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Azure Local – Best places to gain information

Intro

I use a lot of different places when I need to search new information regarding Azure Local. I have created a list of all the common sites I turn to, when in need of information.
I have tried to divide it into the following categories:

  • Design
  • Deployment
  • Lab
  • Troubleshooting

Design

Licensing

A very important part of designing Azure Local is licensing. We can choose to PAYG model or hybrid benefit with purchased licenses with active software assurance.
Very helpful articles directly for this is:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-local/
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/concepts/azure-hybrid-benefit

Microsoft Learn

It is really important for me to keep up with the official design and I can always find information about it at Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/concepts/system-requirements-23h2

Azure Local Solutions

Choosing the the right certified hardware can be challenging. But it is crucial to select certified hardware, otherwise deployment of Azure Local cannot in some cases not proceed and we end up with some hardware that cannot be used. These links directs us to great sites for this knowledge.

https://azurelocalsolutions.azure.microsoft.com/#/catalog

I use this site when I need to look up different hardware components. But after finding for instance a network adapter card that appears certified, I would still need to look up the network adapter card on the vendors webpage and see if it have all the right qualifications. (E.g. RDMA support for network adapter cards used for storage).
https://www.windowsservercatalog.com/hardware

Deployment

Microsoft Learn

It is really important for me to keep up with the official deployment guides and I can always find information about it at Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/deploy/deployment-introduction

Lab

Azure Jumpstart Localbox

Sometimes I want to test out new deployments of Azure Local or some new features within Azure Local. In these cases I could either get a bunch of hardware or use the great deployment tool Azure Jumpstart Localbox. This package deploys all the necessary VM’s in Azure, create Azure Local stack and make it ready for playtime. It costs money in Azure to have running, but if I only need to test out 1-2 days, it it far cheeper than buying all the needed hardware.

https://jumpstart.azure.com/azure_jumpstart_localbox

Troubleshooting

Microsoft Learn

I often turn to the official Microsoft documentation at Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/manage/troubleshoot-deployment
Here I find great information about how to deploy and configure Azure Local as well as troubleshooting guides. Getting to know the full extend of a deployment, helps me better understand when something breaks.

GitHub – MicrosoftDocs – azure-stack-docs

I have used the Microsoft Azure Local team’s GitHub repository to gain much needed information, specially about known issues. This GitHub repository is actually the base for the Microsoft Learn area in the above section, but I like to navigate in the GitHub repo: https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/azure-stack-docs/blob/main/azure-local/known-issues.md

GitHub – Azure – AzureLocal-Supportability

This GitHub repo is linked to from Microsoft Learn in the troubleshooting section. But knowning that it exists is important in my opinion. Here we can find a lot of information about troubleshooting Azure Local: https://github.com/Azure/AzureLocal-Supportability

Microsoft Tech Community – Azure Arc

Azure Stack had its own area in Microsoft Tech Community, but after the rebranding to Azure Local and all the new features added doing this renaming, Azure Local moved into the Azure Arc Area. I use Tech Community to post problems and solutions, to get news from Azure Local Team and search information from others in the community that also shares their knowledge: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/azure/discussions/azurearc

Microsoft Learn Q&A

I mostly use this then forwarded from search engine searches, but I do sometimes find great answers to questions about Azure Local here. I have also searched and found a couple of articles where I could not find answer at the time, but then I like to save the page for later and then come back and post a solution once I have found one. (I’m active on Microsoft Tech Community where I contribute with answers to questions, but not Microsoft Learn Q&A yet – I’m planning to start that in the near future): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/tags/654/azure-local

Azure Local Experts – webpages

Like myself, other Azure Local Experts share their knowledge on LinkedIn, their webpages and other places.
Although I have not shared any specific webpages here, there are many great experts that love to share. Just use search engines to find all the great articles from other great experts in Azure Local.

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