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Flo Fox

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Florian Fox is currently working as a Sr. Engineer FastTrack for Azure within the Azure Engineering at Microsoft Corp. He is a well-known expert when it comes to hybrid cloud scenarios, cloud connectivity, and cloud environment optimization. Before he started at Microsoft, he worked at several companies in different roles, such as technical community manager, solution expert and solutions architect. He is also a former Microsoft MVP for Cloud and Datacenter Management.

Flo also has his own YouTube Channel - The Hybrid Friends - which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6nSJh2DNpMVZVhCEWtGNgw

LATEST

Azure Hero Server

How to Virtualize iSCSI Target Servers on Azure Stack HCI

Last Update: Oct 09, 2024

Today I would like to dig a bit deeper into guest virtual machine (VM) storage virtualization on Azure Stack HCI. My case and scenario today will be around virtual iSCSI servers as a target for other workloads like SQL Server. My cluster consists of three Azure Stack HCI 23H2 nodes cabled in a switched configuration….

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Datacenter networking servers

Not Able to Connect to Microsoft Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI Endpoints

Last Update: Sep 20, 2024

Since mid-June 2024, some Microsoft customers have been reporting Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI connectivity issues from on-premises devices to the cloud service endpoints. Devices were not able to connect to Microsoft Azure services like Azure Arc Resource Bridge and Azure VMware Solution. The issues have mostly been reported by customers with restrictive firewall…

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Datacenter networking servers

How to Build Guest Clusters on Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI)

With Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) solutions becoming more common, many customers are now concerned with building clusters on top of those environments. In this article, I’ll explain how to build a guest HCI cluster and why traditional approaches don’t work. In the past, customers built redundancy and resilience based on virtualization and Storage Area Networks…

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Datacenter networking servers

What’s New in Azure Stack HCI 23H2

In this article, I will give you an overview of Azure Stack HCI 23H2, which is currently in preview. With the release of 23H2, Microsoft is adding a lot of customer-requested features and enhancements. So, let’s dive in!   When will Azure Stack HCI 23H2 be released (general availability)? The most pressing question I get…

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Datacenter networking servers

Do I Need Antivirus on Azure Stack HCI?

As Azure Stack HCI becomes more common in datacenters and at the network edge, I would like to highlight some frequently asked questions I have encountered during the last few months about software and Azure Stack HCI antivirus. Does Microsoft support third-party software on Azure Stack HCI? In general, you can say “Microsoft does not…

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Datacenter networking

Expert Guide to Azure Stack HCI Network Requirements: Hardware Essentials – FAQ Part 1

Last Update: Jan 08, 2024

As Azure Stack HCI becomes more widely deployed in datacenters and at the edge, I would like to highlight some frequently asked questions I have encountered during the last few months on Azure Stack HCI network requirements. Azure Stack HCI Network Requirements This series will focus on frequently asked questions about Azure Stack HCI and…

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Cloud Computing and Security

Azure Stack HCI Deployment: Choosing Between Large Clusters vs. Smaller Specialized Clusters

Last Update: Oct 07, 2024

When planning for an Azure Stack HCI environment, many organizations may struggle to decide if they should go for a large Azure Stack HCI cluster or plan for smaller, use-case-specific clusters. Today, I would like to detail the ups and downs of both solutions. To do that, I’ll be discussing the required initial investments, maintenance…

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Cloud Computing and Security

Three Ways to Load Balance Applications Running on Azure Stack HCI

When you virtualize an Azure Stack HCI cluster, you may want to load balance applications running on it to optimize server utilization. While there are various built-in options to do that, they may be quite limited depending on your usage scenarios. In this article, I’ll discuss the various options you have to implement Azure Stack…

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Network Security

Why You Need a Domain Controller Outside of Your Azure Stack HCI Cluster

Failover clustering in Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI can help to reduce disruptions in service within an organization. In this article, I’m going to explain why you need to have a Windows Server Active Directory domain controller outside of your Azure Stack HCI cluster. I will also detail how to deploy this domain controller…

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Network Security

Using Affinity and Anti-Affinity Rules in Azure Stack HCI and Windows Server Hyper-V

Last Update: Apr 20, 2023

In this article, I will explain what are affinity and anti-affinity rules and how to use them with Azure Stack HCI and Windows Server Hyper-V. If you’ve been using other hypervisors, you may already be familiar with affinity and anti-affinity rules, which are used to define the relationship between virtual machines and hosts. What are…

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Cloud Computing

What Are the Network Requirement Changes in Azure Stack HCI Version 22H2?

Last Update: Nov 08, 2023

It’s been more than a month since Azure Stack HCI version 22H2 became generally available. With this latest update for Microsoft’s hyper-converged infrastructure cluster solution, there are some significant changes in storage network capacity and network equipment requirements. In this article, I would like to give you a quick overview of the changes IT pros…

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Cloud Computing

What Are Azure ArcBox and Azure Stack HCI Jumpstart?

During its latest Ignite 2022 conference for IT pros in October, Microsoft announced the public preview for Azure Jumpstart HCIBox, as well as Azure Jumpstart ArcBox for DataOps. In this article, I’ll be explaining what these new products are for, and I’ll also guide you to the required resources to get you started with them….

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