Azure Basics: A Quick Start Guide

Welcome to the Azure Basics tutorial. This guide will introduce you to the fundamental concepts and services of Microsoft Azure, a comprehensive cloud computing platform.

What is Microsoft Azure?

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

Key Concepts in Azure

Understanding these core concepts is crucial for effectively using Azure:

1. Regions and Availability Zones

Azure has global data centers organized into regions. Each region is a set of data centers within a specific geographic area. Availability Zones within a region are physically separate locations with independent power, cooling, and networking, providing high availability for your applications.

2. Resource Groups

A resource group is a logical container that holds related Azure resources for a solution. You can create, update, or delete all the resources for an application in a single, coordinated operation. This helps in managing and organizing your Azure infrastructure.

3. Azure Resources

Azure resources are the fundamental building blocks of your cloud deployment. Examples include virtual machines, storage accounts, virtual networks, and web apps. Each resource is managed by its resource type and belongs to a resource group.

4. Azure Portal

The Azure portal is a web-based, unified management experience that combines a broad set of services into a single, consistent user interface. It's your primary interface for creating, managing, and monitoring your Azure resources.

Step 1: Sign in to the Azure Portal

Open your web browser and navigate to portal.azure.com. Sign in with your Azure account credentials.

Step 2: Create a Resource Group

In the Azure portal, search for "Resource groups" and select it. Click "+ Create". Choose a subscription, provide a name for your resource group (e.g., MyFirstResourceGroup), and select a region. Click "Review + create" and then "Create".


# Example of a conceptual Azure CLI command to create a resource group
# az group create --name MyFirstResourceGroup --location eastus

Step 3: Deploy a Simple Resource (e.g., a Storage Account)

Once your resource group is created, you can start deploying resources. Navigate back to the home page, search for "Storage accounts", and click "+ Create". Select your subscription and the resource group you just created. Provide a unique storage account name, choose a region (preferably the same as your resource group), and select a performance tier and account kind. Click "Review + create" and then "Create".

Next Steps

This tutorial provided a brief introduction to Azure's core concepts and the Azure portal. To continue your learning journey, explore the following topics:

Continue to Deploying a VM