06Oct2017
05Oct2017
Tutorial: How to setup and configure Microsoft Azure Backup Server, part 1: installation
Microsoft Azure Backup comes in two basic flavors: Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent (MARS) Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS) Both are free downloads from Microsoft, and both allow you to configure backup from on-premises servers to the Microsoft Azure cloud. Whereas the MARS agent is installed directly on the server you...
28Sep2017
How to perform an Unplanned Failover from Azure Site Recovery
In a previous series, I wrote about Azure Site Recovery, and the new integration tools available in Windows Server 2016, through the Essentials role (enabling some pretty cool new offerings, potentially, for service providers and consultants). ASR for Windows Server Essentials makes setting up Disaster Recovery into the Microsoft Azure...
22Sep2017
Tutorial: How to Setup a Site-to-Site VPN between an Azure Virtual Network and WatchGuard Firewall, part 2
In this article, we will cover how to configure a WatchGuard firewall for site-to-site VPN with an Azure Virtual Network. Prior to this, you will have already built your Azure Virtual Network and related objects, to enable the connection. See the previous article for details on how to do that. Note:...
21Sep2017
Tutorial: How to Setup a Site-to-Site VPN between an Azure Virtual Network and WatchGuard Firewall, part 1
Using a Site-to-Site VPN tunnel into an Azure Virtual Network is the most common way for small businesses to begin extending the capabilities of their local network, and leveraging additional compute power and availability features in the cloud. There are many reasons one might need to add new virtual machines to...
14Sep2017
How to Setup and Configure Azure Backup for File, Folder and System State Protection
Until very recently, the Azure Backup agent only supported file and folder backup from an on-premises server to the cloud. We now have support for System State protection added to this list, so we will cover how to configure that today. Azure Backup also offers other ways to protect your...
08Sep2017
Tutorial: How-to Setup Azure Site Recovery using Windows Server Essentials, Part 3: Failover
In part 1 of this series, we covered the pre-requisites for Azure Site Recovery using the Windows Server Essentials integration features. In part 2, we configured the Azure Virtual Network using the Essentials Dashboard plugin, and replicated our VM's. Now in this final part of the series, we are going...
07Sep2017
Tutorial: How-to Setup Azure Site Recovery using Windows Server Essentials, Part 2: Configuration
Windows Server Essentials (or the Essentials Experience role) can be leveraged to quickly provision a full Disaster Recovery site in the cloud, and replicate Virtual Machines from your on-premises Hyper-V server(s) to Azure. The built-in integrations that make this possible are Azure Virtual Network and Azure Site Recovery. Image credit: Alex...
05Sep2017
Tutorial: How-to Setup Azure Site Recovery using Windows Server Essentials, Part 1: Pre-requisites
Windows Server Essentials (or the Essentials Experience role) can be leveraged to quickly provision and enable a full Disaster Recovery site in the cloud using built-in Azure integration features. The solution is composed of two Azure products: Azure Virtual Network and Azure Site Recovery. I have previously written about our struggles...
31Aug2017