Innovate, Integrated Cloud Apps & Services

As more and more businesses are looking at ways to focus on their core businesses and enable digital transformation, outsourcing their technical infrastructure is gaining more and more traction. For many small to mid-sized businesses efficiencies and cost savings can be realized rather quickly by moving to cloud based software and infrastructure as researched by analysts throughout last decade. The critical decision here is to find the right partner to help with this transformation.

We have launched Kerr Cloud in 2005 with one goal in mind – keep serving our customers the same way we provide services in other areas of software implementation, support, and development projects. As we started in our journey for providing hosting services our goal was to provide best in class infrastructure and managed services specifically for software applications we sell and support. Over the years we have expanded our offerings to include full infrastructure cloud migration projects with same level of services we are accustomed to provide regardless of our customer size. Every day we thrive in going to the extra mile by being more agile, responsive, and proactive for our customers requests.

When we first designed and launched our infrastructure, we utilized private data centers with multiple redundant locations using VMWare architecture. Over the years as cloud infrastructure technologies evolved and more and more global cybersecurity incidents recorded as a long time Microsoft partner, we decided to utilize Azure as our Infrastructure for premier hosting services to our customers. We have gone through a detailed analysis prior to finalizing our selection taking into consideration factors like security, availability, scalability, and speed to have customers up and running on the platform. There is wealth of information available around Azure Cloud Infrastructure but here is a summary of highlights that is applicable to our services.

Security:

Take advantage of multi-layered security provided by Microsoft across physical datacenters, infrastructure, and operations in Azure. Gain from the state-of-art security delivered in Azure data centers globally. Rely on a cloud that is built with customized hardware, has security controls integrated into the hardware and firmware components, and added protections against threats such as DDoS. Benefit from an investment of more than USD1 billion in research and development and a team of more than 3,500 global cybersecurity experts that work together to help safeguard your business assets and data in Azure.

Compliance:

Streamline compliance and protect your data with the most comprehensive compliance coverage of any cloud service provider. Azure leads the industry with more than 90 compliance offerings. Take advantage of more than 90 compliance certifications, including over 50 specific global regions and countries, such as the US, the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, India, and China. And get more than 35 compliance offerings specific to the needs of key industries, including health, government, finance, education, manufacturing, and media. Your emerging compliance needs are covered, too: Microsoft engages globally with governments, regulators, standards bodies, and non-governmental organizations.

Backup and Disaster Recovery:

Azure offers an end-to-end backup and disaster recovery solution that’s simple, secure, scalable, and cost-effective—and can be integrated with on-premises data protection solutions. In the case of service disruption or accidental deletion or corruption of data, recover your business services in a timely and orchestrated manner. The Azure backup and disaster recovery solution is simple to architect, cloud-native, highly available, and resilient.

Scalable Global Infrastructure:

Azure global infrastructure is made up of two key components—physical infrastructure and connective network components. The physical component is comprised of 160+ physical datacenters, arranged into regions, and linked by one of the largest interconnected networks on the planet. With the connectivity of the global Azure network, each of the Azure datacenters provides high availability, low latency, scalability, and the latest advancements in cloud infrastructure—all running on the Azure platform. Together, these components keep data entirely within the trusted Microsoft network and IP traffic never enters the public internet.

KerrCloud Standard Hosting Services

Our standard hosting service is built upon Azure Infrastructure utilizing shared Azure service components to enable us to provide a solid platform and software hosting service at a reasonable cost. We make sure our clients have optimum performance accessing their applications, so we use premium storage and, memory and process optimized compute environment to deliver on our promise.

As an MSP (Managed Services Provider) we deploy advanced monitoring and management applications including Azure Firewall, ConnectWise Automate, ESET Security, Fortify, Sentinel One and Perch solutions to proactively manage, monitor and identify issues proactively. We do manage all infrastructure and operating system updates on a scheduled basis. Our managed services staff is available to assist with any problems that you may encounter accessing your applications.



Our standard backup and DR (Disaster Recovery) policy include Premium Managed SSD Storage with built in redundancy where instant copies of your data are being stored on a secondary infrastructure within Azure data center network. Additionally, we retain 20 days of full backups along with 2 snapshots a day. We also offer flexibility to scale your environment as your user and computing needs increase.

KerrCloud Additional Hosting Services

On top of our standard offerings, our clients can also purchase additional services that is supported by Azure Infrastructure. Additionally, we do offer private Azure subscriptions as Microsoft Tier 1 CSP (Cloud Services Provider). Here are some of the additional infrastructure options and services we offer:

Azure Private Cloud Subscription – Our managed private cloud subscription includes our premier management and monitoring services along with scalable infrastructure configurations for customers who needs private managed IAAS (Infrastructure as a service) environment.

Advanced Backup and DR Solution – includes multi data center recovery services within Azure Network

Express Route - ExpressRoute lets you extend your on-premises networks into the Microsoft cloud over a private connection with the help of a connectivity provider. Connectivity can be from an any-to-any (IP VPN) network, a point-to-point Ethernet network, or a virtual cross-connection through a connectivity provider at a colocation facility.

VPN Gateway - A VPN gateway is a specific type of virtual network gateway that is used to send encrypted traffic between an Azure virtual network and an on-premises location over the public Internet. You can also use a VPN gateway to send encrypted traffic between Azure virtual networks over the Microsoft network. Each virtual network can have only one VPN gateway. However, you can create multiple connections to the same VPN gateway. When you create multiple connections to the same VPN gateway, all VPN tunnels share the available gateway bandwidth.

Storage – Additional cloud storage options for BLOB storage, file shares or archival needs.

Compute – Servers for Windows, Linux and other supported operating systems. Web Apps and additional SQL hosting utilizing Azure SQL services.

Azure DR and Infrastructure Migration – We can assist with setting up Hybrid cloud infrastructure extending your on-premises data center to Azure. We have extensive experience with setting up Site Recovery setup and Azure migration projects.

Microsoft 365 – Microsoft 365 (Office 365) licensing, configuration, migration and set up services including Microsoft Teams VOIP (Voice / Phone System), audio-conferencing, Advanced Threat Protection, Azure AD (identity Management).

Dynamics 365 – Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Marketing licensing and implementation assistance.

What is Microsoft Azure Used For?

The most common question we get from clients interested in the software is, “what is Microsoft Azure used for?” We know that it’s important to understand the purpose of a software to determine if ifs the right choice for your company. Therefore, we recommend it for customers who need to build, run, and manage their own applications on-premises or across clouds.

Microsoft Azure Training

To get the most out of your software, we suggest Microsoft Azure training. However, there are many ways you can go about learning the Microsoft Azure fundamentals and beyond. For example, you can seek in-person classes through a third party, work with our consultants, or use Microsoft’s online learning paths.

The online Microsoft Azure training is a great resource for beginners and advanced users. With it, you gain access to video sessions, community forums, and virtual events. The pre-determined paths make it easy for you to follow along and build your knowledge and skills. Some of the most popular paths include:

• Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Parts 1-6
• Taking Your First Steps with Python
• Managing Resources in Azure
• Introduction to Well-Architected Framework
• Azure SQL Fundamentals
• And More!

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

In order to get started with Azure, you need the building blocks. Learning the fundamentals sets you up for success and prepares you for more advanced lessons and certifications. The fundamentals of Azure help you to:

• Describe the Core Concepts of Azure
• Describe the Core Services of Azure
• Describe the Core Solutions and Management Tools on Azure
• Describe Azure’s General Security and Network Security Features
• Describe Features for Identity, Governance, Privacy, and Compliance
• Describe Microsoft Azure Cost Management & Service-Level Agreements

Microsoft Azure Certification

Certifications are an excellent way to show that you have undergone training in Microsoft Azure Blockchain, Microsoft Azure Security, or any other function. When you go through the Microsoft Azure certification process, you must take an exam. There are multiple exams for each type of Microsoft Azure certification path.

To start, we always recommend that you take the exam for Microsoft-certified Azure fundamentals. The certification proves that you understand cloud concepts, Azure services, Microsoft Azure security, and more. It even includes pricing and support.

The Microsoft-certified Azure fundamentals prepare you for a more specific role or another certification. However, the fundamentals aren’t a prerequisite for any other Microsoft Azure certification path.

Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer

If you don’t like to store things on-premises, you need to become familiar with Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer. It is good to include this in your Microsoft Azure certification path as one of your Microsoft certified Azure fundamentals.

With Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer, you can upload, download, and manage your Azure files, tables, and information from anywhere. Included with the storage, you get access to Microsoft Azure security, so you can keep your data safe and secure at all times.

Microsoft Azure vs AWS

Though Azure isn’t the only cloud for enterprise infrastructure, organizations from all over the world choose it over AWS.

• More Affordable: The Microsoft Azure cost is much lower than AWS.
• Comprehensive Solutions: You can easily integrate all of your other Microsoft technologies.
• Hybrid Options: Azure can be on-premises, in the cloud, or a little of both.

Discover the Microsoft Azure Cost at Kerr Consulting

Whether you need Microsoft Azure Blockchain or Storage Explorer, Kerr Consulting can help you find the right system for your needs and budget. We know all about the Azure pricing model, so we can provide you with accurate pricing. To get your quote, simply call our professionals or request a consultation through our online form.

SLA Summary for Azure Services as provided by Microsoft:

Azure Backup: We guarantee at least 99.9% availability of the backup and restore functionality of the Azure Backup service.

Cloud Services and Virtual Machines: For Cloud Services, we guarantee that when you deploy two or more role instances in different fault and upgrade domains, at least one role instance will have Role Instance Connectivity at least 99.95% of the time. For any Single Instance Virtual Machine using premium storage for all disks, we guarantee you will have Virtual Machine Connectivity of at least 99.9%.

Azure Firewall: Azure Firewall offers fully stateful native firewall capabilities for Virtual Network resources, with built-in high availability and the ability to scale automatically. We guarantee that Azure Firewall will be available at least 99.95% of the time, when deployed within a single Availability Zone.

VPN Gateway: We guarantee 99.9% availability for each Basic Gateway for VPN or Basic Gateway for ExpressRoute. We guarantee 99.95% availability for each Standard, High Performance, VpnGw1, VpnGw2, VpnGw3 Gateway for VPN.

Storage Accounts: We guarantee that at least 99.99% (99.9% for Cool Access Tier) of the time, we will successfully process requests to read data from Read Access-Geo Redundant Storage (RA-GRS) Accounts, provided that failed attempts to read data from the primary region are retried on the secondary region. We guarantee that at least 99.9% (99% for Cool Access Tier) of the time, we will successfully process requests to read data from Locally Redundant Storage (LRS), Zone Redundant Storage (ZRS), and Geo Redundant Storage (GRS) Accounts. We guarantee that at least 99.9% (99% for Cool Access Tier) of the time, we will successfully process requests to write data to Locally Redundant Storage (LRS), Zone Redundant Storage (ZRS), and Geo Redundant Storage (GRS) Accounts and Read Access-Geo Redundant Storage (RA-GRS) Accounts.