Designed by Microsoft in 2010, Microsoft Azure is one of the widely used cloud computing platforms. Azure provides a wide variety of services such as cloud storage, compute services, network services, cognitive services, databases, analytics, and IoT. It makes building, deploying, and managing applications very easy. All the Microsoft Azure fundamentals are also described for a better understanding of readers.
What is
Azure?
Azure is a
Microsoft's cloud platform, just like Google has its Google Cloud and
Amazon has its Amazon Web Service or AWS.000. Generally, it is a platform
through which we can use Microsoft’s resources. For example, to set up a huge
server, we will require huge investment, effort, physical space, and so on. In
such situations, Microsoft Azure comes to our rescue. It will provide us with
virtual machines, fast processing of data, analytical and monitoring tools, and
so on to make our work simpler. The pricing of Azure is also simpler and more
cost-effective. Popularly termed as “Pay As You Go”, which means
how much you use, pay only for that.
How does
Microsoft Azure Work?
It is a
private and public cloud platform that helps developers and IT professionals
build deploy and manage applications. It uses the technology known as
virtualization. Virtualization separates the tight coupling between the
hardware and the operating system using an abstraction layer called a
hypervisor. Hyperwiser emulates all the functions of a computer in a
virtual machine, it can run multiple virtual machines at the same time and each
virtual machine can run any operating system, such as Windows or Linux.
Azure takes
this virtualization technique and repeats it on a massive scale in the data
center owned by Microsoft. Each data center has many racks filled with servers
and each server includes a hypervisor to run multiple virtual machines. The
network switch provides connectivity to all those servers.
Types of
Azure Services
Microsoft
Azure is a cloud computing platform which offers the following types of
services:
- Infrastructure as a service (
IaaS )
- Platform as a service (PaaS)
- Software as a service (SaaS)
Infrastructure
as a service (IaaS)
Virtual
machines, storage, and networking will come under the category of
infrastructure as a service but the users have to do manually the build and
deploy of the applications. Azure will support a wide range of operating
systems because of its Hyper-hypervisor.
Platform
as a service (PaaS)
Azure app
service, Azure Functions, and logic apps are some services that are offered by
Azure under the platform as a service. This service will provide autoscaling
and Load Balancing and also there will be a pre-configured
environment for the application.
Software
as a service (SaaS)
Office 365,
Dynamics 365, and Azure Active Directory are some of the services provided
by Microsoft Azure under SaaS, the complete application will be managed by
the Microsoft azure including deploying, scaling and load balancing.
What is a
public cloud? Everything you need to know
Computing in
which service provider makes all resources public over the internet. It is
connected to the public Internet. Service provider serves resources such as
virtual machines, applications, storage, etc to the general public over the
internet. It may be free of cost or with minimal pay-per-usage. It is available
for public display, Google uses the cloud to run some of its applications like
google docs, google drive or YouTube, etc.
It is the most common way of implementing cloud computing. The external cloud
service provider owns, operates, and delivers it over the public
network. It is best for the companies which need an infrastructure to
accommodate a large number of customers and work on projects which have diverse
organizations i.e. research institutions and NGOs etc.
Key
Characteristics of Public Clouds
The
following are the characteristics of Public Cloud:
- Accessibility: Public clouds are easily
accessible over the internet from anywhere, enabling convenient access to
resources.
- Scalability: They offer scalability,
allowing users to quickly adjust resources based on demand, ensuring
efficient resource utilization.
- Cost-effectiveness: Public clouds operate on a
pay-as-you-go model, reducing upfront costs and enabling cost-effective
usage of resources.
- Security: Robust security measures
such as encryption, access controls, and compliance certifications are
implemented to protect data and infrastructure.
What is
Microsoft Azure Used For?
Following
are the some the use cases that Microsoft Azure Used.
- Deployment Of
applications: You can develop and deploy the application in the azure cloud by
using the service called Azure App Service and Azure Functions after
deploying the applications end users can access it.
- Identity and Access
Management: The application and data which is deployed and stored in the
Microsoft Azure can be secured with the help of Identity and Access
Management. It’s commonly used for single sign-on, multi-factor
authentication, and identity governance.
