Microsoft has substantial documentation on using Azure available in its documentation center.
For information on creating an Azure subscription or user account, selecting Azure resources for VMs you create on Azure, adding a storage account to your VMs, and more, see the Microsoft documentation at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation.
For example, for information on provisioning or managing Windows VMs, see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/services/virtual-machines/windows/.
For online videos about using Azure, see http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/get-started/.
Some relevant articles on Microsoft websites are listed below:
Third-party related links
Unlike virtual export for other platforms, virtual export for Azure is divided between two processes: exporting, and deploying.
Be advised that Microsoft Azure customers are responsible for their own fees. Some aspects of our integration with Azure are designed with this fee structure in mind. For example, Microsoft charges fees when you deploy a VM on Azure, and when data is transmitted from Azure to another source.
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NOTE: Since Microsoft can change prerequisites, requirements, costs, and so on, always verify such information with Azure. For more information, see the Azure website or contact an Azure representative. |
To avoid incurring unnecessary charges, virtual export to Azure consists of two separate processes.
The process of exporting extracts the necessary set of files from Rapid Recovery, validates them, and uploads them to the specified container in Azure. These files include:
Other than costs for the required storage, exporting by itself does not incur any Azure fees.
The deployment process combines these files into a bootable virtual machine. Deployment directly uses Azure cloud REST APIs. The original set of files placed on Azure during the export process is read-only in Azure, and consumes space but does not otherwise incur Azure charges. When you deploy these files, a duplicate copy of them is created, stored in a separate container you define, and combined into a working virtual machine. From an Azure account perspective, after you deploy, you are then charged fees for the VM on its servers. Since the deployed VM is a copy of the exported files, the deployment process also doubles the amount of storage space used in Azure for that virtual export.
For a one-time virtual export, there is no mechanism for deploying as a separate process. Thus, for the export to be useful, you should deploy to Azure when you create the virtual machine on demand. As a result, one-time exports to Azure have an immediate cost associated with the VM you deploy.
When establishing virtual standby for a protected machine on Azure, to avoid use of extra storage space and VM charges, you can simply define the export process. The result is an initial virtual export to Azure which is continually updated. Each time a snapshot is captured on the Core, the exported files are refreshed in your Azure account with updated information. Before the virtual export can be used as a bootable VM, you must deploy it, which triggers VM costs on Azure. If you do not need to convert the exported files for a protected machine to a bootable VM, no VM costs are incurred in your Azure account.
For information about performing a one-time export to Azure, including deployment, see the topic Performing a one-time Azure export.
For information about setting up continual export to Azure, excluding deployment, see the topic Setting up continual export to Azure.
For information about deploying the most recent exported files to create a bootable virtual standby VM in Azure, see the topic Deploying a virtual machine in Azure.
For prerequisites, see Before virtual export to Azure.
Before you can perform a one-time Azure export, you need the following:
As described in the topic Exporting and deploying VMs for Azure, virtual export to Azure consists of two processes: exporting and deploying.
The process of exporting extracts the necessary set of files from Rapid Recovery, validates them, and uploads them to the specified container in Azure. These files include:
The deployment process combines these files into a bootable virtual machine. Deployment uses direct Azure cloud REST APIs. The original set of files placed on Azure during the export process is read-only in Azure, and consumes space but does not invoke additional Azure charges. When you deploy these files, a duplicate copy of them is created, stored in a separate container you define, and combined into a working virtual machine. From an Azure account perspective, after you deploy you are then charged fees for the VM on its servers. The deployment process also doubles the amount of storage space used in Azure for that virtual export.
For a one-time virtual export, there is no mechanism for deploying as a separate process; thus, for the export to be useful, you should deploy when you create the virtual machine on demand.
When establishing virtual standby for a protected machine on Azure, to avoid use of extra storage space and VM charges, you can export, and continually update the recovery point automatically, without the need to deploy. You can then deploy in Azure only when and if you need to use the VM. For information about deploying a virtual standby in Azure to a functioning VM, see the topic Deploying a virtual machine in Azure.
