Azure Arc extends Azure’s management and governance capabilities beyond the Azure cloud. It allows you to bring on-premises and multi-cloud resources into the Azure platform, creating a unified management experience across all environments.
Unified Management
With Azure Arc, you can manage resources consistently through:
- The Azure Portal,
- Azure CLI and PowerShell, and
- The Azure REST API.
Some functionality is free, while advanced scenarios (like Azure data services) may incur additional costs.
Extending Azure Resource Manager
Azure Arc enables you to add your non-Azure and on-premises resources into Azure Resource Manager (#53#). This means you can apply the same tools, policies, and governance features to all your resources — not just those inside Azure.
What You Can Add with Azure Arc
Azure Arc supports a wide range of resources:
- Windows and Linux servers, including non-Azure virtual machines.
- Kubernetes clusters from any environment.
- SQL Servers outside of Azure.
- VMs based on VMware vSphere and Azure Stack HCI.
- Azure data services, such as SQL Managed Instance and PostgreSQL Hyperscale, running on Kubernetes clusters.
- Azure application services, including Web Apps, Logic Apps, and Functions (#25#).
By doing this, Arc allows you to treat these external resources as though they were native Azure resources.
Benefits of Containers with Azure Arc
Running data services on Kubernetes brings the advantages of containers:
- Contain everything an app needs to run (including a lightweight OS layer).
- Faster to launch than full virtual machines.
- Can be scaled out or stopped when no longer required.
Why Azure Arc Matters
Azure Arc unifies management across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It complements governance tools like Azure Policy and Resource Locks, ensuring that all your resources — wherever they are hosted — can be managed consistently through Azure.
Next Steps
For the AZ-900 exam, focus on understanding that Azure Arc extends Azure management to non-Azure and on-premises environments. It’s about unification, not migration.
If you’d like a structured overview of all the AZ-900 fundamentals, our AZ-900 video course explains these topics clearly and simply, helping you prepare with confidence. Alternatively, please go back to our list of AZ-900 requirements.
Please click here to find out more about Microsoft’s AZ-900 exam.
