Create Cloud Block Store for use with Azure VMware Solution

Add Replication Subnet to Virtual Network (optional)

For customers who wish to asynchronously replicate on-premises data to their Cloud Block Store instance, getting both the Azure virtual network and the connection to the on-premises datacenter properly setup are considered prerequisites to Cloud Block Store deployment.  Those customers who will not be replicating data can skip this section and proceed directly to the Deploy Cloud Block Store section of this article.

Please note that the myriad of options for connecting Azure to local datacenters prevents us from outlining a specific workflow; so please refer to existing Azure documentation for the on-premises to Azure connection method you wish to use.  Within the context of this user guide, usage of any replicated data with AVS is limited to in-guest iSCSI.

In this first section we will add a subnet to an existing vnet that will be used for replication from on-premises into Azure.  From a security standpoint, limiting the range of allowed replication addresses between sites is advantageous which is why we are showing it for this article.

To start, navigate to your AVS resource group and then into your virtual network.

Under Address space, you may need to add an additional IP range CIDR, depending on how much space is available.  If you need to add additional space, enter in the CIDR and then click on Save.  It is important to note that this is the range that will be allowed to your on-premises network for replication purposes.

 

Once you have identified the IP space and added it to the vnet, click on Subnets, then + Subnet, provide a Name for the subnet, the associated address range and finally click Ok.

You should see the newly created subnet appear after a few moments and we can now proceed to deploy our Cloud Block Store instance.

Deploy Cloud Block Store

For more details on deploying Cloud Block Store, see the following KB:

https://support.purestorage.com/FlashArray/PurityFA/Cloud_Block_Store/Cloud_Block_Store_Deployment_and_Configuration_Guide_for_Azure

From the Resource Group that you wish to deploy Cloud Block Store into, select the + Add button.

In the marketplace search bar the appears, type in Cloud Block Store.

Click on the result.  (Note that when this product is generally available the naming convention below will be updated accordingly).

In the Cloud Block Store creation wizard, please scroll down for description on each of the required fields that need to be completed.

1. Subscription:  Select the Azure subscription you wish to deploy Cloud Block Store to.
2. Resource group:  Choose the same resource group that Azure VMware Solution (AVS) was built within.
3. Region:  Select the same region that was used for AVS deployment.
4. Cloud Block Store Model:  Select either V10MUR1 or V20MUR1.  The V10MUR1 is the lower cost, capacity and performance option available of the two.
5. Zone:  Select which Zone you wish to deploy CBS into.  For our purposes we will stick with the default of zone 1.
6. Array Name:  Provide a unique name for the Cloud Block Store array name.
7. Company Domain Name:  Enter a domain name to associate with the CBS instance.
8. License Key, Alert Recipients, SSH Key:  Provide the license key obtained from Pure Storage, and optionally include the email addresses for anyone you want to receive email alerts as well as optionally include a public ssh key if logging in to the array via ssh is desired.
9. Application Name:  Provide an application name for the CBS instance.  This name is what will appear in the resource group post-deployment.
10. Managed Resource Group:  Leave this field as-is unless otherwise instructed by Pure Storage.

Once the above fields have been populated correctly, click on the Next : Network > button to continue.

The networking fields are described in greater detail below the screenshot.

1. System Interface / Subnet:  This interface is used internally by Cloud Block Store and needs to be on the same vnet as the other interfaces.    
2. Management Interface / Subnet:  The Management interface is how the user connects to the GUI or via SSH to the CBS instance.  If data is to be replicated from on-premises to this CBS instance, the replication subnet created earlier in this guide must be used.
3. iSCSI Interface / Subnet:  The iSCSI interface is how CBS will communicate with Azure VMware Solution.  Make sure that this interface is on the same vnet as AVS (but note it can be on a separate subnet from Management and Replication if desired).
4. Replication Interface / Subnet:  This interface will support replicated data to/from the on-premises datacenter.  Make sure that this subnet is the same one setup for local datacenter connectivity.

After the networking fields have been filled out, click on the Review + create button to validate the CBS instance prior to deployment.

Review the details of the CBS deployment and assuming validation passes, check the terms and conditions box and then click on Create to build the CBS instance.  Note that it can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes for the deployment to complete.

Once CBS has successfully deployed, navigate to it within the Resource Group, click on Parameters and Outputs and scroll down to find the floatingManagementIP field.  This IP address is how you will access both SSH and the CBS GUI from the jumphost we created in the previous article within this user guide.

From the Azure jumphost we created in the previous KB article, copy/paste the floatingManagement IP address into a browser window (https://<floatingManagementIP>).

You should be greeted with the Cloud Block Store login screen and be able to login with the pureuser credentials.  Upon login the GUI should look very familiar to an on-premises FlashArray with a notable difference being the graphical representation of the array on the right.