Introduction to Azure
Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive suite of cloud services that allows organizations and individuals to build, deploy, and manage applications and services through Microsoft's global network of data centers. It provides a wide range of services, including computing, analytics, storage, and networking.
Key Azure Concepts
- Regions: Geographically distinct locations where Azure data centers are located.
- Availability Zones: Unique physical locations within an Azure region that are isolated from failures in other zones.
- Resource Groups: Containers that hold related Azure resources for a solution. They help in managing and organizing resources.
- Azure Resources: Any manageable item available through Azure. Examples include virtual machines, storage accounts, and virtual networks.
- Subscriptions: A logical container that holds Azure resources and is associated with an Azure account. It defines boundaries for billing and access control.
Core Azure Services
Compute Services
Azure offers various compute services to run applications and workloads:
- Virtual Machines (VMs): On-demand, scalable computing resources.
- Azure App Service: A fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web apps and mobile back ends.
- Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): Managed Kubernetes service for orchestrating containerized applications.
- Azure Functions: Serverless compute service that allows you to run small pieces of code, or "functions," in the cloud.
Storage Services
Azure provides robust and scalable storage solutions:
- Azure Blob Storage: Massively scalable object storage for unstructured data.
- Azure File Storage: Fully managed cloud file shares accessible via SMB protocol.
- Azure Queue Storage: Store and retrieve large numbers of messages that can be accessed from anywhere.
- Azure Table Storage: NoSQL key-value store for schemaless design.
Networking Services
Azure networking services enable secure and reliable connectivity:
- Virtual Network (VNet): The fundamental building block for your private network in Azure.
- Load Balancer: Distributes network traffic to ensure high availability and responsiveness.
- VPN Gateway: Securely connects on-premises networks to Azure VNets.
- Azure Firewall: A managed, cloud-native network security service that protects your Azure Virtual Network resources.
Azure Resource Manager (ARM)
Azure Resource Manager (ARM) is the deployment and management service for Azure. It provides a management layer that enables you to create, update, and delete resources in your Azure account. ARM templates are JSON files that define the infrastructure and configuration for your solution.
Benefits of ARM
- Declarative deployment: Define what you want to deploy without writing imperative scripts.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Treat your infrastructure configuration as code.
- Resource consistency: Ensure that your resources are deployed in a consistent and repeatable manner.
- Lifecycle management: Manage the entire lifecycle of your resources.
Example ARM template snippet:
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"storageAccountType": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "Standard_LRS",
"allowedValues": [
"Standard_LRS",
"Standard_GRS",
"Standard_RAGRS",
"Standard_ZRS",
"Premium_LRS"
]
}
},
"resources": [
{
"type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
"apiVersion": "2021-09-01",
"name": "[concat('mystorage', uniqueString(resourceGroup().id))] ",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"sku": {
"name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]"
},
"kind": "StorageV2"
}
]
}
Next Steps
To further your understanding of Azure, explore the following resources: