Unlock Hybrid Cloud Power: A Beginner’s Guide to Azure Arc with Real-World Use Cases

Introduction

As organizations embrace hybrid and multi-cloud environments, managing diverse infrastructures can become a challenge. Microsoft Azure Arc bridges this gap, offering a unified management solution that brings the power of Azure services to any infrastructure, whether on-premises, at the edge, or in another public cloud.

In this blog, we will explore what Azure Arc is, why it’s needed, and how you can start using it with a real-world example and visual onboarding steps.

What is Azure Arc?

Azure Arc is a Microsoft service that extends Azure management capabilities to non-Azure environments. This includes:

• On-premises servers (Windows and Linux)
• Virtual machines (VMs) in AWS, Google Cloud, etc.
• Kubernetes clusters
• Databases like SQL Server and PostgreSQL

With Azure Arc, these resources appear in the Azure Portal as first-class Azure resources, allowing you to manage them using the same tools and policies you use for native Azure services.

Why Use Azure Arc?

Organizations often operate in a hybrid or multi-cloud
environment, but managing and securing all these resources in a consistent way
can be overwhelming. Azure Arc solves this by:

• Centralizing governance
• Enforcing security and compliance across environments
• Monitoring and managing all resources from Azure
• Enabling DevOps and automation through tools like GitOps
• Extending Azure data services and applications to any infrastructure

Key Benefits of Azure Arc

Real-World Example: Company ABC’s Hybrid Setup

Company ABC runs workloads on multiple platforms:

• 10 on-prem servers (Windows/Linux)
• 5 VMs on AWS
• 2 Kubernetes clusters (1 on-prem, 1 in Google Cloud)

Challenge:

• No centralized visibility
• Inconsistent security policies
• Manual monitoring and compliance

Solution with Azure Arc:

1. Install Azure Arc agent on all non-Azure VMs and clusters.
2. Register them with Azure Arc.
3. Apply Azure Policy to enforce compliance.
4. Enable Defender for Cloud for threat protection.
5. Use Azure Monitor to track performance and uptime.

Result: All resources now appear in Azure Portal and are managed like native Azure VMs.

Azure Arc Onboarding: Step-by-Step Flow:

Here is simplified visual guide to help you understand the onboarding process:

Steps:

1. Install Azure Arc Agent on your server or VM.
2. Register the Resource with Azure Arc.
3. Verify in Azure Portal – the server will now show up like an Azure VM.
4. Apply Policies & Enable Monitoring via Azure Policy and Azure Monitor.
5. Achieve Unified Management across your entire environment.