Cloud Pro: Azure Hybrid and Edge: Choose, Compare and Launch

What's inside

1. Level 1: The Azure Hybrid and Edge Map on One PageFree
   Learners place every Azure hybrid and edge service on one page in six groups: management planes, Microsoft hardware on site, metro and telecom edge, rugged devices, IoT, and data transfer and gateways, with current and former names such as Azure Stack HCI, now Azure Local.
2. Level 2: The Standard Hybrid ProfileFree
   Learners build a reusable hybrid profile. It records why an Azure region will not do (latency, data residency, disconnected operation, existing hardware) and then sites, connectivity, workloads, who maintains the hardware, update windows, compliance, team skills and the cost model with hardware terms.
3. Level 3: Azure Arc-enabled Servers
   Learners apply the nine-part lesson to Arc-enabled servers. It covers how the Connected Machine agent puts Windows and Linux machines from your own data centre or another cloud into Azure Resource Manager, what is free and what is billed, and an onboarding quick start.
4. Level 4: Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes
   Learners connect any CNCF-conformant cluster to Azure with Arc-enabled Kubernetes. They use cluster extensions, GitOps with Flux and Azure Policy, and weigh the outbound connectivity it needs and the per-vCPU cost of the add-ons.
5. Level 5: Azure Arc-enabled Data Services
   Learners assess SQL Managed Instance enabled by Azure Arc on their own Kubernetes. They work through the data controller, the directly connected mode that remains now that indirect mode is retired, the vCore billing and what the move away from Arc-enabled PostgreSQL means.
6. Level 6: SQL Server Enabled by Azure Arc
   Learners use SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc to inventory, license and protect existing SQL Server instances wherever they run. The lesson covers pay-as-you-go licensing, extended security updates, best-practice assessment and automated backups.
7. Level 7: Running Azure Arc at Scale
   Learners run a fleet across many sites and clouds through Arc. They use Azure Policy and machine configuration, Azure Update Manager, Defender for Cloud, extended security updates delivered through Arc, and onboarding at scale with service principals and private links.
8. Level 8: Azure Local: The Platform
   Learners assess Azure Local, formerly Azure Stack HCI, as a platform. The lesson covers validated hardware and integrated systems, the cluster size and network limits, the per-physical-core host fee, deployment from the cloud through Arc and the lifecycle split between you and Microsoft.
9. Level 9: Azure Local: Workloads That Run On It
   Learners place workloads on Azure Local. They create Arc VMs, AKS enabled by Azure Arc, Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts and SQL Server, and weigh which Azure services really run locally and which are only managed from the cloud.
10. Level 10: Azure Stack Hub
    Learners assess Azure Stack Hub as a fully disconnectable, integrated Azure-consistent cloud from OEM partners. The lesson covers its capacity-based and pay-as-you-use billing, its fixed service catalogue and update cadence, and how it sits next to Azure Local today.
11. Level 11: Azure Stack Edge
    Learners assess Azure Stack Edge, the Microsoft-owned appliances you pay for monthly as a service. The lesson covers the GPU, rugged and mini models still on sale, compute and data transfer to storage, shipping and return terms, and the Pro FPGA retirement.
12. Level 12: Azure IoT Hub
    Learners use IoT Hub as the cloud gateway for device messaging. They cover tiers and units, daily message quotas and throttling, device provisioning, routing and where IoT Edge fits, including its support-version dates.
13. Level 13: Azure IoT Operations
    Learners deploy Azure IoT Operations on Arc-enabled Kubernetes at the edge. They cover the MQTT broker, connectors for OPC UA and other industrial protocols, data flows to the cloud and its per-core pricing compared with IoT Hub.
14. Level 14: Azure Data Box
    Learners plan offline bulk data transfer with the Data Box family that can still be ordered: Data Box Disk and the NVMe-based Data Box 120 and 525. They cover order fees, per-day charges, shipping, encryption and chain of custody, and the Heavy and 80 TB models that can no longer be ordered.
15. Level 15: Azure File Sync
    Learners use Azure File Sync to cache Azure file shares on Windows file servers. They cover cloud tiering, multi-site sync, the limits on namespaces and items, per-server pricing and how File Sync relates to Arc-enabled servers.
16. Level 16: Azure Storage Mover
    Learners use Azure Storage Mover to run online migrations of file shares from your own servers to Azure Storage. They use migration agents, projects and job definitions, and decide when Storage Mover, Data Box or File Sync is the right tool.
17. Level 17: Extended Zones and the Retirement Check
    Learners briefly cover Azure Extended Zones for metro and low-latency edge, including which services and locations they support, then check the dated retirements and renames across the whole hybrid and edge family.
18. Level 18: Choosing a Pattern
    Learners decide between three patterns: extending the cloud onto your own site, managing your own and other clouds' resources from the cloud, or moving the workload to a region. Each workload in the profile is mapped to one pattern with a stated reason.
19. Level 19: Site Readiness
    Learners check a site before hardware arrives. They cover power, cooling, rack space, physical security, hands on site, outbound endpoints and identity, with only a short recap of network links from the networking course.
20. Level 20: Disconnected and Intermittent Operation
    Learners design for sites that lose their link or never have one. They cover how long each service can run offline, Azure Local disconnected operations with a local control plane, Stack Hub disconnected deployments and what breaks when Arc agents cannot reach Azure.
21. Level 21: Securing Sites Outside the Azure Region
    Learn how to secure hybrid and edge sites that sit outside Azure's physical controls: identity for machines and people, protecting secrets and data on site, physical tampering, and bringing Arc, Azure Local, Stack Hub and Stack Edge into one security posture view.
22. Level 22: Updates and Lifecycle Away from the Region
    Build one patch and lifecycle plan across the hybrid estate, covering who ships each update, how it reaches the site, maintenance windows, support deadlines and what happens when a site falls behind.
23. Level 23: Worked Three-Year Cost for Two Sites
    Build a full three-year total cost of ownership for a two-site hybrid deployment, comparing an on-site Azure platform, management from the cloud with Arc, and moving to a region, using dated example prices and clearly stated assumptions.
24. Level 24: Building a Weighted Selection Scorecard
    Turn the standard hybrid profile from level 2 into a weighted scorecard whose criteria, weights and scoring rules are fixed before any service is scored.
25. Level 25: Gathering Dated Evidence for Another Cloud
    Map another cloud's hybrid and edge services (for example AWS Outposts and Systems Manager, or Google Distributed Cloud) onto the same groups used for Azure, and collect dated, sourced evidence for each scorecard criterion.
26. Level 26: Scoring Azure Against Another Cloud
    Score Azure and the other cloud side by side on the same weighted scorecard, using only the dated evidence, and explain where the result is clear, where it is close and what would change it.
27. Level 27: Final Challenge: Decision Workshop and Record Exam
    Run a full decision workshop for a new scenario, drawing on the whole course from the service map and profile through the service lessons, patterns, operations, cost and cross-cloud scoring, and finish with a one-page selection record.

Access

The first 2 levels are free with a free account. Every level, the podcast edition and the AI tutor come with All Access at £4.99/month or any Creator plan — see pricing.

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