Microsoft Azure goes on-premises, if you need local services
Some companies simply don’t want to put their data in the cloud for security reasons – or can’t for regulatory reasons. To that end, most major cloud players are offering their cloud services in a box. The latest is Microsoft that now offers a trial of its Azure Stack for local deployment.
Offering the same setup and interoperability with the cloud-based equivalent Azure, it will eventually create a seamless backup resource; you can soon keep that essential data behind your own firewall, while allowing other services and data to stay in the cloud. With the same set of dashboards and management tools, Azure will act as a cloud service both home and away.
The Azure Stack has been released as a technical preview, offering testing on a single server, for now. As it approaches launch later in the year, greater scalability will be enabled. It will also support Windows and Linux environments, and will come as a package users can install on their own hardware. Or, like many services, it can be acquired with the hardware via reference architecture bundles from the likes of Dell and HP.
If your business plans to go the hybrid route and use both local and cloud storage for services, keep checking Microsoft’s plans for synchronising data and workloads, which remains one of the toughest parts of a successful hybrid environment.
On a related Microsoft note, smaller businesses now have six months to grab the free upgrade to Windows 10, before upgrade fees are applicable. If you’re considering moving your business to Windows 10, get in touch and we can offer clear migration advice. We can also make sure your business systems and data are properly protected against the constant threats of the web. We offer email and spam filtering, business class firewalls, network security and management plus cloud backup and disaster recovery services.
For any business relying on data and applications, these are all an essential part of remaining safe and keeping the company operating; Microsoft Azure services stored locally also provide a new layer of flexibility for any company working with large amounts of data or processing.
