Repatriating from the Public Cloud- Azure Edition

Sometimes, even IT experts have trouble understanding the AdobeStock_138336310complexities of the public cloud. And if they’re having trouble, how can non-experts be expected to fully understand it? Well, they can’t, which is why many organizations are repatriating from the public cloud. From frequent pricing changes and fees, to the utilization of unfamiliar technology terms, to conflicts with compliance regulations, companies are fed up. Recently, as organizations have decided to cut the cord from their public cloud providers, we are getting questions on how to remove data from the public cloud. So, if you are trying to repatriate from Microsoft Azure, this is for you.  

The Process

If you need to import or export data from Azure, consider using Azure Import/Export. This is a service used to securely import or export large amounts of data to Azure Blob storage and Azure files by shipping disk drives to an Azure data center. This service can also be used to transfer data from Azure storage to disk drives and can ship to your on-premise sites. Data from one or more disk drives can be imported to Azure Blob storage or Azure Files, or it can be used to export data. You can supply your own disk drives and transfer data with the Azure Import/Export service, or you can use disk drives supplied by Microsoft.

Inside an Export Job

Important: This service only supports the export of Azure Blobs; the exportation of Azure files is not supported.

At a high level, an export job involves the following steps:

  1. Determine the data you wish to export, the number of drives you need, and the source blobs or container paths of your data in Blob storage.
  2. Create an export job in your source storage account on the Azure portal.
  3. Specify source blobs or container paths for the data to be exported to.
  4. Provide the return address and carrier account number for shipping the drives back to you.
  5. Ship the disk drives to the shipping address provided during job creation.
  6. Update the delivery tracking number in the export job details and submit the export job.
  7. Azure receives and processes your drives at their data center.
  8. The drives are encrypted with BitLocker and the keys are available via the Azure portal.
  9. The drives are shipped back to the address provided in the import job, using the carrier account specified.

If that process seemed daunting to you, we’d have to agree. To avoid the complicated -and costly- quagmire that is managing a public cloud, consider selecting a predictable cloud solution instead. Depending on what is right for your organization, a private cloud, virtual private cloud (VPC), or a hybrid cloud, are all good alternatives to the public cloud. They can provide you with the benefits of the public cloud, without the negatives. When choosing a reputable cloud provider you should examine their security protocols, compliance, scalability, and the ease of implementation.

The DSM Difference

For a deeper dive on what public cloud repatriation is (and why we call it the “Hotel California” effect), our Founder and CEO, David Robinson, recently held an informative webinar on the subject that you can listen to now. If you’re planning to repatriate some, or all, of your workloads from a public cloud to a private cloud, contact the experts at DSM, Florida’s predictable cloud provider.

Can the public cloud hold your data hostage? | DSM Webinar

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