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What is Microsoft Azure and how does it work?

July 27, 2018 By eStormAdmin

What is Microsoft Azure?

Azure, or MS Azure, is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. Azure is an on demand data centre in the cloud that has the ability to scale up or down with your business as and when you need it (only pay for what you use at the time you use it) and it’s available whenever you need it.

This can be achieved in the cloud or as a hybrid solution. Your Azure environment can be customised to functions as all, or a combination of, your servers, backup, disaster recovery, website platforms, dev test sites and storage among other things.

Azure provides a greater level of flexibility by easily integrating with on-premise servers and data centres or as a standalone solution. It is utilised by 66% of Fortune 500 companies as it is fast becoming one of the largest cloud platforms in the world, as well as being utilised to help organisations meet business challenges, move faster and achieve more while saving money.

One of the best things about Azure is the ability to utilise it in a number of ways, including on-premise, hybrid or full cloud.

What is Microsoft Azure eStorm Australia Managed IT Services

Learn more about how you can benefit from using Microsoft Azure.

How does Microsoft Azure work?

Azure uses a technology known as virtualisation. This separates the coupling between a computer’s CPU and it’s operating system using an abstraction layer called a Hypervisor. A Hypervisor (virtual machine monitor) emulates all the functions of a computer and its CPU in a virtual machine with the ability to run multiple virtual machines at the same time. Each virtual machine, or VM, can run any compatible operating system (OS).

Azure takes this virtualisation technology and repeats it on a large scale in Microsoft data centres throughout the world. Each data centre has multiple racks filled with servers which all include Hypervisors to run multiple VMs. A network switch then provides connectivity to the servers.

One server in each rack runs a special piece of software called a Fabric Control. Each Fabric Controller is connected to another piece of software called the Orchestrator. This is responsible for managing everything that happens in Azure, including responding to user requests. Users make requests using Orchestrator’s web API, which can be called by many tools such as the user interface of the Azure Portal. When a user makes a request to create a VM, the Orchestrator packages everything that’s needed, picks the best server rack and then sends the package and request to the Fabric Controller. Once the Fabric Controller has created the VM, the user can connect to it.

Microsoft Azure makes it easy for developers and IT professionals to build, deploy and manage applications and services quickly and easily.

How Microsoft Azure Works eStorm Australia Managed IT Services

 

 

eStorm Australia is an IT managed service provider headquartered in Brisbane. We partner with your business and provide IT solutions and services that suit your specific requirements. Our solutions include a variety of services that are critical to overall business success and competitive advantage.

If you need any information, or to find out exactly how we can help your business – contact us anytime on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected].

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Microsoft

How to improve workplace collaboration with Microsoft Teams

March 28, 2018 By eStormAdmin

A few years ago now Microsoft were faced with the decision of either buying Slack or developing a new product of their own that would beat out the competition. However the idea that Slack could dethrone Office 365 is quickly dwindling as Microsoft have found their place in the corporate world.

Early this month, March 2018, Teams celebrated its first birthday and that more than 200,000 organisations are now utilising the software. This comes as no surprise as Microsoft are positioning Teams as your workplace hub for content, communication and even email.

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a digital platform that combines conversations, workplace chat, meetings, notes, apps and attachments in one place. The service integrates with Microsoft’s Office 365 productivity suite, including Microsoft Office and Skype, as well as featuring extensions that can integrate with non-Microsoft products, to create collaborative communities.

Teams provides a number of benefits for its users including security, cloud-scale, and a strong set of applications.

The unique aspect of teams, and where it shines through the competition, is the combination of email, messaging, document sharing, collaboration and organisation in a single app.

For example, one of the major reasons for utilising Teams over email for communication when onboarding a new user, is that they gain instant access to the entire history of the communication channel. You no longer need to forward a million emails and hope that the new employee can fit the pieces back together and make sense of the puzzle. By adding them to a team they have access to the entire thread in chronological order, which makes it significantly easier to bring a new employee up to speed.

