Jump to content

Server: Hosting Emby in Azure


ruslanb1

Recommended Posts

ruslanb1

I've tried to manually install Emby server on Azure VM. It was easy and it worked.

However VM is not persistent and so deployment solution (unattended setup and configuration) would be needed.

Has anyone done something like this?

 

Thank you,

Rus

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ruslanb1

You are right about "as long as it's running"; however VMs in Azure get replaced with new image due to security patching, hardware failures e.t.c.

I installed it twice and watched server app disappear after rebooting VM.

 

Whole Azure philosophy is based on scale and availability which means the Cloud service should be able to deploy (and configure) MediaBrowser at any time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AgileHumor

There is something else going on.  Did you try logging in with a new user account (getting a new %appdata% where Emby is stored)

 

Images do not get swapped at all if your using Virtual Machines. OS will persist at state created (does not autoupdate, unless you have Windows updates). They persist even after stopping, it's just that you may get a new public IP (hint, CNAME to the *.cloudapp.net adress).

 

I'm very familiar with Azure...thousands of servers deployed.  Feel free to ask any questions.

 

PS - Your describing PaaS (or Azure 1.0).  The have had VM's persistent for a while and the lowest supported is 2008R2 VM's.   Emby is in no way being written as PaaS type architecture ATM.

Edited by AgileHumor
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ruslanb1

Thanks you for your reply,

I didn't do too deep into investigations and so far I only tried to install Emby on Windows 7 Enterprise VM provided by Azure services.

Basically after adding more Cores and / or attaching new drive I wasn't able to find Emby on VM (being logged in via remote desktop)

 

Can you please share recommended steps:

What OS is better to use, where do you store media files (on C drive or attached VHD)

Images do get swapped in case of hardware failure. Are the app and settings preserved in this case?

What happens when automatic windows update is applied?

I'm not sure about Azure version and I don't know what PaaS is, but I do have Azure subscription (login to https://portal.azure.com)

 

 

Thank you,

Rus

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AgileHumor

Images do not get "swapped" on hardware failure...they just restart (as is) on another node.   If your familiar with virtualization, the VHD file just moves to run on another VM with 100% data intact.

 

I'd suggest Windows 20102 R2 (latest date) as it mirrors the Windows 8.1 kernel.  

 

If you need high data reads/writes, make sure you set up multiple disk (limited to 1TB per disk) windows storage space array as described here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/igorpag/archive/2014/06/10/best-practices-amp-disaster-recovery-for-storage-spaces-and-pools-in-azure.aspx

 

You'll need to open up the ports 8086 externally (or SSL port) to connect.

 

There are many ways to get the files up so you don't need a VPN...GoodSync is good.

 

You control patching (and set the schedule) as it's your data (just like you do in the control panel with your Windows PC).  Microsoft will not patch your servers in IaaS VM (only .Net PaaS code specifically written to run/scale in Azure).  Many companies would flip out if Microsoft forced updates.

 

IaaS is also defined as Virtual Machines:

http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-machines/ 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
steven.hawkins

Hi Rus,

 

I think from what you are asking there are possibly two requirements, that is you would rather high-availability in case of patching / failure and a automated deployment in the first instance.

 

To address the issue of high-availability, in case of VM being unavailable, Azure has the idea of update and fault domains which can be set via Availability Sets.  You will require at least two VMs for this to work, so cost will go up, but in my experience storage costs more than the compute resources.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/virtual-machines-windows-manage-availability

 

If you would rather not have that level of high-availability due the cost or complexity then as AgileHumor mentions you can specify the schedule which Azure will use to reboot your VM after patching.

 

I've just started looking into automating a NAS build in Azure this morning as I want to get rid of my OMV server, I'll share the source when I have something working.

 

Cheers

 

Steve

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ruslanb1

Thank you Steve!

No high-vailability is not really my goal at this time but It is good to know that it can be supported. I'm successfully running Emby VM in Azure for several month and it has been doing very good job for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...