Lab 3: Deploy a Virtual Network and Subnet in East US

Step-by-Step Lab Instructions

To complete this lab, you will:

Create a virtual network named vNet-East and place it in the RG-Lab resource group within the East US region.
Change the default address space to 10.1.0.0/16 to accommodate future resource deployments.
- This provides a large pool of IP addresses for subnets and other network components as the project expands.
Modify the subnet configuration:
- Remove the automatically created default subnet.
- Create a new subnet named Subnet-East.
- Assign Subnet-East a starting address of 10.1.1.0 with a /24 mask.
- This defines the subnet address range as 10.1.1.0 through 10.1.1.255, dedicated for the East US virtual machines that will later serve as web servers.
After deployment, confirm that Subnet-East appears on the Subnets page of vNet-East.
Defining this custom subnet allows for more efficient traffic flow management, easier implementation of security policies, and optimized network performance for application workloads.

How This Lab Fits into the Overall Project

Deploying vNet-East and Subnet-East helps establish a structured and scalable network environment for the distributed web application that you’re deploying. This network will serve as the foundation for all virtual machines and services deployed in the East US region, ensuring secure and efficient communication between resources.

This feature is available to labITpro Supporters only.

Azure VM Scale Sets — Quick Reference

Fast lookup for orchestration modes, autoscaling, load balancing, updates & CLI.

Core Benefits

Create & manage groups of identical or heterogeneous VMs.
Automatic scaling based on demand or schedule.
Load balance traffic across instances.
HA across fault domains & availability zones.
Pay only for VMs; no charge for scale set itself.

Scale sets can handle up to 1,000 VMs (Marketplace/Gallery images).

Orchestration Modes

Mode	Profile	Best For
Flexible	Standard Azure VMs	New workloads (default)
Uniform	Identical VMs	Legacy large-scale workloads

Flexible: Full standard VM APIs, dynamic mixing (Spot+on-demand), 1,000 VMs. Uniform: Locked after creation; up to 1,000 VMs (Marketplace) or 600 (custom images).

Orchestration Comparison

Feature	Flexible	Uniform
Standard VM APIs	Yes	No
Mix instance types	Yes	No
RBAC per VM	Yes	No
Azure Backup	Yes	No
Site Recovery	Yes	No
Fault domains	1–3	1–5

Autoscaling Metrics

Host metrics: CPU, memory, disk (no agent needed).
Guest metrics: Custom counters (Azure Diagnostics Extension).
App Insights: Application-level performance metrics.
Rules: Min/max capacity, scale-out/in thresholds, cooldown periods.

Autoscale rules use metrics from Load Balancer, Diagnostics, or App Insights.

Load Balancing

Type	Layer	Best For
Internal LB	L4	Backend pools
Public LB	L4	External traffic
App Gateway	L7	HTTP/HTTPS + WAF

Large scale sets (>100 VMs) require Load Balancer Standard SKU.

Availability & Zones

Single zone: All VMs in one availability zone.
Zone-redundant: VMs spread across 1, 2, or 3 zones in region.
Zone balance: Auto-spread VMs evenly across zones (±1 VM).
Fault domains: 1–3 per zone for best-effort resilience.

Use availability zones for datacenter-level failure protection.

Upgrade Policies (Uniform)

Policy	Rollout	Use
Automatic	Batch	App can tolerate disruption
Rolling	Controlled	Gradual, managed updates
Manual	On-demand	Full control; explicit API calls

Flexible mode uses standard VM updates; no built-in rolling.

Application Deployment

Custom image: Preinstall app; faster provisioning.
Custom Script Extension: Download & run scripts post-deploy.
Azure VM Applications: Package & manage centrally (new).
PowerShell DSC: Desired State Configuration for consistency.

Custom images: 600 VMs max; Marketplace images: 1,000 VMs.

Planned Maintenance & Health

Azure Patch Manager: Automated guest OS patching.
Application Health Extension: Monitor app heartbeat; auto-replace unhealthy.
Health probes (Uniform): Monitor via load balancer.
Platform updates coordinated; typically brief interruption.

Hands-On Azure Labs: Building Redundant Cloud Solutions

Lab 3 of 29: Deploy vNet-East and Subnet-East

Step-by-Step Lab Instructions

How This Lab Fits into the Overall Project

Complete the Lab Simulation