Complete the steps in this procedure to perform a one-time export to Azure on demand, including deploying to a VM.
Options | Description | ||
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Cloud account name |
Entering this parameter is optional. Each time you successfully connect to a cloud account, Rapid Recovery Core caches your credentials so you can use them again. Do one of the following:
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Region |
Each Azure portal is associated with a geographic region. Choose the region your portal is accessed from. Options include:
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Application ID |
Provide the application ID or client ID associated with your Azure Active Directory (AD) web application.
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Secret key |
Each web application must have one or more secret keys that you can use to authenticate using Azure APIs. Provide the secret key (or authentication key) associated with your web application.
For information about creating a secret key, see Obtaining a secret key for your Azure web application. | ||
Tenant ID |
Provide the tenant ID, also known as the directory ID. For information about obtaining this ID, see Obtaining the directory ID for your Azure web application. | ||
Subscription ID |
This is the ID associated with your Azure subscription. For information about obtaining this ID, see Obtaining Azure subscription information. |
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NOTE: When you complete the one-time VM export, the necessary files are exported to an export folder within an export container in the specified storage account. These files are then copied into a deployment folder within a deployment container, and the VM is then deployed from this second location. |
Option | Description | ||
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Export container |
Do one of the following:
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Export folder name |
Do one of the following:
When the VM is deployed, a copy of the export folder becomes the deployment folder, containing the same name. | ||
Deployment container |
Do one of the following:
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Resource group |
Select an Azure resource group created using Azure Resource Manager.
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NOTE: If any custom field values do not pass validation, place your cursor over each highlighted text box to see the restrictions. Change the custom values to comply with those rules and then click Next. |
Option | Description | ||
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Virtual machine name |
Enter a name for the virtual machine.
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Virtual machine size |
From the drop-down menu, select an appropriate VM size.
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Virtual network |
Select a virtual network created in Azure. You can associate a container created in Azure with a virtual network, as described in the topic Creating an Azure storage account.
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NOTE: You can monitor the status and progress of the export by viewing the export queue on the Virtual Standby page, or on the Events page. |
For prerequisites, see Before virtual export to Azure.
Complete the steps in this procedure to perform a continual virtual export of the selected machine to a specified container in an Azure cloud account using Rapid Recovery. This process is also known as setting up virtual standby.
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NOTE: This process does not include deploying the exported files to create a bootable VM. For steps on deploying, see Deploying a virtual machine in Azure. |
The Virtual Machine Export Wizard appears.
Options | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|
Cloud account name |
Entering this parameter is optional. Each time you successfully connect to a cloud account, Rapid Recovery Core caches your credentials so you can use them again. Do one of the following:
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Region |
Each Azure portal is associated with a geographic region. Choose the region your portal is accessed from. Options include:
| ||
Application ID |
Provide the application ID or client ID associated with your Azure Active Directory (AD) web application.
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Secret key |
Each web application must have one or more secret keys that you can use to authenticate using Azure APIs. Provide the secret key (or authentication key) associated with your web application.
For information about creating a secret key, see Obtaining a secret key for your Azure web application. | ||
Tenant ID |
Provide the tenant ID, also known as the directory ID. For information about obtaining this ID, see Obtaining the directory ID for your Azure web application. | ||
Subscription ID |
This is the ID associated with your Azure subscription. For information about obtaining this ID, see Obtaining Azure subscription information. |
Option | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|
Export container |
Do one of the following:
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Export folder name |
Do one of the following:
When the VM is deployed, a copy of the export folder becomes the deployment folder, containing the same name. |
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NOTE: If any custom field values do not pass validation, place your cursor over each highlighted text box to see the restrictions. Change the custom values to comply with those rules, and then click Next. |
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NOTE: You can monitor the status and progress of the export by viewing the Virtual Standby or Events pages. |
The virtual standby parameters you define in this procedure cause the export of the files necessary to create a VM in your Azure account. After every snapshot (forced or scheduled), these files are updated in Azure with any new backup information. Before you can boot these files as a VM, you must deploy the VM on Azure. For steps on deploying, see Deploying a virtual machine in Azure.
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