Since Azure Stack is GA, many questions have come forward. Not only about Azure Stack but also about Azure Stack Development Kit. I’ll do my best to answer most questions and refer to the online resources as well.
01: What’s Azure Stack?
As Microsoft states: ‘Microsoft Azure Stack is a hybrid cloud platform that lets you deliver Azure services from your organization’s datacenter…’. Still it sounds like marketing mumbo jumbo.
Basically it means that with Azure Stack your organization has the same Azure technology on-premise available, deeply integrated with the public Azure. Of course, Azure Stack doesn’t offer the same breadth and depth of services as the public Azure, but still it packs awesome cloud power. It’s to be expected that with future updates Azure Stack will offer more and more public Azure based services and technologies, based on the use cases and demands of existing Azure Stack customers.
And because Azure Stack and the public Azure use the same technologies, the end user experience is fully transparent. The same goes for the administration experience. So basically Azure Stack can be looked upon as an extension of Azure.
So yes, one could look at Azure Stack as a kind of private cloud which can be heavily tied into the public Azure, thus creating a super powered hybrid cloud. But there is more.
02: Does Azure Stack require a permanent connection with public Azure?
No, it doesn’t. You can run Azure Stack either in a Connected scenario or Disconnected scenario. In a Connected scenario Azure Stack has a permanent connection with the public Azure. In a Disconnected scenario, Azure Stack doesn’t have a permanent connection.
Even though the first scenario – Connected – makes the most sense, there are enough valid use cases for the Disconnected scenario as well. Think about area’s with a low internet connection density combined with a far away public Azure region. Or how about hospitals, embassies, military installations and bases? The kind of information kept and processed in places like those are valid use cases for the Disconnected scenario.
03: Why should companies use Azure Stack while public Azure offers more services and is more powerful?
Good question! Suppose you’ve got a production facility which generates HUGE amount of data. That data is processed, and the result sets are used further down the production line. In a public Azure setup it would require an enormous data pipeline to Azure in order to get that data across. And when processed, the result sets have to send back as well. Which is egress traffic = money. On top of it all there is latency since the data travels between the factories and Azure.
With Azure Stack, that data is processed locally (no data traffic costs since it’s local LAN, no WAN) and there is no to very small latency.
Another valid use case is app development. Here public Azure is used for development and Azure Stack is used for production, or vice versa.
Or how about sensitive data which – based on regulations and law – isn’t allowed to live in the public cloud? Now you can keep the data onsite (Azure Stack) and use apps living in the public Azure.
And these are just some of the valid use cases for Azure Stack. There are many more, believe me.
04: Does Azure Stack offer the same services as the public Azure?
No, it doesn’t. Which makes sense when you compare the size of an average Azure region compared to an Azure Stack 
For now(*) Azure Stack offers these foundational services:
- Compute;
- Storage;
- Networking;
- Key Vault.
On top of it, Azure Stack offers these PaaS services(*):
- App Service
- Azure Functions
- SQL and MySQL databases
(*: This is per 10th of July 2017. Since Azure Stack is in constant development, changes are that the amount of services offered by Azure Stack will have changed over time. Please check Microsoft for the most recent updates and overview of services offered by Azure Stack.)
05: Can I download Azure Stack and install it on spare hardware I’ve got?
No, you can’t. Because Microsoft invests hard to offer you the same Azure experience (pay as you go, consume with no worries about the hardware and so on) with Azure Stack, they had to lock down the hardware on which Azure Stack runs.
Therefore Azure Stack is delivered as a whole package, hardware and software integrated into one. For now HPE, Dell EMC and Lenovo deliver Azure Stack with their own hardware. Soon other hardware vendors will follow suit.
06: So I can’t test drive it? How do I know whether Azure Stack works for me?
Sure you can test drive Azure Stack, POC it or use it as a developer environment. For this Microsoft has specifically developed Azure Stack Development Kit.
You can download it for free and install it on hardware of your choice. Of course there are some requirements to be met for this hardware, but still it’s up to you what vendor to use.
07: What’s Azure Stack Development Kit? Can I use it for production?
As Microsoft states: ‘…It’s a single-node version of Azure Stack, which you can use to evaluate and learn about Azure Stack. You can also use Azure Stack Development Kit as a developer environment, where you can develop using consistent APIs and tooling…’
As such Azure Stack Development Kit isn’t meant for production. It’s meant for POCs and stuff like that. Go here to learn more about it.
08: Do I need to pay for Azure Stack?
Sure you do. But the prices are lower compared to using the public Azure. Which makes sense because your company pays the hardware and operating costs. Check out this Microsoft Azure Packaging & Pricing Sheet (*) for more information.
(*: Please know this sheet will be updated in the future. As such, just Google for Microsoft Azure Packaging and Pricing Sheet and you’ll find the latest version of it.)
09: Is Azure Stack Development Kit free?
Yes, Azure Stack Development Kit itself is free. However, the moment you connect it to (one of) your Azure subscriptions and start moving on-premise workloads to the public Azure, you will be charged for it.
10: Do have some useful links for me?
Sure, hang on. Here are some useful links, all about Azure Stack and/or Azure Stack Development Kit:
- Azure Stack whitepaper. Hit the green Download button and be happy…
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