Azure IT Workload: SharePoint Server 2013 with SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups

The Azure IT workload for SharePoint with SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups has been published. Although Microsoft recommends using SharePoint Online with Office 365 for SharePoint sites in the cloud, if you need your own SharePoint 2013 Server farm, you can deploy it in an Azure cross-premises virtual network.

SharePoint with SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups in Azure guides you through the end-to-end process to:

• Understand the value of the SharePoint farm in Azure IT workload.
• Create a proof-of-concept configuration or a dev/test environment for SharePoint application development.
• Configure the production workload in a cross-premises virtual network.

The result of this process is a functional, high-availability intranet SharePoint farm that is accessible to on-premises users.

The end-to-end configuration of the production workload consists of these phases:

• Phase 1: Configure Azure. Create a storage account, cloud services, and a cross-premises virtual network.
• Phase 2: Configure Domain Controllers. Create and configure replica Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain controllers.
• Phase 3: Configure SQL Server Infrastructure. Create and configure the SQL Server virtual machines, prepare them for use with SharePoint, and create the cluster.
• Phase 4: Configure SharePoint Servers. Create the four virtual machines for the SharePoint servers and configure the SharePoint farm.
• Phase 5: Create the Availability Group and add the SharePoint databases. Prepare the SharePoint databases and create a SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group.

These phases are designed to align with IT departments or typical areas of expertise. For example:

• Phase 1 can be done by networking infrastructure staff.
• Phase 2 can be done by identity management staff.
• Phases 3 and 5 can be done by database administrators.
• Phase 4 can be done by SharePoint administrators.

To make the Azure configuration foolproof, Phases 1 and 2 contain configuration tables for you to fill out with all of the required settings. For example, here is Table V for the cross-premises virtual network settings from Phase 1.

To make the configuration of the Azure elements as fast as possible, the phases use PowerShell command blocks and prompt you to insert the configuration table settings as variables. Here is an example of the PowerShell command block for creating the first replica domain controller.

# Create the first domain controller

$vmName="

" $vmSize="" $availSet="" $image= Get-AzureVMImage | where { $_.ImageFamily -eq "Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter" } | sort PublishedDate -Descending | select -ExpandProperty ImageName -First 1 $vm1=New-AzureVMConfig -Name $vmName -InstanceSize $vmSize -ImageName $image -AvailabilitySetName $availSet $cred=Get-Credential –Message "Type the name and password of the local administrator account for the first domain controller." $vm1 | Add-AzureProvisioningConfig -Windows -AdminUsername $cred.GetNetworkCredential().Username -Password $cred.GetNetworkCredential().Password $diskSize= $diskLabel="" $lun= $vm1 | Add-AzureDataDisk -CreateNew -DiskSizeInGB $diskSize -DiskLabel $diskLabel -LUN $lun -HostCaching None $subnetName="" $vm1 | Set-AzureSubnet -SubnetNames $subnetName $vm1 | Set-AzureStaticVNetIP -IPAddress $serviceName="" $vnetName="" New-AzureVM –ServiceName $serviceName -VMs $vm1 -VNetName $vnetName

This new content set is designed to make it easy for you to understand, test, and deploy your first or next SharePoint 2013 farm in Azure.

If you have any feedback on this new content set or this approach on documenting Azure IT workloads, please comment on this blog post or leave Disqus comments on the individual topics.

Thank you.