Having access to the entire feed is a huge leap forward in the organisation of how and why decisions are made, while also providing an easily discoverable area to work backward through when issues arise.

Teams is rapidly becoming the hub of Microsoft’s productivity centre and represents a new way of working within the Office 365 ecosystem.

Get the most out of Microsoft Teams by integrating with the powerful Office 365 and Skype. Learn more about the benefits of Microsoft Office 365 and the benefits of Skype for business and enterprise level unified communications.

At eStorm we work closely with you to determine how your business can benefit from Microsoft Office 365 solutions, as well as help you to choose the right plan that makes sense for you and your needs. If you are not currently an Office 365 user, you’re considering making the switch to Office 365, or you simply don’t know where to start – please feel free to call us on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Microsoft

Microsoft Azure for Students: How To Prepare Students To Thrive In The Digital Economy

March 6, 2018 By eStormAdmin

As cloud and specifically distributed computing competencies are the #1 skill set needed most by organisations in 2018, according to LinkedIn, a long with Australia being in the top 4 nations for IoT readiness, there has never been a more integral time for students to think big, get creative and explore the development of digital applications and services.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s developers; Azure for Students, developed as part of a growing commitment to education in both the cloud and STEM classrooms, helps these students be successful future cloud developers regardless of the tools and technologies they pick. From learning a coding language to building new Artificial Intelligence experiences, students are now able to learn through a growing library of computer science labs and how-to-build docs.

Announced on March 1st, Azure for Students is designed specifically with student-focused cloud usage in mind and offers verified students full access to 25+ free Azure products, as well as a US$100 credit for use toward paid products with no credit card required.

estorm_azure_for_students

But what is Azure exactly?

Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive set of cloud services that developers and IT professionals use to build, deploy and manage applications through a global network of data centres. Integrated tools, DevOps and a marketplace support the efficient building of anything from simple mobile apps to Internet-scale solutions.

Azure for developers

As Azure integrates tools from mobile DevOps to serverless computing, as well as supporting a range of operating systems, programming languages, frameworks, databases and devices, you are able to get your apps to market faster while using tools and open-source technologies you already know.

  • Continuously innovate and provide high quality apps
  • Provide cross-device experiences with support for all major mobile platforms
  • Run any stack – Linux-based or Windows-based – and use advanced capabilities such as Kubernetes cluster in Azure Container Service

The consistent hybrid cloud

With Azure, you get the freedom to build and deploy wherever you want using the tools, applications and frameworks of your choice. Azure allows you to connect data and apps in the cloud, as well as locally, for maximum portability and value from existing investments. Azure also offers hybrid consistency in application development, management and security and identity management.

Building intelligent apps

Take advantage of Azure data services and artificial intelligence to create new experiences that scale. and support deep learning, data-driven intelligent apps, HPC simulations and real-time analytics on any shape and size of data.

  • Develop breakthrough apps with built-in AI
  • Build and deploy custom AI models at scale
  • Combine the best of Microsoft and open-source data and AI innovations

The trusted cloud

Trusted by 90% of Fortune 500 companies, the Microsoft Cloud provides security, privacy, transparency and the most compliance coverage of any cloud provider.

  • Achieve global scale on a network of managed data centres
  • Detect and mitigate threats

Some Microsoft Azure benefits:

  • Using an open and flexible platform: Azure supports the broadest selection of operating systems, programming languages, frameworks, tools, databases and devices.
  • Extend your existing IT: easily integrate with your existing IT environment through the largest network of secure private connections, hybrid database and storage solutions, and data residency and encryption features.
  • Scale as you need, pay as you go: Azure’s pay-as-you-go services can quickly scale up or down to match demand, so you only pay for what you use.
  • Protect your data: We know some organizations are still wary of the cloud and that is why Microsoft has made an industry-leading commitment to the protection and privacy of your data.
  • Run your apps anywhere: Azure runs on a worldwide network of Microsoft-managed data centres across 19 regions.
  • Make smarter decisions: Make smarter decisions, improve customer service and uncover new business possibilities from your structured, unstructured and streaming ‘Internet of Things’ data.
  • Rely on a trusted cloud: From small dev-test projects to global product launches, Azure is engineered to handle any workload. More than 57 percent of Fortune 500 companies rely on Azure.