- Data Storage and
Databases: You
can store the data in Microsoft azure in service like blob storage for
unstructured data, table storage for NOSQL data file storage, and
Azure SQL Database for relational databases. The service can be scaled
depending on the amount of data we are getting.
- DevOps and Continuous
Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Azure DevOps will provide
some tools like including version control, build automation, release
management, and application monitoring.
Azure for
Disaster Recovery and Backup
A full range
of Disaster Recovery and backup services are available from Microsoft
Azure to help shield your vital data and apps from interruptions. With the help
of these services, you may quickly restore your data and applications in the
event of a disaster by replicating them to a secondary cloud site. Azure backup
services also protect your data from ransomware attacks, unintentional
deletion, and corruption.
Key Azure
DR and Backup Services
- Azure Site Recovery: Your on-premises VMs can be
replicated to Azure more easily with the help of this solution. You may
easily failover your virtual machines (VMs) to Azure in the event of a
disaster and keep your business running. Azure VM replication to an
alternative Azure region is also supported by Azure File Recovery.
- Azure Backup: If you want to protect the data
which is present in the cloud then you need to use the Azure Backup
service. It offers a single area to monitor backup jobs, manage backup
policies, and recover data. Azure pricing and costs.
Azure
competition
Following
are the some of the competitors of Microsoft Azure:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS): Market leader offering a wide
range of cloud services with extensive global infrastructure.
- Google Cloud Platform
(GCP): It known for its innovative services like Big Query and
TensorFlow, with a strong focus on data analytics and machine learning.
- IBM Cloud: It offers a comprehensive suite
of cloud services, including AI, Blockchain and IoT solutions, with a
focus on enterprise clients.
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
(OCI): IT
focuses on enterprise-grade cloud solutions, including databases,
applications, and infrastructure services, leveraging Oracle’s expertise
in enterprise software.
Azure
History
Microsoft
unveiled Windows Azure in early October 2008 but it went to live after February
2010. Later in 2014, Microsoft changed its name from Windows Azure to Microsoft
Azure. Azure provided a service platform for .NET services, SQL
services and many Live Services. Many people were still very skeptical
about “the cloud”. As an industry, we were entering a brave new world with many
possibilities. Microsoft Azure is getting bigger and better in the coming days.
More tools
and more functionalities are being added. It has two releases as of now. It’s a
famous version of Microsoft Azure v1 and later Microsoft
Azure v2. Microsoft Azure v1 was more JSON script-driven than the new
version v2, which has interactive UI for simplification and easy learning.
Microsoft Azure v2 is still in the preview version.
How Azure
can help in Business?
Azure can
help our business in the following ways:
- Capital less: We don’t have to worry about the
capital as Azure cuts out the high cost of hardware. You simply pay as you
go and enjoy a subscription-based model that’s kind to your cash flow.
Also, setting up an Azure account is very easy. You simply register in
Azure Portal and select your required subscription and get going.
- Less Operational Cost: Azure has a low operational cost
because it runs on its servers whose only job is to make the cloud
functional and bug-free, it’s usually a whole lot more reliable than your
own, on-location server.
- Cost Effective: If we set up a server on our
own, we need to hire a tech support team to monitor them and make sure
things are working fine. Also, there might be a situation where the tech
support team is taking too much time to solve the issue incurred in the
server. So, in this regard is way too pocket-friendly.
- Easy Back-Up and Recovery
options: Azure
keeps backups of all your valuable data. In disaster situations, you can
recover all your data in a single click without your business getting
affected. Cloud-Based backup and Recovery solutions save time, avoid
large up-front investments and roll up third-party expertise as part of
the deal.
- Easy to implement: It is very easy to implement
your business models in Azure. With a couple of on-click activities, you
are good to go. Even there are several tutorials to make you learn and
deploy faster.
- Better Security: Azure provides more security
than local servers. Be carefree about your critical data and business
applications. As it stays safe in the Azure Cloud. Even, in natural
disasters, where the resources can be harmed, Azure is a rescue. The cloud
is always on.
- Work from anywhere: Azure gives you the freedom to
work from anywhere and everywhere. It just requires a network connection
and credentials. And with most serious Azure cloud services offering
mobile apps, you’re not restricted to which device you’ve got to hand.
