Introduction to Azure Arc
Azure Arc is a service from Microsoft that extends Azure management and services to any infrastructure on any cloud or on-premises. It allows you to manage servers, Kubernetes clusters, and data services from a single pane of glass, bringing the benefits of Azure to your existing environments. This unified approach simplifies operations, enhances security, and enables consistent governance across your entire IT landscape.
What is Azure Arc?
Azure Arc is a bridge that connects your on-premises, multicloud, and edge environments to Azure. It enables you to deploy Azure services like Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and Azure data services to your preferred infrastructure, regardless of its location. This hybrid cloud management solution is designed to provide a consistent experience for managing resources across diverse environments.
Key Scenarios and Benefits
Unified Resource Management
Manage servers, Kubernetes, and data services running outside of Azure as if they were Azure resources, from the Azure portal.
Consistent Security & Governance
Apply Azure policies, role-based access control (RBAC), and security best practices to your hybrid resources.
Hybrid Cloud Modernization
Modernize your applications and infrastructure by leveraging Azure services on your existing hardware.
Edge Computing Capabilities
Deploy and manage applications and services at the edge with the agility and scalability of Azure.
Azure Arc Enabled Services
Azure Arc supports a growing set of services, including:
- Azure Arc enabled servers: Manage Windows and Linux machines hosted outside of Azure on your corporate network or other cloud providers.
- Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes: Connect Kubernetes clusters residing anywhere to Azure Resource Manager to enable GitOps-based configuration management.
- Azure Arc enabled data services: Run Azure data services, like Azure SQL Managed Instance and PostgreSQL, on any Kubernetes cluster, on-premises or in the cloud.
- Azure Arc enabled application services: Extend Azure App Service and Azure Functions to your edge locations.
Getting Started with Azure Arc
To start using Azure Arc, you'll typically need to onboard your resources. This involves installing an Azure Arc agent on your servers or connecting your Kubernetes clusters to Azure.
Onboarding a Server:
The process involves installing the Azure Connected Machine agent. You can generate a unique onboarding script from the Azure portal.
az login
az connectedk8s connect --name <cluster-name> --resource-group <resource-group-name>Connecting a Kubernetes Cluster:
Use the az connectedk8s CLI command to register your Kubernetes cluster with Azure Arc.
az login
az connectedk8s connect --name <cluster-name> --resource-group <resource-group-name>For detailed instructions and advanced configurations, please refer to the official Azure Arc documentation.