Install N-able N-central on Microsoft Azure Managed Disks

The following instructions describe how to do a new installation of N-able N-central in the Microsoft Azure Managed Disks environment. This deployment only supports Azure Resource Manager with two or more managed data disks.

Unlike other N-able N-central deployments, Azure Managed Disks (MD) deployments require at least two data disks in addition to the operating system (OS) disk. When you run the deployment script and assign at least two data disks, Azure creates a RAID 0 array using those disks. If you assign X data disks, Azure creates a RAID 0 array across all X disks. N-able N-central uses RAID 0 to combine multiple data disks into a single mount point and write to all disks in parallel, which increases IOPS throughput by X times.

Additionally, Azure MD deployments don’t include a swap volume because N-able N-central uses the resource disk for swap.The Azure Managed Disk OS image is 8 GB. During the first boot, the installation dynamically expands the image to match the deployed managed disk size.

Azure Managed Disk images are published in all public Azure regions, so you no longer need to upload a VHD. Some Azure regions are restricted to specific customers. These regions are typically a second, geographically separate region in the same country or, for the EU, a nearby country reserved for customers needing in-country disaster recovery. For details, see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/geographies/#overview.

Deployment

Deploying N-able N-central to Azure with Managed Disks is simplified by using a Deployment PowerShell script. The script requires PowerShell 7 (formerly PowerShell Core) and the Azure PowerShell Module. You can run the script on any operating system that supports the cross-platform PowerShell 7.

Before you begin, you must have a basic understanding of how to use Microsoft Azure, Windows PowerShell and how to install and configure N-able N-central.

You can download the Managed Disks Deployment script from the N-able N-central release page. To deploy a different version of N-central, update the value in the $ncentralVersion setting in the script. You can also edit other settings at the top of the script to meet your requirements. Some items are required, while others can remain at their default alues unless you need specific configurations, such as virtual network settings. The script includes full documentation for all available options. For details, see Azure Managed Disks Deployment Script.

Ultra_SSD data disks are not supported.

After you update the PowerShell installation script with your settings, run it in a PowerShell console to complete the deployment.

If you haven’t signed in to your Azure account from PowerShell, the script prompts you to sign in.

If you are using Windows, you may need to complete the following steps to run the script. For more information see the Microsoft article, Set-Execution Policy.

1. Ensure your PowerShell Execution Policy is set to "Remote-Signed".

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope LocalMachine

2. Unblock the installation script.

Unblock-File -Path .\AzureMD.ps1

First run

On first run, N-able N-central performs the following tasks:

• Expands the OS disk

• Creates a software RAID from the data disks

• Moves the database to the RAID

• Resets the trial license

This process can take 10–15 minutes.

If you try to sign in immediately after the VM is deployed, the web UI will be unresponsive and you’ll be signed out while these tasks finish.

If you deploy the VM more than 15 days after the Azure image was generated, the login page might display an expired license warning. This indicates that the first-run activities haven’t finished.

After the first-run tasks complete, the license error disappears.

VM Sizing

Always size N-able N-central for your expected device count in the future. Plan for at least 2-3 years of growth.

The maximum number of supported data disks depends on the Azure VM size. Review the Azure documentation for VM sizes before deciding how many data disks to use.

Azure VM sizing can be complex and may require some trial and error to find the best size for your deployment.

VM sizing must support Generation 2 VMs.

Current Azure VM sizing guidelines

Previous Azure VM sizing guidelines

These Azure virtual machine sizing guidelines are for previous-generation series.

Previous-generation Azure VM sizing guidelines are still supported until further notice. However, we recommend using newer VM series for better performance and security.

Notes

• For best performance, use the maximum number of data disks supported by your VM size. Multiple smaller disks provide better IOPS performance than fewer larger disks.

• The OS disk is still used for temporary storage during nightly backups to reduce IOPS on the data disks and for the backup volume. Ensure the OS disk has enough space for the size of the data disk, the OS files, repository, and an additional 15% for the backup volume. As a result, total disk utilization is slightly higher than for non-Azure deployments.

• N-able N-central is only supported on Instance types that provide local SSD storage. For Azure based N-able N-central deployments, the Local SSD Resource Disk is used for the swap-file, in place of the swap volume on all other N-able N-central deployments. An example of an unsupported instance type without local SSD storage would be the Dsv4 Series (not to be confused with the supported Ddsv4 Series).

• N-able N-central is only currently supported on Instance types that provide Intel Processors. The newer AMD EPYC Processor instances have not been tested or verified. An example of an unsupported AMD EPYC instance type would be the Dasv4 Series.

• The VM sizes listed are examples of the maximum supported configurations. For guidance on selecting the right size for your needs, see the Microsoft article Sizes for virtual machines in Azure. Choose "General Purpose" for "D family" and "Compute optimized" for "F family".

What's next?

With N-able N-central installed:

• Review the Getting Started help topics
• Set up Service Organizations, Customers and Sites, and configure users.