Learn more about how Microsoft Azure can help your business.

If you’d like any further information about Microsoft Azure, assistance with your IT needs or you simply don’t know where to start – please feel free to call us on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected] We’re here to help.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: education, Microsoft

Is This The Death of the Mouse?

February 21, 2018 By eStormAdmin

Great news for Surface users – Microsoft have patented some interesting new features for the Surface Pen.

Microsoft’s new patent, awarded Thursday February 15 2018, describes a new and improved Surface Pen with touch-sensitive retention clip designed to replicate the mouses scroll wheel. The touch-sensitive clip would allow users to simply roll their finger along the clip in order to zoom and scroll, enabling users to forgo using a mouse device altogether.

 

Microsoft_Surface_Pen_Patent

Surface Pen patent

 

 

The patent also includes a low-power mode, which would prevent the Surface Pen from running at full capacity until a touch is detected. This would see improvements to battery life, which is always welcomed when computing on the go.

Microsoft_Surface_Pen_Patent_2

Surface Pen patent

 

Microsoft have also patented a hapitc feedback system for the new Surface Pen, which is designed to make drawing on a screen a more tactile experience. The new design allows the pen’s tip to retract when pressed against the screen, which compresses a coil that functions as an electromagnet, and results in movement within the housing of the pen.

 

Surface_Pen_Haptic_Feedback

Surface Pen Haptic Feedback

 

While Microsoft are clearly attempting to create new ways for users to interact with their devices, patents are filed every day for new and exciting pieces of tech that unfortunately never see the light of day – fingers crossed this isn’t one of them!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Microsoft

Microsoft’s Azure Stack

August 1, 2017 By eStormAdmin

Azure Stack: Microsoft’s private-cloud platform

Microsoft’s release of Azure Stack, an on-premises version of its public cloud, could be important for networking and data centres for one obvious reason, it gives customers a way to use a favourite and well known cloud platform without moving their sensitive data into a multi-tenant environment.

Azure Stack is software from Microsoft that’s been certified to run on a select group of partners’ hardware and is intended to look and feel just like the Azure public cloud.

Microsoft is the first of the three major IaaS vendors – Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform to offer a hybrid cloud that consists of an on-premises hardware and software bundles that runs the same software management tooling as the public cloud.

After first announcing plans for Azure Stack in 2015, Microsoft this week announced that the offering is finally available for customers to order, with shipping expected by this Spring.

Filed Under: Microsoft Azure Tagged With: Microsoft

Microsoft Azure Services

April 10, 2017 By eStormAdmin

Microsoft Azure provides different technologies which enable you to build robust application, data and process integration solutions.

One of the core offerings for Azure integration is Logic Apps. These technologies together provide a very rich and fully-managed Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS). It is a very robust and powerful platform to put together and automate integration workflows. Logic Apps also provides the concept of server-less computing, in which you just focus on what you want to achieve, without worrying at all about servers, patching and scaling.

Logic Apps workflows, which can be easily arranged and executed graphically (via the Azure Portal or Visual Studio), are based on the Workflow Definition Language. These workflows provide abundent ways to process and manipulate data that can be obtained or pushed via different connectors.

The advantages of using Logic Apps include the following:

  • Saving time by designing complex processes using easy to understand design tools
  • Implementing patterns and workflows seamlessly, that would otherwise be difficult to implement in code
  • Getting started quickly from templates
  • Customizing your logic app with your own custom APIs, code, and actions
  • Connect and synchronise disparate systems across on-premises and the cloud
  • Build off of BizTalk server, API Management, Azure Functions, and Azure Service Bus with first-class integration support

 

The breadth and capability of many different Azure technologies and how they complement each other is what differentiates Azure against other iPaaS vendors.  Speak to out team about eStorm supporting your business with Microsoft Azure.

