MSDN Community

Azure Basics: A Foundation for Cloud Innovation

Welcome to the Azure Basics section of the MSDN Community. This space is designed to provide you with a solid understanding of Microsoft Azure, its core concepts, and how to get started with building and deploying applications in the cloud.

What is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure that Microsoft provides for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers. It offers a wide range of services, including:

• Compute: Virtual machines, containers, serverless functions.
• Storage: Blob storage, file storage, disk storage, archive storage.
• Databases: Relational databases, NoSQL databases, managed database services.
• Networking: Virtual networks, load balancers, VPN gateways, content delivery networks.
• AI + Machine Learning: Cognitive Services, Machine Learning Studio, Azure Databricks.
• Internet of Things (IoT): IoT Hub, IoT Central.
• Developer Tools: Azure DevOps, Application Insights, Visual Studio integration.

Key Concepts to Understand

Before diving deep, it's crucial to grasp some fundamental Azure concepts:

• Regions and Availability Zones: Azure services are deployed in geographic regions. Within a region, Availability Zones provide physically separate locations to protect applications and data from data center failures.
• Resource Groups: A logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed.
• Azure Resource Manager (ARM): 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.
• Virtual Machines (VMs): Scalable compute resources that you can deploy and manage.
• Virtual Networks (VNet): Your own private network in Azure.
• Storage Accounts: A unique namespace in Azure for your storage data.

Getting Started with Azure

Embarking on your Azure journey is straightforward. Here are the initial steps:

1. Create an Azure Account: Sign up for a free Azure account to explore services with a credit.
2. Explore the Azure Portal: The Azure portal is a web-based console for managing your Azure resources.
3. Deploy Your First Resource: Start by deploying a simple virtual machine or a storage account.
4. Learn About Pricing: Understand Azure's pay-as-you-go model and available cost management tools.

Explore Popular Azure Services

This section serves as your starting point. As you progress, explore more advanced topics, tutorials, and community discussions to further your Azure expertise.