Install N-able N-central on Microsoft Azure Managed Disks
The instructions below walk you through a new installation of N-able N-central in the Microsoft Azure Managed Disks environment. Only Azure Resource Manager with 1 or more Managed Disks is supported.
Unlike all other N-able N-central deployments, Azure Managed Disks (MD) deployments support/require at least one Data disk in addition to the Operating System Disk. When you use the deployment script and assign one Data disk, Azure creates a RAID 0 array of the one disk. If you assign X data disks, Azure creates a RAID 0 of those X disks. N-able N-central uses a RAID 0 to combine multiple Data disks into a single mount point, while writing to all disks in parallel. This increases the IOPS throughput by X times.
Additionally, Azure MD deployments have no SWAP Volume, as N-able N-central uses the Resource Disk for the SWAP Volume. The Azure MD OS Disk image is 8 GB, as the install dynamically expands the image to match the deployed Managed Disk size on first boot.
Azure MD images are published to each Public Azure Region, so you no longer need to upload the VHD. It is important to know that there are some Azure Regions that are restricted to certain Azure users. These are a second, geographically separated Azure Region in the same country, or in the case of the EU, another nearby country that is reserved for customers needing in-country disaster recovery. For information on Azure regions, 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.
You must have basic knowledge 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. If you want to deploy a different version of N-central, replace the value for the $ncentralVersion setting. You can also edit other settings at the top of the script to meet your requirements. Some items are required, while others can be left with the defaults unless they need to use specific values, such as the virtual network settings. The script contains full documentation explaining all included options. See Azure Managed Disks Deployment Script for details.
Ultra_SSD Data Disks are not supported.
Before you deploy a dual stack application in Azure, you must configure your subscription for this preview feature using the following Azure PowerShell.
Register as follows:
Register-AzProviderFeature -FeatureName AllowIPv6VirtualNetwork -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.Network
It takes up to 30 minutes for feature registration to complete.
You can check your registration status by running the following Azure PowerShell command:
Get-AzProviderFeature -FeatureName AllowIPv6VirtualNetwork -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.Network
After the registration is complete, run the following command:
Register-AzResourceProvider -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.Network
After you have modified the PowerShell Install Script with your settings, you only need to launch it in a PowerShell console and it will complete the deployment for you. If you have not already logged into your Azure account from PowerShell, the script will prompt you to log 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.
- Ensure your PowerShell Execution Policy is set to "Remote-Signed".
- Un-Block the Install Script.
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope LocalMachine
Unblock-File -Path .\AzureMD.ps1
First run
After the PowerShell Script has completed successfully, wait a few minutes before logging into the Web UI. On first run, N-able N-central will expand the OS disk, create a software RAID from the data disks, and move the database to it, then reset the trial license. This process can take 10 - 15 minutes to complete.
If you try to log into the web UI right after they VM is deployed, you will be kicked out, and the web UI will be unresponsive for a few minutes while the first run tasks are completed.
If you deploy the VM more than 15 days after the Azure image was generated, you will be able to tell the first run activities have not been completed by the expired license warning on the login page. Once the first run tasks complete, the license error will no longer be present.
VM Sizing
Always size N-able N-central for your expected number of devices in the future. Try to plan for at least 2 - 3 years in the future.
The maximum number of supported Data Disks is defined by the Azure VM size. You will need to consult the Azure Documentation for their VM size before deciding on the number of Data Disks. Azure VM sizing can be a little tricky, and may require some trial and error to determine the best VM size for any particular deployment.
VM sizing must support Generation 2 VMs.
Rough guidelines are as follows:
| Number of Devices | Recommended Azure Size | CPU Cores | Memory | OS Disk | Data Disks (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 | Standard_DS2_v2 | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB | 20 GB |
| Up to 3,000 | Standard_DS3_v2 | 4 | 8 GB | 110 GB | 60 GB |
| Up to 6,000 | Standard_DS4_v2 | 8 | 16 GB | 200 GB | 125 GB |
| Up to 9,000 | Standard_DS5_v2 | 12 | 24 GB | 300 GB | 200 GB |
| Up to 12,000 | Standard_DS5_v2 | 16 | 32 GB | 400 GB | 275 GB |
| Up to 16,000 | Standard_DS32s_v3 | 22 | 48 GB | 550 GB | 375 GB |
| Up to 20,000 | Standard_F32s_v2 | 28 | 64 GB | 700 GB | 500 GB |
| Up to 24,000 | Standard_F48s_v2 | 34 | 80 GB | 875 GB | 650 GB |
Notes
- The recommendations are based on N-able N-central requirements balanced with Azure Maximum IOPS. For example, N-able recommends "Standard_DS5_v2" as opposed to the newer generation "Standard_D16s_v3", because the "Standard_DS5_v2" has a maximum IOPS of 51200 as compared to 25600 for the "Standard_D16s_v3".
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For best performance, we recommend using the maximum number of Data disks your VM size permits. More small disks will provide better IOPS performance than fewer larger disks.
- The OS disk is still used for temporary storage during the nightly backup to reduce IOPS on the data disks, as well as for the Backup Volume. Therefore, there needs to be at least the size of the Data disk, plus OS files, Repository and 15% for the Backup Volume. As a result, the total disk utilization is slightly more than for non-Azure deployments.
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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).
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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 and verified. An example of an unsupported AMD EPYC instance type would be the Dasv4 Series.
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.