Microsoft Azure is a cloud service platform that allows the users to build, manage, scale and deploy applications by giving them access to cloud resources/services. These cloud services ranges from as basic as creating a virtual machine to creating functions that can run themselves without having to worry about the hardware. All of this is made possible only through the internet.
Here are some things that you need to know about azure:
- It was launched on the 1st of February 2010.
- Microsoft Azure has Data Centers in more than 42 regions across the world with 12 more data centers that are in the making. With this presence across the world, Microsoft can say they’re the only cloud service provider that covers these many regions.
- Microsoft Azure is preferred by 80 of the fortune 500 companies which depicts that the best of the best in the market chooses to work with azure
- Azure is the second-largest cloud service provider in the market right now.
Let’s talk about Azure services in detail, as I mentioned earlier azure provides services for a wide range of domains. I would like to call out few of these domains where we can have azure implemented such as AI and Machine Learning, Compute, Containers, databases, identity management tools, networking, security, storage and so much more.
Now let’s have a look at some of the individual services within these domains mentioned above
With Azure Virtual Machines you have the liberty to create windows or Linux virtual machines. Now all of this can be deployed in matter of seconds with large number of customizations. You can choose from a wide variety of virtual machine options along with many optimizations scenarios that are available for you to choose, for example you can choose the operating system that you want for your virtual machine, what size do you want allocated to it, what version of the system you want and so much more. Azure provides low-cost billing options as well. Microsoft Azure is based on Pay as You Go (PAYG) billing model which means that you’re only charged for the time you use the service. For security, you have enhanced security and protection available for your virtual machines.
Next, we have Service fabric with service fabric you are provided with a platform which enables you to create micro services. This enables the process of application lifecycle management easier as a direct result you can create applications with faster time to market. It supports Windows, Linux on-premises and other clouds and it enables you to do a tremendous amount of scaling up depending on your requirement. Finally, we have functions now with functions you can build applications with the help of serverless computing. Here the users only pay for the number of resources that you’ve used you can create applications in any language that you want and the only thing you need to worry about is the code of the application everything other than this which is the hardware requirements is taken care by Microsoft.
Now let’s have a look at the networking services. With Azure CDN or the content delivery network you get the ability to deliver your content with reduced load times, fast responsiveness, and less bandwidth consumption. CDN can be integrated with several other azure services so that the process can move at a faster rate, it can handle heavy loads and traffic spikes with ease. It also provides a robust security system. With the content that’s delivered you can get advanced analytic data with which you can understand how customers are using your content. Next, we have express route with express route you can connect your on-premises network to azure through a private network, by default it lowers latency and increases the emphasis on reliability and speed. It can be of great use when you have to transfer large amounts of data between networks another way this can be useful if it’s used to add compute or storage capacity to data centers. Azure DNS is an azure service that can be used can be used to host your domains on azure, this provides high availability and great performance it also provides fast responses to DNS queries by taking advantage of Microsoft’s global network. Azure DNS also provides high availability. Microsoft Azure also provide a networking service named Azure Virtual Network or Azure VNet. An Azure Virtual Network allows the azure resources to communicate with each other or other on-premises networks via the internet and all of this is kept extremely secure. We can say that Azure Virtual Network provides a virtual isolation to all the other services that we can deploy withing this VNet. Now with this user can create their own private network for communication. It provides users with an isolated and extremely secure environment for their applications to run, now all the traffic stays entirely within the azure network. It also provides the users to design their own networks. Next, we have traffic manager, with traffic manager you can route incoming traffic to improve your performance and availability. One unique thing that traffic manager provides is multiple failover options so if a particular situation goes wrong there’s always an option to consider salvaging the situation thus, we can say it helps to reduce the application run time and enables the distribution of user traffic across multiple locations. It also helps the people who are using it to know where the customers are connecting from across the world.
Azure Load Balancer or Azure LB is a service that provides the ability to instantly scale applications at the same time providing high availability and improved network performance. For user applications it can be integrated into virtual machines and cloud services, it provides highly reliable applications along with it also allows users to secure and integrate security groups. Azure VPN Gateway is also a networking service provided by azure which allows users to connect their on-premises networks to azure using a Site-to-Site VPN, this also allows users to connect their virtual machine to anywhere in the world through a Point-to-Site VPN and it’s very easy to manage and is highly available.
