AZ-800 Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure Exam

Provision and Tune Azure Managed Disks

Azure Managed Disks remove the need to manage individual storage accounts for Azure IaaS virtual machines. You simply specify the type and size of each disk, and Azure provisions and protects it automatically. This approach simplifies storage management and improves reliability by distributing disks across different storage clusters. As a result, you achieve greater resiliency and can focus on workload requirements rather than infrastructure.

Choosing the right disk type is critical for balancing cost and performance. Azure provides various managed disk types to match diverse workload needs:

• Standard HDD: Best for backup and infrequent access scenarios.
• Standard SSD: Offers predictable performance for web servers and dev/test environments.
• Premium SSD: Delivers low latency and high throughput for mission-critical applications.
• Ultra Disk: Provides extreme IOPS and throughput for data-intensive workloads.
  Understanding each disk’s capabilities helps you optimize costs and satisfy performance targets.

Disk caching is another way to enhance I/O performance for Windows Server VMs. By default, OS disks use Read-Write caching to accelerate both reads and writes. Data disks often use Read-Only caching on Premium SSDs, which speeds up sequential or random read operations. For write-heavy files, like SQL Server logs, disabling caching or adjusting to Read-Write caching can reduce latency and improve application responsiveness.

To further tune performance, start by selecting the appropriate disk size, as larger disks offer higher IOPS and throughput. You can also leverage availability zones or availability sets to distribute VM disks across multiple fault domains, reducing the risk of outages. Implementing disk striping across multiple disks can boost throughput for high-demand workloads like large databases. Finally, monitor metrics such as disk queue depth and latency in Azure Monitor to adjust configurations proactively.

Migrating on-premises or legacy Azure VMs to Managed Disks is straightforward. You can upload both generalized VHDs, which have been prepared for reuse, and specialized VHDs, which include existing OS states and data. Azure provides tools and scripts to convert unmanaged disks to managed disks, whether for standalone VMs or those in availability sets. Planning your migration helps avoid downtime and ensures consistent performance during the transition.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to provision and tune Azure Managed Disks for Windows Server virtual machines. Key considerations include choosing the right disk type and size, configuring effective disk caching, and applying performance tuning techniques. You also saw how migrating to managed disks can simplify storage management and improve resilience. Applying these principles ensures your VM workloads run efficiently and reliably in Azure.