Introduction to Azure VMware Solution
Azure VMware Solution (AVS) is a first-party Microsoft Azure service developed in conjunction with VMware that provides a familiar vSphere-based, single-tenant private cloud on Azure that is like the one used by VMware. The VMware technology stack consists of the following components: vSphere, NSX-T, vSAN, and HCX. AVS is installed on a dedicated infrastructure in Azure data centers and runs natively on that infrastructure. In comparison to existing on-premises VMware infrastructures, AVS provides a consistent and well-known user experience. Customers may deploy an AVS environment in a matter of hours and migrate Virtual Machine (VM) resources in a matter of minutes. Microsoft supplies all the networking, storage, management, and support services that are required.
The following diagram depicts connectivity between your private cloud (on-premises infrastructure) and Microsoft Azure via an ExpressRoute running your AVS private cloud, as well as other Azure-native services:
Figure 1.1 – Connectivity relationship between your private clouds and AVS VNets
In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:
- Network connectivity to AVS
- AVS high-level architecture
- Use cases for AVS in the enterprise
- Enterprise-scale for AVS
- Network and connectivity topologies
- Identity and access management
- Business continuity and disaster recovery
- Security, governance, and compliance
- Management and monitoring