Site-to-Site Azure VPN with a Windows RRAS Server

Azure S2S VPN

This video shows how I created a VPN connection between my home lab and Azure Subscription.  I used a Routing and Remote Access role on a Windows Server 2019 as the local endpoint.  This provides the ability to setup a VPN connection without special firewall hardware.  This is useful for home labs and small offices that need connectivity to an Azure subscription.  It also is helpful to walk through the setup to prepare for Azure certifications such as the AZ-103.

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Troubleshooting and reporting VM performance data in Azure with PerfInsights

In this video, I walk through Azure Perfinsights, a performance reporting and troubleshooting tool for Windows and Linux Virtual Machines.

Active Directory Domain Service, Azure Active Directory and Azure Active Directory Domain Service Explained

Active Directory Domain Service, Azure Active Directory and Azure Active Directory Domain Service

Microsoft has a couple of options available for identity and authentication services including Active Directory Domain Services, Azure Active Directory, and Azure Active Directory Domain Services.  This can lead to confusion, especially considering three of the options have “Active Directory” in the name.  It also leads to the question “do we still need domain controllers?”  This post reviews these three different options, outlining the functionality and comparing how they work together in Microsoft and Azure.

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Reserved Instances in Azure

Azure Reserved Instance

Reserved Instances offer significant savings for IaaS Servers, SQL Databases, Cosmos DB and other Azure and third party services.  I have mentioned Reserved Instance in a couple other videos and posts. One on Saving money in Azure and once on Azure Cost Management.  LINKS. This article and the accompanying video go into details on how Azure Reserved Instances worth.

Video version, including a demo can be found below.

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Azure 101 – Azure Storage Accounts

In this video I go over Azure Storage Accounts.  What they are and how to deploy and access one.  I start by reviewing the characteristics such as access tiers and different blob types.  I then walk through setting one up, create a SAS token for access and use storage explore to upload a blob file.

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Azure 101 – Resource Groups and Naming Conventions

This video goes over the concept of Azure Resource Groups, what they are and how to use them.  This video also goes over recommendations and best practices for naming resources in Azure.

Azure 101 – Azure Locations, Regions and High Availability

This is the first video in a 101, Introductory to Microsoft Azure series. The video starts by reviewing the current Azure geographies and regions, and works through tutorial of different options of leveraging Azure Regions for high availability. Topics include Azure Regions, Availability Sets, Availability Zones and Paired regions.