This article outlines the resources and corresponding configuration to run Jiwa on the Azure platform.
The SQL Azure Database-as-a-service is used, and Remote Desktop services to deliver the Jiwa application as a remoteApp.
The Azure platform is ever-changing and best practices will change along with it.
At the time of this article was published, the best practices were followed for a generic environment - however the reader should perform their own due diligence on the current best practices for delivering Windows desktop applications via cloud hosted remote Apps, and also the best way to integrate into their organisation.
Subscription
An Azure subscription needs to be created. Visit https://portal.azure.com/ and sign in with an existing Microsoft account, or create one.
Search for Subscriptions by starting to type subscriptions in the search bar - select Subscriptions when presented.
Press the Add button to add a subscription
Select the Pay-As-You-Go option
In the Agreement dialog, agree to the terms and enter the payment details.
Select the technical support option you want.
Once created, you will be directed to the
Azure Active Directory
The Azure Active Directory is an identity service. This is where you create users. When you create an Azure subscription, the directory is created for you. You may already have your users in this directory if you already have an Office 365 subscription - as this uses the same directory for managing users.
Login to your Azure portal via https://portal.azure.com/ and search for Active Directory and select it.
\
On the left hand pane, select Users
A list of users should appear.
If you have no users, create them.
Azure Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS)
Before we can create a virtual machine, an Azure Active Directory Domain Service needs to be created. The Windows Server machine we later will be provisioning requires a Domain to connect to before Remote Desktop Services can be deployed, and the Azure Active Directory Domain Service is what we use to establish a Domain. On-prem Domains can be used instead via VPN gateway, but that is beyond the scope of this document.
Azure Virtual Machine
An Azure virtual machine is used to deliver the Jiwa application via Remote Desktop Services. This is a Windows machine running Windows Server 2019 or later.
Typically, we use B4ms sized VM’s for up to 30 users. For more users either create additional VM’s and load balance, or just scale up to B8ms. If you only have 1 to 12 users, or it's a test machine, you might get away with a B2ms
"B" refers to the burst size. B machines are typically cheaper because Microsoft assume you're not using them 24x7.
"2" or "4" refers to the number of cores - 2 core is 8GB, 4 cores is 16GB.
Jiwa typically runs at 512 MB per user; allow 2GB for the operating system.
SQL Azure
For Azure SQL we use Standard tier – 50 DTU’s is usually the minimum, but we have a couple of customers using less.
If the customer has multiple databases (as often is the case – NZ operation, AU operation for instance) we’ll create an elastic pool of 100 DTU’s and have all the databases in there.
SQL Database
Database size depends entirely on the nature of the customers business – for a newly provisioned customer we start at 10GB. We have customers who have 90GB+ sized databases, but not many.
To use an RDS VM it must connect to either a domain controller or Azure Active Directory Domain Services
Remote Desktop Services
Note that the RDS server requires CAL licences for each user – this is a once-off purchase, and you can obtain these from various on-line retailers
HTML 5 client
SSL Certificates and auto-renewal
App Registration for Email through Office 365 (Microsoft Graph API)
Point to Site VPN
MS Azure Data Backups
Add on extra $$ a month to backup the VM if deemed necessary – we generally don’t as it’s just Windows Server 2019 and Jiwa – nothing that can’t rapidly be rebuilt.
MS Azure Calculator
If you haven’t already, you can use the Azure pricing calculator to see the pricing options - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-au/pricing/calculator
Of particular interest might be the discounts offered for paying up-front for VM’s for 1 or 3 years (41% discount for 1 year, 62% discount for 3 years).
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