Alan Kinane is an IT professional with over 25 years of experience, specializing in infrastructure and Microsoft Azure. A Microsoft MVP and Certified Trainer, he writes practical guides and insights on cloud services, Azure features, and real-world IT operations.
47 articles from this blog
A technical overview of Microsoft's new Azure Virtual Network Routing Appliance (AVNRA), exploring its purpose, capabilities, and use cases for high-throughput network routing.
Explains two Microsoft Entra solutions for secure remote access to internal applications without using a traditional VPN.
Explains how to use Azure Traffic Manager as a failover solution for Azure Front Door during global service outages, ensuring application availability.
Discusses challenges of using third-party firewall NVAs in Azure and argues for considering Azure Firewall due to platform lifecycle issues.
Expert tips and best practices for designing and troubleshooting secure Azure network solutions, focusing on hub-and-spoke topology.
Reminder about Azure's upcoming change to default outbound network access for VMs, effective after September 30, 2025.
A technical guide exploring Azure's Network Security Perimeter service, covering its features and use for securing PaaS service public endpoints.
Azure Business Continuity Center (ABCC) replaces Azure Backup Center, offering unified management for Azure Backup and Site Recovery services.
Explains how to use Azure Resource Explorer to manage large Access Control Lists (ACLs) directly via the ARM API, avoiding manual portal work.
Discusses the retirement of Azure's default outbound access for VMs in 2025, explaining the security reasons and urging preparation.
A Microsoft MVP shares practical tips and advice for first-time attendees of the MVP Summit 2024, covering logistics, accommodation, and networking.
A review of Microsoft's new 'Applied Skills' assessments, which are lab-based, verifiable credentials for specific Azure services.
Overview of new Azure Backup features in 2023, including enhanced soft delete and multi-user authorization for improved data protection.
Explains how to use Azure Compute Gallery for scalable, multi-tenant desktop image management in Azure Virtual Desktop deployments.
Explains how to configure Azure Virtual WAN with a secured hub and Azure Firewall to enable forced tunneling and Internet breakout for Point-to-Site VPN users.
A guide to getting started with Microsoft Sentinel, covering its SIEM/SOAR capabilities, cost structure, and initial setup for security monitoring.
A technical guide on configuring routing for a Watchguard NVA in an Azure hub-and-spoke network topology, solving a one-way connectivity issue.
Tests whether data transfer from Azure VMs to Microsoft 365 services counts as Internet egress, finding it's free within the same geography.
Explains Azure Hybrid Use Benefit (AHUB) for reusing Windows Server/SQL licenses in Azure, covering licensing rules and potential cost savings.
Guide to migrating Azure Load Balancer from Basic to Standard SKU before Microsoft's 2025 retirement, covering key steps and considerations.