Filed Under: Apps in Business, Cloud Computing, Microsoft Tagged With: Microsoft

Microsoft Surface Pro 5???

March 16, 2017 By eStormAdmin

People are already very excited for the upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro 5. Reports have it that it will be out as early as  April along with Windows 10. This is not confirmed and is purely speculation with other rumours reporting October release dates. We here at eStorm are looking forward to Microsoft officially advising on it’s release (whenever it happens). Stay tuned for more news and updates.

To wet the appetite, here are the unconfirmed specs of the highly anticipated device. Microsoft Surface Pro 5 is expected to feature the Intel Kaby Lake Core i7 processor. The new chip will improve the device’s overall performance and save battery life as well. It will also be equipped with 16GB RAM and 512 GB internal storage. However, this is still unconfirmed as some sources claim that the device will have Qualcomm Snapdragon 365 processor.

Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will come with a rechargeable Surface Pen, new keyboard base and a lightweight aluminum body. Reports are rife that it will also have a 12.3-inch ultra HD/4K display, USB Type-C support and a robust battery life.

Filed Under: Digital Learning, eStorm News, Microsoft, Mobility, News Tagged With: Microsoft

Microsoft To Release Their First Laptop, The Surface Book

October 7, 2015 By eStormAdmin


On Tuesday Microsoft Corp unveiled their first laptop, a new range of Lumia smartphones and a new Surface Pro tablet which will all be running their latest operating system, Windows 10.




The laptop, named the Surface Book, has a 13.5-inch display with 267 pixels per inch and features a track pad made of glass. Microsoft have claimed that it will be twice as fast as Apple’s MacBook Pro.




The Surface Book combines 6th Generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and up to 1 TB of storage with Intel HD graphics and optional discrete NVIDIA GeForce graphics. Microsoft have stated that the Surface Book could be used for photo and video editing, fast rendering or gaming.




Like the Surface tablet, the screen can be detached and Microsoft is boasting an “advanced touch and precise inking experience”.




With 12 hours of video playback battery life and full size backlit keyboard Microsoft is pitching the Surface Book as the “first full laptop in the Surface family.”




The Surface Book goes on sale in Australia on November 12 with preorders starting from October 7.




If you have any questions in regards to this product or would like to enquire about setting this up in your business, please contact the eStorm office on [email protected] or 1800 ESTORM




For more information on Microsoft’s newly updated products please visit this page.

Filed Under: Hardware, Microsoft, Windows Tagged With: Microsoft

Microsoft Office 2016 has arrived!

September 23, 2015 By eStormAdmin


Microsoft have globally released Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows and Mac, as well as several new and enhanced Office 365 services today.

Office 2016 will bring new versions of desktop apps, including the popular programs Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Access.

Microsoft is recommending the new update particularly to enterprise customers, as the Office 2016 includes a range of security features; including support for data loss prevention across the Office 2016 apps, multi-factor authentication and “other mission critical control capabilities”, according to a blog by general manager of Office 365 technical product management, Julia White.

Microsoft launched its Windows 10 update in July, designed to work across laptops, desktop and smartphones and Office 2016 has been designed to work smoothly with the operating system update.

The new Office 2016 apps are available in 40 languages and require Windows 7 or later versions. Microsoft also said starting Tuesday, Office 365 subscribers can choose to download the new Office 2016 apps as part of their subscription.

What’s new in Office 2016:

Word

In the Word app there are finger-friendly cursor controls for easy text selection, copying and pasting, plus tapping on a spelling mistake brings up a touch menu of possible replacement words. There’s also a new Bing-powered feature for Word called Insights, and this looks up background information, websites and news stories for selected words. Track changes, comments and co-editing are available too, as mentioned below.

Excel

Excel has benefited from a substantial makeover, and additions including snap functions and smart scrolling which make tapping in your spreadsheet data an easier process. It has the same touch-friendly interface, but it’s not as stripped down as with Word, and it has a status bar that lets you switch between sheets in your workbook and view the results of common formulas for selected cells.

