New simulated hybrid cloud test environment topic

In my New set of hybrid cloud test environment topics blog post, I described the new articles that show you how to create a functioning, hybrid cloud dev/test environment, complete with a site-to-site VPN connection to a Hyper-V server hosting a simplified intranet. If you are investigating a hybrid cloud implementation, this is the best way to go because it walks you through the configuration of a VPN device and you can experiment with Azure-hosted workloads relative to your location on the Internet.

However, the original hybrid cloud test environment requires two things which, depending on your role, can be hard to come by:

• A spare Hyper-V server that can host the four computers of the simulated on-premises network
• A spare public IP address

Due to the relative scarcity of these items (especially the public IP address), I heard from multiple sources that an alternative using only Azure infrastructure components was also needed. These sources included internal peers and the members of the Solutions Advisory Board (SAB).

Therefore, I have also published Set up a simulated hybrid cloud environment for testing, which creates the simplified intranet in an additional Azure virtual network, and then links the two virtual networks with a VNet-to-VNet connection. Here is the configuration.

You don’t get the benefit of seeing it work from an on-premises and isolated Hyper-V server. However, you can still use this environment to experiment with Azure and experience many aspects of running IT workloads in a cross-premises Azure virtual network, and the only requirement is an Azure subscription.

You build this environment out in these phases.

1. Configure the TestLab virtual network.
2. Create the TestVNET virtual network.
3. Create the VNet-to-VNet connection.
4. Configure DC2.

And because running Azure virtual gateways incur an ongoing cost, I have included a section on how to shut down the lab environment and spin it up again when you need it.

You can also build out IT workloads in the TestVNET virtual network with these topics.

• Set up a SharePoint intranet farm in a hybrid cloud for testing
• Set up a web-based LOB application in a hybrid cloud for testing
• Set up Office 365 Directory Synchronization (DirSync) in a hybrid cloud for testing

In each topic, for Phase 1, instead of building out the hybrid cloud test environment (with the site-to-site VPN connection), you build out the simulated version (with the VNet-to-VNet connection). Subsequent phases build out additional components in the TestVNET virtual network.

For example, here is the web-based LOB application workload in the simulated hybrid cloud test environment.

If there are additional IT workloads you would like to see in these hybrid cloud test environments, please leave a comment below.

Thanks, and enjoy.

Joe Davies
Senior Content Developer