- Increased collaboration: With Azure, teams can access,
edit and share documents anytime, from anywhere. They can work and achieve
future goals hand in hand. Another advantage of Azure is that it preserves
records of activity and data. Timestamps are one example of Azure’s record-keeping.
Timestamps improve team collaboration by establishing transparency and
increasing accountability.
What are
the various Azure Services and How does Azure Work?
Following
are some of the services Microsoft Azure offers:
- Compute: Includes Virtual Machines,
Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Functions for serverless computing, Batch for
containerized batch workloads, Service Fabric for microservices and
container orchestration, and Cloud Services for building cloud-based apps
and APIs.
- Networking: With Azure, you can use a
variety of networking tools, like the Virtual Network, which can connect
to on-premise data centers; Load Balancer; Application Gateway; VPN
Gateway; Azure DNS for domain hosting, Content Delivery
Network Traffic Manager, ExpressRoute dedicated private network fiber
connections; and Network Watcher monitoring and diagnostics
- Storage: Includes Blob, Queue, File, and
Disk Storage, as well as a Data Lake Store, Backup, and Site Recovery,
among others.
- Web + Mobile: Creating Web + Mobile
applications is very easy as it includes several services for building and
deploying applications.
- Containers: Azure has a property that
includes Container Service, which supports Kubernetes, DC/OS or
Docker Swarm and Container Registry as well as tools for
microservices.
- Databases: Azure also included several
SQL-based databases and related tools.
- Data + Analytics: Azure has some big data tools
like HDInsight for Hadoop Spark, Server, HBase, and Storm clusters
- AI + Cognitive Services: With Azure developing
applications with artificial intelligence capabilities, like the Computer
Vision API, Face API, Bing Web Search, Video Indexer, and
Language Understanding Intelligent.
- Internet of Things: Includes IoT Hub and IoT Edge
services that can be combined with a variety of machine learning,
analytics, and communications services.
- Security + Identity: Includes Security Center, Azure
Active Directory, Key Vault and Multi-Factor Authentication Services.
- Developer Tools: Includes cloud development
services like Visual Studio Team Services, Azure DevTest Labs, HockeyApp
mobile app deployment and monitoring, Xamarin cross-platform mobile
development, and more.
Difference
between AWS (Amazon Web Services), Google Cloud, and Azure
The
following are the differences among AWS, Google Cloud and Azure:
| Feature | AWS | Google Cloud | Azure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology | EC2 | GCE | VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) |
| Databases Supported | Fully supports relational and NoSQL databases and Big Data | Fully supports technologies like Big Query, Big Table, Hadoop | Supports relational and NoSQL through Windows Azure Table and HDInsight |
| Pricing | Per hour — rounded up | Per minute — rounded up | Per minute — rounded up |
| Models | On-demand, reserved spot | On-demand sustained use | Per minute rounded up commitments (Pre-paid or monthly) |
| Difficulties | Many enterprises find it difficult to understand the cost structure | Fewer features and services | Less “Enterprise-ready” |
| Storage Services | Simple Storage Service (S3), Elastic Block Storage, Elastic File Storage | Blob Storage, Queue Storage, File Storage, Disk Storage, Data Lake Store | Cloud Storage, Persistent Disk, Transfer Appliance |
| Machine Learning | SageMaker, Lex, Polly, and many more | Cloud Speech AI, Cloud Video Intelligence, Cloud ML Engine | Azure Bot Service, Cognitive Service |
Scaling
and Management of Azure
The
following services are used in scaling and in management in Azure Cloud:
- Auto-scaling: Azure provides auto-scaling
capabilities, allowing resources to automatically scale up or down based
on demand, ensuring optimal performance and cost-efficiency.
- Resource Groups: Resources in Azure can be
organized into resource groups, simplifying management and enabling
centralized monitoring and control.
- Azure Resource Manager: It facilitates resource
deployment, management, and monitoring through templates, providing a
unified management interface.
Azure
Monitoring Services
The
following are the some of the Azure Monitoring Services:
- Azure Monitor: Centralized monitoring service
for Azure resources, offering insights into performance, availability, and
usage metrics.
