containers.

Azure Services that Run on Azure Local

There are several services that can run on top of the new Azure Local configuration. These include:

• Azure Virtual Desktop: Desktops and apps can be located closer to users for significantly lower-latency experiences
• Azure SQL Managed Instance: Run Azure SQL managed instances on Azure Local
• Azure IoT Operations: Run IoT workloads in distributed configurations
• Azure AI Capabilities (Preview): Enable on-premises AI search with advanced language models for private data that uses AI and doesn’t depend on cloud connections

Other Features Previewed at Ignite 2024

In the unveiling of Azure Local at Ignite 2024, Microsoft also provided a sneak peek at some of the additional features that we can expect to enter the fold in the near- to mid-term:

• Migration from VMware: As more and more enterprises move away from VMware/Broadcom, Microsoft is poised to provide a timely alternative via Azure Local (expected for General Availability during Q1 2025).
• Disconnected Operations: Azure Local has what Microsoft is calling ‘disconnected operations,’ which enables the management of the entire stack, locally. With this option, customers will have the same API to interact with – without needing to connect the stack to Azure.
• Network Security Groups: Network security groups can be used for traffic filtering, allowing for more granular control of network traffic. This will help Azure Local customers improve security in their environments.
• Trusted Launch: The Trusted Launch feature protects against rootkits, boot kits, and other malware. It uses technologies like Secure Boot and vTPM, as well as encryption technology, such as BitLocker.

Final Thoughts

As Azure Local rolls out, we can certainly expect that more details are on the way. As it stands, Azure Local represents a significant advancement in cloud-connected infrastructure, providing customers with the tools and flexibility to manage their distributed environments effectively. With its robust features and integration with Azure Arc, Azure Local is poised to meet the evolving demands of various industries – from retail and manufacturing to regulated sectors like finance and government.

To learn more about what to expect from Azure Local and how your business can leverage its new and upcoming features, get in touch with AHEAD today.