What is Microsoft Azure and why use it?
Why Use Azure?
- Application development: You can create any web application in Azure.
- Testing: After developing an application successfully on the platform, you can test it.
- Application hosting: Once the testing is done, Azure can help you host the application.
Is Microsoft Azure free for students?
With the Azure for Students programs, any student can independently sign up for Azure’s services for free and benefit from its resources without requiring a credit card for registration. This liberating aspect of the student-centric programs has made Azure a popular choice amongst data and AI enthusiasts and learners in economically unviable regions locally and globally.
What does Azure provide?
There are three Azure storage security features that provide encryption of data that is “at rest”:
- Storage Service Encryption allows you to request that the storage service automatically encrypt data when writing it to Azure Storage.
- Client-side Encryption also provides the feature of encryption at rest.
- Azure Disk Encryption allows you to encrypt the OS disks and data disks used by an IaaS virtual machine.
What is an azure certification?
What is Microsoft Azure Certification? Gaining MS Azure Certification is a significant benefit to anyone hoping to pursue a cloud computing career. Achieving your Azure Certification demonstrates to potential employers that you have the latest knowledge and skills required to use Microsoft Azure competently.
What is Windows Virtual Desktop?
Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) is a comprehensive desktop and app virtualization service hosted on Azure. WVD is the only service that delivers simplified management, multi-session Windows 10 and is optimized for Office 365 ProPlus. With Windows Virtual Desktop you can deploy and scale Windows desktops and apps for your customers on Azure in minutes, with built-in security and compliance features.
What is Azure Infrastructure as a Service?
Azure infrastructure as a service (IaaS) lets you migrate your customers’ on-premises servers to Azure to help them be more agile and productive and to save them money.
How many parts are in Azure Hybrid Enablement Series?
Our popular 4-part Azure Hybrid Enablement Series provides your team with valuable 200-300 level technical training and hands-on lab sessions.
What is hybrid identity?
Hybrid identity brings the productivity and security benefits of single sign-on and multi-factor authentication to your SMB customers.
What Is Server Message Block?
The SMB protocol was originally created by IBM as a client-server protocol for accessing shared files, printers over network, and for enabling inter-process communication. Multiple versions of the protocol, commonly called dialects, were created over time to meet changing network requirements. The protocol works at the application layer and can communicate on port 445 over TCP/IP.
What is Azure AD?
Azure AD implementation is different from the traditional Windows Server Active Directory implementation. While Windows AD uses Kerberos and NTLM for authentication, Azure AD uses protocols including SAML and OAuth 2.0, which mainly target cloud-first applications. NetApp Cloud Manager is given custom roles and permissions in Azure through an Azure AD service principal. In this way the service principal enables the management of Cloud Volumes ONTAP through Cloud Manager RESTful API service calls. This gives customers a seamless management experience, where the provisioning and management of SMB shares can be done using a few clicks from the Cloud Manager or simple commands over the API.
What is NTAP 9.5?
ONTAP 9.5, the software used in Cloud Volumes ONTAP supports up to SMB 3.1.1 starting from SMB 1, though the functionalities supported will vary across the versions. This enables organizations to use the SMB version of their choice based on security mandates. In addition to the strong security provided by SMB, file shares created in Cloud Volumes ONTAP benefit from storage efficiency features that can reduce the storage footprint and cost in Azure by 50-70%.
What is CIFS in Linux?
CIFS is an implementation or dialect of SMB developed by Microsoft for Windows systems. Developed mainly for file sharing, CIFS supports functionalities that include discovering other SMB servers in the network, protocol dialect negotiation, file attribute management, locking, and notification. SMB can also be used in Linux systems by installing ...
What is Azure file sharing?
Azure Files offers native cloud file sharing services based on the SMB protocol. Cloud Volumes ONTAP is another popular service that is available in Azure that allows you to create shares that can be accessed not only over SMB/ CIFS, but also via the NFS protocol. In this blog we will explore options for accessing file shares in Azure through SMB and how Cloud Volumes ONTAP can help you meet these and many more requirements.
What is Azure AD tenant?
Azure AD Domain. When you sign up for an Azure cloud subscription, an instance of Azure AD is provisioned for you, which is called an Azure AD tenant. A dedicated Active Directory that has a domain name in the format <domainname>.onmicrosoft.com is assigned to each tenant.
