Edge Compute in Azure and Hybrid as a destination, not a transition state

When it comes to edge computing, unlike our competitors, Microsoft has embraced that “Hybrid” is a destination, and not a transition state before moving everything to the cloud. These two technologies are critical parts of Microsoft’s “Adaptive Cloud Strategy,” which enables hybrid connectivity.

What is Azure Local?

Let’s start with a definition of what Azure Local is? Azure Local is Microsoft’s rebranded, next-generation hybrid cloud solution that merges the capabilities of Azure Stack HCI and Azure Stack Hub into a unified “cloud at the edge” platform. In essence, Azure Local allows you to deploy your own “cloud environment” on physical hardware. The intention being that you can leverage the same tools, design partners, control plane and services you would in the actual Azure Cloud (or Azure Government) on hyperconverged, on-premise hardware. This can range from single node, multi-node (up to 16 node clusters), or even small form-factor deployments for mobile scenarios.

The goal being that you gain the benefits of the patterns and practices of the cloud, but leverage deployment options that can support intermittent connectivity or even completely disconnected environments.

Azure Local is built on proven technologies (like Hyper-V virtualization, Storage Spaces Direct, and Windows Server clustering) and incorporates over 300 secure-by-default settings, providing a consistent Azure security baseline for sensitive workloads. Crucially, Azure Local is cloud-managed: once deployed, it connects to Azure for monitoring, updates, and resource management. Administrators can use the Azure Portal, CLI, and PowerShell/ARM templates to manage Azure Local similarly to any Azure region. This means cloud services and policies can be extended to on-prem gear using the same interfaces, blurring the line between “cloud” and “edge” in daily operations.

What does this matter?

Specifically when dealing with Mission / Defense implications, this technology provides options for enablement in the following ways:

Localized Processing of Data for Low Latency Scenarios
Operation in DDIL environment
End-to-End Security / Compliance
Interoperability and Integration with Cloud Environments

Azure Local vs Azure Local Disconnected Operations:

Currently there are two “flavors” of Azure Local. Both providing similar capabilities and services, but the primary difference is around connectivity requirements. Azure Local Disconnected Operations enables you to deploy Azure Local, and leverage its capabilities, without connecting back to Azure Cloud.

More Information:

The following are some interesting links on Azure Local and Azure Local Disconnected Option.

What is Azure Arc?

For Azure Arc, the goal was to enable the ability to manage and integrate on-premise and even other cloud environments through the Azure Control Plane. Azure Arc is the key enabling technology that makes this integration possible. Azure Arc is a hybrid management and application platform designed to project non-Azure infrastructure and services into the Azure environment for unified control. By “Arc-enabling” resources, organizations can manage on-premises servers (including Azure Local hosts), VM workloads, Kubernetes clusters, and data services as if they were native Azure resources. In practice, Azure Arc installs lightweight agents on these resources, registering them with Azure. This allows the use of Azure Resource Manager (ARM) to organize and control them, apply Azure Policies and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), and monitor security & health with services like Azure Monitor and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

Why does this matter?

Azure Arc, provides the ability to enable the ability to manage and operate Arc-Enabled Services to ensure a single common control-plane, which support centralizing operations and management. Azure Arc provides support for many different cloud enabled services to be supported more broadly.

More Information:

The following are more links on Azure Arc:

How does Azure Local / Azure Arc work together?

Together, Azure Local and Azure Arc form a core part of Microsoft’s “adaptive cloud” strategy for hybrid and edge. Azure Local provides the physical infrastructure and local execution of Azure services on the edge, while Azure Arc provides the glue and control plane that ties these distributed edge deployments back to central Azure management. Azure Local cannot achieve its full potential without Azure Arc: for example, Azure Local’s built-in Azure Local Virtual Machines and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) are explicitly “Arc-enabled” versions of Azure services, meaning Arc is used to deploy and manage VM and container workloads on the local cluster. Conversely, Azure Arc benefits defense users by allowing them to run Azure services (like databases, app services, machine learning, and more) inside isolated or disconnected environments on Azure Local. In summary, Azure Local is the on-prem “landing zone” for Azure-compatible compute and storage, and Azure Arc is the management and app deployment mechanism that extends Azure’s reach into these mission-critical environments.

Reference Architectures:

The following are reference architectures: