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What is Microsoft Azure?

What is Microsoft Azure?

January 7th, 2020

What is Microsoft Azure?

To meet the challenges a business represents, Microsoft Azure presents an ever-expanding collection of cloud services. Azure offers user favorite frameworks and tools. Using Azure tools you can create, handle and deploy several applications on big-global networks.

Many businesses deal with concerns regarding application migration to the cloud. There are a lot of issues when it comes to the security of the network, availability as well as potential downtime. All of this is a big concern for decision-makers. Many organizations have to stay updated when it comes to trending technology. Because of technology changes by the minute. Microsoft Azure is one of the industry’s solutions helping organizations to switch to a cloud-based architecture.

Azure as a top-notch product by Microsoft

Microsoft is known for its constantly-expanding network across the world, concerning data centers. Azure is such a cloud platform that helps in building and deploying many services, applications, and management. The best part about Microsoft Azure is that these facilities can be accessed from anywhere. With Azure, you can add cloud facilities to the existing network using the platform as a service model. Microsoft Azure offers secure and reliable access to cloud-hosted data.

Microsoft Azure offers an ever-expanding collection of products along with services designed to assist you with all your needs. All of this is done just through one platform-Azure, which is easy to use and convenient.

Companies Trusting Microsoft Azure with their data

One of the reasons that companies are selecting Azure for their data is the limitation of traditional data-centers. The on-premise data center is considered to have no future. Self-hosted centers of data are slowly becoming obsolete. There are many players who have emerged in the sphere of cloud service along with Microsoft Azure. Some of these are Amazon Web Services, IBM, iCloud. Still, companies such as BMW, 3M, and GE are relying on Azure for their workloads. This is due to the best practices and convenience offered by Microsoft Azure.

What does Microsoft Azure Do?

There is a growing directory of services provided by Microsoft Azure. There are several services being added to this Azure directory every now and then. Azure has the elements required to create a virtual network or deliver services along with other applications to a global audience.

What is Microsoft Azure used for?

Azure provides a lot of services. The solutions provided by Microsoft Azure help big and small enterprises. Azure services are a quick and flexible way for enterprises to build services with an affordable cloud platform.
Microsoft Azure services range from Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to Platform as a Service (PaaS) to Software as a Service (SaaS). Some of these are explained below:

What is Microsoft Azure used for

1. Azure Virtual Machines

You can create Microsoft VMs or Linux virtual machines in a few minutes using a given set of templates. You can also do so with custom machine images. All the cloud-based VMs are used to host apps and services. They give an impression as if they are residing in your own data center.

2. SQL Databases

Microsoft Azure provides managed SQL relational databases as a service. It reduces the need to spend on hardware or software. In-house expertise is also reduced.

3. Azure Web Application Services

Microsoft Azure makes it easier to create and deploy applications compatible with popular web platforms. Time and money are saved by reliable and scalable cloud access. It also allows you to respond quickly to the business’s ebb and flow. Many web applications scale as fast as your business does. The azure marketplace offers Azure WebApps to cope with that. It helps in the management of production, deployment, and testing of web applications.

4. Visual Studio Team Services

This is an add-on service that offers a full application lifecycle management solution. It helps developers share code changes and track them if need be. They can also perform load testing, deliver applications and collaborate in Azure from anywhere in the world. This element of Azure helps in simplifying development as well as delivery. It is useful for big existing companies and new ones in the process of building a service portfolio.

5. Azure Storage

Anyone can easily count on Microsoft’s global infrastructure when it comes to storage and safety. It provides safe and highly accessible data storage. It offers massive scalability as well as an intelligent pricing structure and lets you store irregularly accessed data. It offers a safe as well as a cost-effective storage plan.

6. Flexibility and scalability in Azure

Microsoft Azure offers to scale of storage capabilities geometrically. It is very easy to compare with the static data center. The static data center would require hardware as well as OS purchasing, and many other features. This weakness makes Azure a desirable solution for big and small organizations.

7. Azure Cost

With Azure, it is quick and easy to add as well as scale infrastructure. It is also less expensive. The use of physical services, infrastructure devices such as router and load balancers, etc, makes you spend thousands of dollars. There is an additional need for IT expertise for the running of equipment. This also adds to the expenses. With Microsoft’s huge infrastructure as well as expertise, Microsoft Azure trims annual IT budget.

8. Azure Applications

Management and use of applications are very easy. You can easily move any application from test mode to production mode across a distributed network. Substantial licensing discounts are also offered by Microsoft to migrate existing apps to Microsoft Azure. This represents more opportunities in terms of savings.

9. Backup and Recovery in Azure

Microsoft Azure offers high-speed, geographically decentralized infrastructure. This creates limitless opportunities for backup and recovery plans. During the recovery period, you can still run your critical application from redundant sites. Microsoft Azure guarantees service delivery and helps a business grow.
Constant application development, services, powerful presence makes Azure the choice of the Fortune 500 companies. This infinite scalability makes Azure right for big or small personal businesses.

10. Azure Logging Capabilities

Operational visibility is one of the secrets of any grown business. Extraction of the log, infrastructure metrics, etc. from the application helps the business run smoothly. Microsoft Azure has integrated monitoring with alert capabilities. It helps in knowing any performance issues impacting the business. You can very easily set smart alerts for events.

11. Azure infrastructure logs

Azure helps in getting insights into the cloud network performance. Based on that actions can be taken easily to resolve service failures of any kind.

12. Windows IIS logs

Azure allows viewing activities on virtual web servers. It gathers data on IIS 7 which can be used to respond to traffic patterns as well as log-in anomalies.

13. Crash dumps

Virtual equipment problems can majorly impact your operations. Microsoft Azure offers recording crash dumps and troubleshooting so that repeated problems can be avoided.

14. Custom error logs

You can set Azure alerts for defined error events. If you are hosting private applications and they are going to generate internal intelligence about operations, this feature is of use. These identified errors can be added to the Azure checklist about the network. Basic tools are offered by Azure for error logging, monitoring, troubleshooting, diagnostics, etc. It ensures service delivery in a constant manner in the Azure cloud.

15. Full Visibility

The huge amount of data flow can be overwhelming in the network. The volume, type, and speed of cloud data are not to be underestimated. Microsoft partners with Sumo Logic so you can manage this data in a simple and easy manner. The Sumo Logic unifies logs as well as metrics from the data of any kind such as structured, semi-structured, unstructured. Machine learning algorithms are used to process huge amounts of log-metrics data, checking for anomalies, checking for deviations from given patterns of activity, offering alerts when required.

16. Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps is a software practice that offers to create high-quality software quicker, better as well as cheaper. A team always requires a variety of tools for the implementation of the practices. A tool suite to deliver software securely, reliably, in an automated way is required. There should be version control, test automation, release automation, artifact management, etc. sub tools in the suite. Microsoft has offered one such tool called Azure DevOps.

Azure Architecture

Microsoft Azure is a very successful cloud solution. But this success requires to focus on a lot of parts contributing to an excellent architecture. Parts of Azure Architecture that make up a successful cloud solution are explained below:

1. Azure Cost Management

Microsoft Azure focuses on the generation of an incremental value while designing cloud solutions. Principles such as Build-Measure-Learn are useful here to accelerate the time to market. It also helps in avoiding capital-intensive services. Using the pay-as-you-go technique along with investing in scaling out is better instead of delivery of a big investment first version.

2. DevOps

DevOps is associated with the operations processes for running applications in production. It keeps deployments reliable, predictable and automated. This helps in reducing human errors.
Since Cloud applications are run in a remote data-center hence full control of infrastructure is not possible. Monitoring helps in providing insights into the system. A shared consistent logging mechanism lets you correlate many events across systems.

3. Resiliency

Traditional application development focuses on trying to avoid system failures. Whereas cloud computing deals with distributed systems where any failure can cascade in the system.
Microsoft Azure offers resiliency features such as Azure Storage, Cosmos DB, data replication, etc.

4. Scalability

Azure offers scalability to handle the increased load. Vertical scaling helps in increasing resource capacity. This is done using a big VM size. Apart from this, Horizontal scaling helps in increasing new resource instances. This includes the addition of database replicas etc.

5. Security

The Azure platform offers protections against the number of threats, for an instant network intrusion, DDoS attacks. Some of the security areas in Azure Architecture are as follows:

6. Identity Management

Azure Active Directory or Azure AD is used to authenticating as well as authorized users. It is a fully managed identity as well as an access management service. Azure AD is used to create domains existing purely on Azure. Azure AD also helps in integration with Office365 or other third-party applications of SaaS.

7. Infrastructure Protection

It is very important to control access to the deployed resources of Azure. Role-based access control is used to grant users some permissions and roles in an organization. Any change made is audited to the infrastructure.

8. Application security

Application security includes using SSL, preventing CSRF as well as XSS attacks, protection against SQL injection attacks, etc.

9. Data encryption

It is significant to keep data in the right geopolitical zone. Azure provides geo-replicated storage where the idea of a paired region in one geopolitical region is used.
Key Vaults are used to safeguard secrets and cryptographic keys. Use of Key Vault helps in encrypting keys as well as secrets by the use of protected keys and using hardware security modules. Microsoft Azure storage supports data encryption.

Microsoft Azure Certifications

There are nine Microsoft Azure certifications with different levels such as a basic, associate, expert. These are explained with prerequisites, exam question numbers and Pass Marks as follows:

Level of Certification Fundamental Associate
Name of the exam AZ-900
Fundamentals Exam
AZ-103
Administrator-Associate Exam
AZ-203
Developer-Associate Exam
AZ-500
Security Engineer-Associate
Prerequisites None AZ-900
Fundamentals Exam, not mandatory
AZ-900
Fundamentals Exam, not mandatory
AZ-900
Fundamentals Exam, not mandatory
Questions 40-60 40-60 40-60 40-60
Duration (in minutes) 85 150 150 150
Pass Marks 700 700 700 700
Cost $99 $165 $165 $165

Click Here-> Get Microsoft Azure Az-101 Certification Guidance

Level of Certification Expert
Name of the exam Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect-
Expert Exams (AZ-300, AZ-301)
Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer-Expert Exam (AZ-400)
Prerequisites AZ-900
Fundamentals Exam, not mandatory
AZ-900
Fundamentals Exam, not mandatory
Administrator Associate or  Developer Associate
Questions 40 – 60 40 – 60 40 – 60
Duration (in minutes) 150 150 150
Pass Marks 700 700 700
Cost $165 $165 $165

Click Here-> Get Microsoft Azure AZ-302 Certification Guidance

Microsoft Azure Developer

The role of Microsoft Azure Developer is to design, structure, test, maintain, etc. cloud solutions. The Azure developer also deals with applications, services, cloud DBAs, solution architects partnership, cloud administrators, clients, etc. for the implementation of these solutions.

Responsibilities of Azure Developer

  • Microsoft Azure Developer is responsible for the development of the Azure Platform in the same context of Service computer solution.
  • Microsoft Azure Developer is responsible for the Service computer solution and for the development of Azure Infrastructure.
  • Microsoft Azure Developer is responsible for connecting to as well as consuming third-party services along with Azure Services.
  • Microsoft Azure Developer is responsible for Azure storage development.
  • Microsoft Azure Developer is responsible for the implementation of Azure security.
  • Microsoft Azure Developer is responsible for monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing solutions.

Click Here-> Microsoft Azure AZ-100 Certification Guidance

Microsoft Azure Career Path

Microsoft Azure represents a growing business. This is one of the reasons why Microsoft is increasing investment in Azure services. Microsoft Azure plays a key role in the cloud computing industry. AWS, GC and Microsoft Azure are the main players here. This is because Cloud Computing is the first choice for many big companies.
Microsoft Azure is the key cloud computing provider after Amazon. As we know that Microsoft is the strongest in the enterprise market, and hence so will be Azure. Azure is bound to gain lucrative market share in small and big enterprises. There are a lot of jobs created in Azure.
For those with Azure Certification from the right institute, there will be plenty of opportunities in this domain. GangBoard will help you start your career path in Azure. GangBoard trainers will help you clear Azure certification.
Azure Certification from GangBoard is more valuable as compared to many other certifications out there.

Conclusion

Nobody can ignore the career opportunities offered by Microsoft Azure. The use of Cloud computing is increasing by organizations in different fields and domains. Hence, the jobs related to Cloud computing are increasing too. Azure skills are the most popular trend in today’s job market. Getting Azure certification from GangBoard will help you grow in terms of skills required in big organizations. You’ll be capable of applying for higher positions with high salary packages and give your career a new level.