What is SMB in IT?
Organizations have traditionally relied on the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol for use cases such as file share access, network printing, interprocess communication, etc. As a term, it is often used interchangeably with CIFS, which is a dialect or a version of SMB. With the advent of cloud services, there has been a rising demand for using the SMB protocol alongside cloud file sharing services, in both cloud-only as well as hybrid architectures.
What is Server Message Block?
SMB is a client-server interaction protocol where clients request a file, and the server provides it to the client. It is now a Windows-based network that gives users to create, modify and delete the shared files, folders, printers within the network. SMB is an application layered protocol that uses TCP Port 445 to communicate. It also provides a herborized intercommunication mechanism to transfer to share the files between the client and the server. With the upgrades of its versions, the services are much more enhanced and effective to use by the users or clients.
What is SMB in IT?
SMB provides an authenticated intercommunication process mechanism to share the files or resources (files, folders, printers) within the server. SMB provides the clients to edit files, delete them, share the files, browse the network, print services, etc., over the network.
What is SMB1 version?
SMB1. SMB1 is very similar to the CIFS protocol that shares the files over a network to access them among the clients in an effective way. SMB was initially introduced to run on top of NetBIOS and TCP/IP interface.
Why is SMB2 better than SMB1.0?
SMB2 has reduced the “chattiness” of SMB1.0 Version file system protocol by reducing the number of commands and subcommands that are used to communicate the system to just nineteen commands. This Version also has a pipeline mechanism that sends an additional service request before the response to a previous request is arrived. This mechanism has improved the performance level, which was lagging in the previous SMB 1.0 version. SMB1.0 was using a 16-bit data size, whereas SMB2.0 is using a higher level of 32 or 64-bit wide storage data fields. This helps store larger file data and communicate the large files over the network in less time.
What are the features of SMB?
As the versions of SMB have increased, the performance level is also increasing. Below are the few important features of SMB: 1 SMB provides an authenticated intercommunication process mechanism to share the files or resources (files, folders, printers) within the server. 2 SMB provides the clients to edit files, delete them, share the files, browse the network, print services, etc., over the network. 3 SMB version 2 has decreased the usage of a number of commands and subcommands used to transfer the file over the network. 4 SMB2 supports symbolic links as an enhancement version to SMB version 1.
What version of SMB2 is supported?
The version SMB2 is supported for Windows Vista 2006, and SMB3 supports Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Commands and subcommands are used to transfer a file over the network for which the clients request. In CIFS, the number of commands used was more than a hundred to just transfer a file. But in SMB, it has been reduced to almost nineteen ...
What is SMB authentication?
SMB Authentication Protocol. SMB contains two levels of security checks. They are the user checks and share checks. Share is generally referred to as a file or folder that is requested by the client, directory or a printer service that is to be accessed by the clients over the server.
What is the SMB authentication?
Before an SMB client can access data held in an SMB share, the SMB client must authenticate with the SMB server. In an AD domain environment, the SMB client uses Kerberos, obtaining a Kerberos ticket from a domain controller and presenting it to the SMB server. In a workgroup environment, which includes Azure, you specify userid and password, which the SMB server then validates. With Azure, you use the storage account name as the userid and an Azure storage account key as the password.
How does Azure SMB differ from Azure blobs?
An Azure SMB share differs from Azure blobs with respect to how you access them. You access a blob via HTTP, whereas you access an Azure File share via the standard SMB networking commands. Blobs and files also differ in that with blobs you only have a single-level folder (the container). With Azure files, you can have as many folders as you wish or need as child containers within an Azure share.
What is Azure blob?
Check out Microsoft's resources for more information about blob types. An Azure table is a non-relational storage system utilizing key-value pairs.
What is Azure disk storage?
Azure’s disk storage provides persistent, highly secure disk options, particularly for Azure VMs. Azure disks are designed for low latency and high throughput. You can provision both traditional spinning disks as well as SSD disks that provide better I/O performance for I/O intensive applications.
Can Azure use key1?
With key1 no longer being used, you can direct Azure to regenerate value for key1 value. You then repeat the process at some later time to direct the application to use key1’s value and then regenerate key2. This provides you with an immediate or regular key update where you need it.