- Application Insights: Provides real-time insights
into application performance and usage, enabling proactive troubleshooting
and optimization.
- Log Analytics: Collects and analyzes log data
from various sources, offering valuable insights for troubleshooting,
security monitoring, and compliance.
- Azure Advisor: Offers personalized
recommendations for optimizing Azure resources, enhancing performance, and
reducing costs.
Pricing
in Microsoft Azure
Pay-As-You-Go
- Description: You pay for the resources you
use without any long-term commitment or upfront payments.
- Billing: Billed per minute or per hour,
depending on the resource.
- Ideal For: Startups, small businesses,
and projects with unpredictable workloads.
Reserved
Instances
- Description: You commit to using specific
Azure resources for a 1- or 3-year term.
- Billing: Upfront payment or monthly
payments.
- Savings: Up to 72% compared to
pay-as-you-go pricing.
- Ideal For: Predictable workloads and
long-term projects.
Spot
Instances
- Description: Purchase unused Azure capacity
at a significant discount.
- Billing: Billed per minute.
- Ideal For: Workloads that can tolerate
interruptions, such as batch processing jobs, dev/test environments, and
large computations.
Azure
Hybrid Benefit
- Description: Allows you to use your
existing on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server licenses with Software
Assurance to save on Azure.
- Billing: Reduces the cost of running
Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure.
- Ideal For: Businesses already using
Windows Server and SQL Server.
Dev/Test
Pricing
- Description: Special pricing for
development and testing environments.
- Billing: Discounted rates on various
Azure services.
- Ideal For: Developers and testers to
build and test applications in a non-production environment.
Cost
Management Tools
- Azure Cost Management and
Billing
- Provides detailed cost
analysis, budgeting, and forecasting tools.
- Helps track spending and
optimize resource usage.
- Azure Pricing Calculator
- An online tool to estimate the
cost of Azure services based on your specific requirements.
- Azure Advisor
- Offers personalized
recommendations to optimize your Azure resources for high availability,
security, performance, and cost.
Microsoft
Azure Cloud Services Interview Questions
Microsoft
Azure Cloud Services interview questions assess your understanding and
expertise in Azure’s cloud offerings, including infrastructure, deployment, and
management of applications. These questions typically cover topics like Azure
services, architecture, security, and best practices for cloud solutions.
Cloud
Services Microsoft Azure – FAQs
Microsoft
Azure Certification?
The
Microsoft Azure Fundamental certification covers various topics related to
cloud computing, cloud concepts, and Azure services. The exam tests your
understanding of Azure architecture, management, governance, and security. The
AZ-900 certification, also known as Microsoft Azure Fundamentals, is an
entry-level certification that validates foundational knowledge of cloud
concepts and Microsoft Azure services. To obtain the certificate, you will need
to pass the AZ-900 exam. An exam can be taken by anyone interested in gaining a
basic understanding of cloud computing( Microsoft Azure), regardless of their
technical background or job role. It is also useful for particular individuals
who are new to Azure and want to start their journey in cloud computing and
DevOps.
Microsoft
Azure Storage Explorer?
Azure
storage Account is a storage account that is a resource that acts as a
container that groups all the data services from Azure storage (Azure blobs,
Azure files, Azure Queues, and Azure Tables). This helps us manage all of them
as a group. The policies we specify while creating the storage account or
making changes after the creation applies to all the services inside the
account. Deleting a storage account deletes all the storage services deployed
and the data stored inside it.
What is
cloud service in Azure?
A cloud
service in Azure is a platform that enables you to build, deploy, and manage
applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers. It provides
scalability, high availability, and integrated tools for development and
monitoring.
What is
the main service of Microsoft Azure?
The main
service of Microsoft Azure is its cloud computing platform, which provides a
wide range of services including virtual machines, storage, databases, and
networking to help businesses build, deploy, and manage applications
efficiently.
Which is
better AWS or Azure?
The choice
between AWS and Azure depends on your specific needs: AWS is generally
preferred for its extensive service offerings and maturity, while Azure is
favored for seamless integration with Microsoft products and services. Evaluate
based on your use case, existing infrastructure, and cost considerations.
Let's
learn the Azure deeply now :
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