Next, let’s talk about the Storage services. In Azure storage services, first we’ll talk about Data lake storage, with this storage what you get is a scalable data storage with an emphasis on cost effectiveness and scalability one can effectively utilize the full potential of this storage when you use it and integrate it with other services to get analytics on how the data is being used. It can also be integrated with other services like the Azure blob storage. It can also be optimized for big data analysis tools like apache spark and Hadoop. Next up we have blob storage now blob storage provides a storage capacity for data depending on how often a particular data is used. It can be classified into different tiers. The data that is within the blob storage is unstructured data and it has a way of ensuring that the data integrity is maintained every time a particular object is being changed or the data is being accessed. It also helps with improving app performance and reduces bandwidth consumption. The other type of Azure Storage is Queue storage, queue storage is used for message queuing system for large workloads. This allows users to build flexible applications and separate functions not to mention with this you can be sure that your individual components will not fail. It also makes sure that your application is scalable. Queue storage provides queue monitoring which helps ensure that the customer’s demands are met. The next type of Azure storage is File storage, with file storage you can perform file sharing with the help of the SMB protocol or the server message block protocol. The data is protected by SMB 3.0 and the https protocol. In this case, like we mentioned in functions azure takes care of all the hardware needs and the operating system deployments on its own and improves on-premises performance and other capabilities. Lastly, we have Table storage with table storage you can deploy semi-structured data sets and NoSQL key value store now this is used for creating applications which have a flexible data schema and also considering how it has a very strong consistency model. It’s mainly aimed for enterprises.
Next let’s have a look at some web and mobile services. Azure search is an azure service which is used as a cloud search service that is powered by artificial intelligence. With this you can develop web applications as well as mobile applications. One big advantage is that you don’t have to set up or manage your search indices, azure takes care of that and by extension it increases your development speed. The artificial intelligence also will provide insights and structured information that you can use to improve the search and structured information. Next in line we have Logic apps, with logic apps you can create integration solutions which can connect applications that are important to your businesses. With this you can visually create business processes and workflows, one can integrate SaaS or software as a service applications and enterprise applications and more importantly it allows you to unlock data within a firewall and securely connect to services. Next, we will talk about Web applications with web apps you can create, deploy and scale web applications according to business requirements. It supports both windows and Linux platforms, and it helps with continuous integration or deployment abilities. Another very important aspect of this is that the data can be deployed and hosted across multiple locations in the world. And finally we have Mobile apps, with mobile apps you can create applications for iOS android and windows platforms. The advantage of it is that it automatically scales up and down based on your requirements. Now in situations where you have network issues offline data syncing ensures that your applications work anyway, and you can create cross-platform applications or native applications for iOS android and windows.
Let’s have a look at some container services. ACR or Azure Container Services also known as the Azure Kubernetes Services is a fully managed Kubernetes container orchestration service. This means that it eases the process of container integration and deployment, it also can be used with other resources from security like virtual networks cryptographic keys and so much more to ensure that your container is kept secure. Next, we have Container instances this is similar to functions in a way just that in this we’re using containers without having to manage servers now applications can be developed here without managing virtual machines or learning new tools all that is azure’s problem to take care of and it enables building applications without having to manage the infrastructure. All you need to worry about is running the containers.
Next, we have some database services to look at. First, we have the SQL Database with SQL Database what you get is a relational cloud database service, this means that it helps accelerate your app development and makes it easier for you to maintain your application. SQL Database is also used extensively in migrating workloads to the cloud and hence saves time and cost. It also helps improve your performance by integrating machine learning and adaptive technologies into your database. Next, we have Azure Cosmos DB this is a globally distributed multi-model database service. With this you can create applications which support NoSQL. It provides a high-grade security system and has high availability and low latency. This is usually used in situations where you have a diverse and highly unpredictable workloads.
Now let’s have a look at some security and identity services. First, we have the Azure Active Directory with this you can manage user identities and can make sure the resources are kept safe with the help of access policies. Most of these are intelligence driven. One of the key features is that you can have access to your applications from any location or device, it helps to increase your efficiency and helps down cutting costs when it comes to having a help desk. It can also help improve security and can respond to advanced threats in real time. Next you have Azure Active Directory B2C, it helps provide customer identity and access management in the cloud. Protecting customer identity is extremely important for an organization and that’s what Azure AD B2C does. It also enables the application to be scaled to great amounts even billions of customers. Next, we have Azure Security Center. This is basically like a command post with which you get a complete view of the security across users on your on-premises and cloud workloads. So, with this you are given threat protection method that adapts to situations and helps reduce exposing you to threats, it also has rapid threat response and makes the process of finding and fixing vulnerabilities a whole lot easier. Next up let’s talk about monitoring and management services. So first let’s have a look at Azure Advisor, this service is basically a guide for the best practices when it comes to azure, when followed it helps improves performance security cost and increases availability. It also learns from how you use the services on your configuration and usage pattern and the adjustments that it suggests can be implemented very quickly and easily. Next, we have Network Watcher with this service you can monitor diagnose and understand the working of your network. You can monitor your network without having to login to your virtual machine. You can also use something known as network security flow logs to understand the traffic pattern that how much traffic is coming towards you and how much you’re giving and so much more. It also helps diagnose VPN problems that you might have with detailed logs and finally you have the Azure Resource Manager now with this you can ensure that the resources that you have are managed and deployed at a consistent rate. This makes it extremely easy for you to manage and visualize your resources that are used in your applications, or some other requirements and you can control who can access your resources as well as perform actions on it.
I hope you find this informative and helpful. Thank you for reading this Azure Article.