Long story short - we have a physical server at one of our branches that performs a specific service. We'd like to transfer this service to a VM in our Azure cloud for better stability and performance. Each branch has a MX64 and MS120 with a mesh site-to-site VPN. All of the our other branches has a client that is configured specifically to the IP address of the server and if we were to change the IP address, it would require a hard reset and reconfiguration for each client at each branch (which we were advised to avoid if possible). It's not a computer, it's an actual hardware device, so it's not like we can just go in the IP configuration and change settings.
I did try to see if there was some way we could do a virtual IP load-balancing setup within the private network, where we can transfer the dedicated IP address as a virtual IP and redirect the traffic; but I don't seem to see a way to do that.
Another option I did think of is to configure the VM:
1) With a client VPN to the branch but we're concerned about vpn timeouts leading to outages and instability or;
2) Install A vMX100 in Azure and connect it to our Meraki cloud, implement a new VLAN on the original network with the current IP addressing scheme, span that VLAN to the xVM100; then transfer the IP address from the old server to the new VM. But it's not cost-effective to get a vMX100 license for just 1 server.
I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar situation to this and what they did to complete the project. Your input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
