We’ve recently completed a 12-part series of blog posts about running and managing Linux and FreeBSD in an on-premises datacenter. While this is the Azure blog, these posts may be relevant to you in two areas:

1. You may have a hybrid environment, with some elements running in the Azure public cloud and other elements running in your datacenter or a host datacenter. Understanding how Microsoft enables Linux workloads on-premises is a useful companion to the Linux workloads you run in Azure.
2. Many of the core capabilities for running and managing Linux and FreeBSD on-premises also show up in Azure. Running Linux on Hyper-V is fundamental to running Linux in Azure since Azure is based on Hyper-V. Aspects such as Linux networking performance on Hyper-V are directly reflected in Linux network performance in Azure. Management technologies such as PowerShell DSC for Linux show up in Azure offerings such as Azure Automation. Understanding these core capabilities can inform how the Azure functionality works.

Check out the series below.

Overview

• Microsoft Loves Linux

Running Linux and FreeBSD as a guest operating system on Hyper-V

• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #1:  Introduction to Linux and FreeBSD on Hyper-V
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #2:  Linux and FreeBSD Integration Services Core Features
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #3:  Linux Dynamic Memory and Live Backup
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #4:  Linux Network Features and Performance
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #5:  FreeBSD Overview and Status

Managing Linux and UNIX using System Center and PowerShell DSC

• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #6:  Linux and UNIX Systems Management Overview
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #7:  Managing Linux in System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #8:  Linux and UNIX Monitoring with Operations Manager
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #9:  Monitoring Open Source Middleware
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #10:  Managing the Software Configuration on Linux and UNIX Servers
• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #11:  Linux Configuration Management with PowerShell DSC

Summary

• Microsoft Loves Linux Deep Dive #12: Summary of Running and Managing Linux and FreeBSD in Your Datacenter