Can you rotate two keys?
With two keys, you are able to do a regular key rotation. For example, suppose your application uses the value of key1. After some time period, you can direct the application to use the key2 value as the share’s password. With key1 no longer being used, you can direct Azure to regenerate value for key1 value.
Can you create SMB shares in Azure?
SMB shares. As mentioned above, Azure provides you with the ability to create SMB shares within your Azure Storage Account. Once you create an SMB share, you can use them in exactly the same way you use shares in your on-premises environment.
How Does the SMB Protocol Work?
The SMB protocol enables applications or users to access files and other resources on a remote server. These resources can include file folders, printers, mailboxes, etc. It allows client applications to open, read, transfer, and update files on the remote server. It also allows communication between the client and any server program configured to SMB requests.
What is the EternalBlue vulnerability?
In 2017, a serious vulnerability called EternalBlue was found in SMB Version 1 (SMBv1). The vulnerability allowed an attacker to install malware on any computer running SMB1, without any action required by the user. Microsoft released an emergency patch (MS17-010) for this vulnerability that covered all supported Windows versions.
Why was SMB decommissioned?
SMB was formerly known as CIFS (Common Internet File System)—this is an old version of the SMB protocol which was decommissioned because it was inefficient and had severe security flaws.
What protocols does SMB use?
Older versions of SMB used legacy protocols like IPE or NetBEUI. Modern SMB software and devices commonly communicate directly over TCP/IP, or if this is not supported, via NetBIOS over TCP/IP. Clients and servers can implement different versions of SMB, and negotiate versions and capabilities before connecting.
What is SMB 3.0?
SMB 3.0 use s modern cryptographic algorithms for signing, in particular AES-CMAC and AES-CCM. These modern algorithms can significantly accelerate encryption on modern CPUs. SMB 2.0 also supports encryption, but using the older HMAC-SHA256 algorithm.
What is SMB multichannel?
SMB Multichannel checks the network adapter capabilities of connection partners. You must enable SMB Multichannel to use SMB Direct.
What is SMB in network?
Server Message Block (SMB) is a client-server protocol that provides access to resources such as files, printers and serial interfaces, and facilitates communication between network processes. SMB clients can communicate with any software that is configured to receive SMB requests over TCP/IP or NetBIOS.
Benefits
Limitations
- SMB Multichannel for Azure file shares currently has the following restrictions: 1. Only supported on Windows and Linuxclients that are using SMB 3.1.1. Ensure SMB client operating systems are patched to recommended levels. 2. Maximum number of channels is four, for details see here.
Configuration
- SMB Multichannel only works when the feature is enabled on both client-side (your client) and service-side (your Azure storage account). On Windows clients, SMB Multichannel is enabled by default. You can verify your configuration by running the following PowerShell command: On your Azure storage account, you will need to enable SMB Multichannel. See Enable SMB Multichannel.
Verify SMB Multichannel Is configured Correctly
- Create a premium file share or use an existing one.
- Ensure your client supports SMB Multichannel (one or more network adapters has receive-side scaling enabled). Refer to the Windows documentationfor more details.
- Mount a file share to your client.
- Generate load with your application.A copy tool such as robocopy /MT, or any performance t…
- Create a premium file share or use an existing one.
- Ensure your client supports SMB Multichannel (one or more network adapters has receive-side scaling enabled). Refer to the Windows documentationfor more details.
- Mount a file share to your client.
- Generate load with your application.A copy tool such as robocopy /MT, or any performance tool such as Diskspd to read/write files can generate load.
Performance Comparison
- There are two categories of read/write workload patterns - single-threaded and multi-threaded. Most workloads use multiple files, but there could be specific use cases where the workload works with a single file in a share. This section covers different use cases and the performance impact for each of them. In general, most workloads are multi-threaded and distribute workload over mu…
Optimizing Performance
- The following tips may help you optimize your performance: 1. Ensure that your storage account and your client are colocated in the same Azure region to reduce network latency. 2. Use multi-threaded applications and spread load across multiple files. 3. Performance benefits of SMB Multichannel increase with the number of files distributing load. 4. Premium share performance i…
Next Steps
- Enable SMB Multichannel
- See the Windows documentationto learn more about SMB Multichannel.