Design

Office 2016 includes colourful new themes that match closely with the Windows 10 themes, and the latest office releases for Mac, iOS and Android apps. The colourful range of options appear on application ribbons and include blue for Word, green for Excel and red for PowerPoint. Ribbons also are redesigned slightly to make room for the ever-present “Tell Me” search field, detailed below.

“Tell Me”

Perhaps one of the most helpful inclusions of Office 2016, the Tell Me box has been incorporated to help users be more productive in Office 2016. Microsoft has added the Tell Me box that sits in the centre top of the program title bars for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Embedded in the title bar’s ribbon just to the right of a lightbulb is the search field with “Tell me what you want to do…”

If users need help trying to figure out how to add an image to a Word document, create a formula in Excel or add an animation to their Powerpoint project, simply ask the Tell Me box. Just start typing in questions using natural language query, and Microsoft will narrow the answer down the best it can.

office 2016 goes with you

Bring it all together with OneDrive cloud storage
Easily save to your cloud storage and switch from one device to the next without missing a beat. Office apps pick up right where you left off, regardless of the device you were using.

Move over Powerpoint…Sway is here

Sway is the new, ‘cooler’ way to create a presentation. Sway allows you to drag and drop photos, videos and files from YouTube, a computer, Facebook, Twitter or OneDrive onto a web browser, smartphone or tablet app. Sway lets you organise content in an engaging way to help communicate in a nonlinear (PowerPoint) manner.

Sway, in preview since October, will be available in Office 2016 and to business and education subscribers in Office 365 later this year.

Real-time co-editing In Word

Another extremely useful feature Microsoft has added to Office 2016 is a feature that Google Doc users have been enjoying for years now – real-time co-editing in Office documents. Real-time co-editing makes it easier for teams working on the same document not to double up or change information without the other team members knowing.

Real-time presence in Word

Part of co-editing in Word is actually seeing what the other person is doing – as they are doing it. To achieve that, Microsoft has added a Real Time Presence feature that allows a user to see where in a document teammates are editing.

Attachments to emails made easier

Outlook also got an update in Office 2016. When a user adds an attachment to an email, the Attach File menu option now includes Recent Items, which includes any Office documents that have recently been closed. This will save you the trouble of searching through all of your files to find what you are looking for.

office 2016 working together

Work groups Via Outlook

Outlook 2016’s other new feature involves creating work groups. Microsoft believes teams are collaborating more via email, video, IM, and in physical and virtual meetings. To help facilitate this cooperation and collaboration, Microsoft have added the ability to keep tabs on group activity, access conversation history, and manage files and group notes stored on OneDrive.

Upping security in Office 2016

This update is particularly beneficial for business customers. Microsoft have upped the security in Office 2016 with tools to prevent data leakage and manage file permissions. Administrators now can enable and set Data Loss Prevention policies for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

From the management point of view, policies can fight data leakage by allowing administrators to restrict what files can be sent to whom, and prevent data from being copied and pasted outside of Office 2016 applications.

IT administrators can place restrictions ranging from “notification” of a violation, allowing users to “override” rules with a justification, to finally “block” dissemination of content. In addition, Microsoft adds file-level encryption of Outlook, Word, Excel and other content. One also can choose to store data in a Customer Lockbox to control whether Microsoft can access sensitive information.

Better security: Word

The Data Loss Prevention features are extended to Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Users will be alerted when inside an app if they try to save a file containing confidential information in a directory, folder or service where it might not be secure.

Skype embedded into Word, Excel And PowerPoint

Microsoft has integrated Skype into Office 2016. Users can now initiate Skype voice and video calls, and text-based chats directly from within an Office document.

Overall, Microsoft have included a lot of new and updated features in Office 2016.

For information on pricing, or how to upgrade your service, please contact the eStorm office on 1300 378 676 or [email protected]

Filed Under: Microsoft, Windows Tagged With: Microsoft

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