In this video blog post, I’ll cover the step-by-step configuration of How to deploy Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) in Availability Sets and Availability Zone to increase the availability and reliability of your VMs.
What Is An Availability Set?
An Availability Set is a logical grouping capability for isolating VM resources from each other when they’re deployed. It is essentially your way of designing how available your cloud infrastructure is going to be in the event of unplanned or planned maintenance. Microsoft gives 99.95% SLA if you deployed your VMs in Availability Set.
Deploy VMs In An Availability Set
Perform the following steps:
1. To Sign in to the Azure portal click here.
2. In the Search bar, type Virtual Machines, and then click Add.
3. On the Create virtual machine blade, click Basics. Enter Unique VM Name, VM disk type, User name and Password, Subscription, Azure Resource Group (New or Existing), Azure DataCenter Location (Region), and Select Availability Options to Add Availability set.
Also Read: Our blog post on Azure Kubernetes Service. Click here
4. Click Create New, type the name for the Availability set, select the no. of Fault Domains and Update Domain, Then click OK.
Fault domains – The group of VMs that share a common power source and network switch. By default, the VMs are separated across up to three fault domains and can be changed to between 1 and 3.
Update domains – Update domains indicate groups of virtual machines and underlying physical hardware that can be rebooted at the same time. By default, 5 domains are assigned. This can be set to between 1 to 20.
5. Leave the rest tabs to their default values and select Review + Create.
Now your First VM is created and deployed in an Availability Set.
Also Check: Our blog post on Azure Virtual Machine. Click here
Create a new second Virtual Machine and Add to the same Availability Set in the Azure Portal:
1. Repeat the same steps from 1-3 of the previous VM creation and Select the Availability Set (AS demo) in the Availability Set option.
NOTE: Second VM should be in the same Resource Group as the First VM.
2. Leave the rest tabs to their default values and select Review + Create.
Now you have successfully deployed both the VMs in the Availability Set.
Also Read: Our blog post on AZ 104 Microsoft Azure Administrator. Click here
3. Check the status of the Availability Set by going into the Resource Group and select the created Availability Set(ASDemo) resource.
4. Now you can see your both the Virtual Machines are deployed in the Fault Domain and Update Domain.
This is how Azure automatically keeps track of which VMs belong to each domain respectively. Just remember, you may not move a VM from one Availability set to another. This would require you to delete and recreate the VM.
To expand the level of control you have to maintain the high availability of the applications and data on your VMs. Availability Zones are unique physical locations within an Azure region.
What Is The, Availability Zone?
An Availability Zone is a high-availability offering that protects your applications and data from datacenter failures. They are unique physical locations within an Azure region. Each zone is made up of one or more data centers equipped with independent power, cooling, and networking. Microsoft gives 99.99% SLA if you deployed your VMs in Availability Zone.
Also read: Azure Availability Zones if you are not familiar or want to know more about the concepts Availability Sets, Fault domains, Update domains, and Availability Zone.
Deploy VMs In Availability Zones To Protect From Datacenter Level Failures:
Perform the following steps to do so:
1. To Sign in to the Azure portal click here.
2. In the Search bar, type Virtual Machines, and then click Add.
3. On the Create virtual machine blade, click Basics. Enter Unique VM Name, VM disk type, User name and Password, Subscription, Azure Resource Group (New or Existing), Azure DataCenter Location (Region), and Select Availability Options to Add Availability Zone.
4. Now select the first Availability Zone for your first VM from the Availability Zone option drop-down list.
NOTE: Not every region has support for Availability Zones. A region can have up to 3 max. Availability Zones.
To check whether the target region has support for Availability Zones or not, click here.
5. Click Next and Leave the Disks Tab to its default value and jump to Networking Tab.
Check Out: Our previous blog post on Microsoft az 104. Click here
6. Select Create New from the Public IP option and choose Zone-redundant in the Create public IP address page and click OK.
This will make your VM available for zone redundancy otherwise the VM will behave like in an Availability Set.
7. Leave the rest tabs to their default values and select Review + Create tab, then Create.
Now you have successfully deployed your First VM in the first Availability Zone of East US region.
Also Check: What are the roles and responsibilities of an Azure Administrator. Click here
Create a new second Virtual Machine and Add to the second Availability Zone in the Azure Portal:
1. Repeat the same steps from 1-3 of the previous VM creation.
2. Now select the second Availability Zone for your second VM from the Availability Zone option drop-down list.
3. Repeat the same steps from 5-6 of the previous VM creation.
Also Read: Our blog post on Microsoft Azure Blob Storage. Click here
4. Leave the rest tabs to their default values and select Review + Create tab, then Create.
Now you have successfully deployed your VMs in the Availability Zone of East US region.
Related/Reference:
- To Create FREE Microsoft Azure Trial Account, click here.
- To create a Windows virtual machine in the Azure portal, click here.
- Region, Availability Zone, Availability Sets and Fault Domain, Update Domain In Microsoft Azure
- AZ-104 v/s AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Certification Exam
- Virtual Network (VNet) Peering in Azure
- Azure Kubernetes Service & Azure Container Instances For Beginners
- Azure PowerShell Module & Guide
- [AZ-104] Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam: Everything You Need To Know
- Exam AZ-305: Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification
Next Task For You
Begin your journey toward Mastering Azure Cloud and landing high-paying jobs. Just click on the register now button on the below image to register for a Free Class on Mastering Azure Cloud: How to Build In-Demand Skills and Land High-Paying Jobs. This class will help you understand better, so you can choose the right career path and get a higher paying job.
Leave a Reply