MICROSOFT AZURE CORE SERVICES

Azure Core Services are the primary offerings of Microsoft Azure.

Services refer to individual offerings or capabilities provided by CSPs.
Solutions are integrated packages that bring together multiple services to solve a specific need.

COMPUTE

Azure Compute is a cloud computing service that offers a range of services and features to support various computing needs, from virtual machines to serverless and containerized applications, enabling users to build, deploy, and manage applications and workloads in the cloud.
With Azure Compute, users can:

• run applications and workloads in the cloud—provides a range of options for running applications and workloads, including:
  • Virtual Machines (VMs)
  • Container Instances
  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
  • Azure Functions
  • Azure Virtual Desktop
  • Azure App Services
  • Azure Batch
  • Azure Automanage
  • Azure CycleCloud
• migrate on-premises workloads to the cloud.
• develop and deploy cloud-native applications.
• take advantage of serverless and containerized computing.
• optimise costs and performance.

NETWORKING

Azure Networking Services provide secure, scalable, and high-performance networking capabilities to support a wide range of applications and services. Some of the key services include:

• Virtual Network (VNet): allows users to create a virtual network in Azure, providing a secure and isolated environment for user resources to communicate with each other, the internet and on-premises network.
• Subnets
• Network Security Groups (NSGs): filter incoming and outgoing network traffic based on rules.
• Load Balancer: distributes incoming traffic across multiple resources to improve responsiveness and availability.
• Application Gateway: a web application firewall and load balancer for web applications.
• Azure DNS: A cloud-based Domain Name System (DNS) service.

DNS is a critical infrastructure of the internet that enables us to access websites and other online resources using easy-to-remember domain names instead of difficult-to-remember IP addresses.

• Azure Firewall: a managed, cloud-based network security service.
• ExpressRoute: extends on-premise networks into Azure over a private connection that is facilitated by a connectivity provider.
• Virtual Private Network (VPN) Gateway: used to send encrypted traffic between an Azure VNet and on-premises infrastructure over the public internet.
• Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Azure Bastion: provide secure, RDP/SSH access to VMs without public IP addresses.
  • RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and SSH (Secure Shell) are two popular protocols used for remote access and management of computers and servers.
  • RDP provides a graphical interface (GI), can provide fast performance especially over local networks and is relatively easy to set up and use, especially for Windows users, while SSH provides a command-line interface (CLI) and is considered more secure than RDP due to its encryption and flexible authentication mechanisms (including password, key-based, and multi-factor authentication).
  • RDP is native to Windows and is widely used for remote access to Windows machines for administrative tasks or user support and remote desktop connections for employees or contractors, while SSH is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux and is ideal for secure, command-line access to multiple platforms or servers, especially for administrative and development tasks and secure file transfer and management between systems.
• Azure Private Link: access Azure services without exposing them to the public internet.

These services enable users to:

• create a secure and isolated environment for your resources.
• filter and control network traffic.
• improve application performance and availability.
• establish secure connections between Azure and on-premises infrastructure.
• deliver content efficiently across multiple locations.
• access resources securely without public IP addresses.

STORAGE

Azure Storage Services is a cloud-based storage solution offered by Microsoft Azure, providing secure, durable, and scalable storage for various data types, making it a versatile and reliable option for various use cases. The services include:

• Blob Storage: for storing unstructured data like images, videos, audio files, documents, texts and binary.
• File Storage: for storing and sharing files in a hierarchical structure, like a file system.
• Queue Storage: for passing messages between applications and services.
• Disk Storage: for attaching data disks to VMs and other applications.

Azure has 4 (blob) storage access tiers which users can switch between at any time:

• Hot tier: an online tier optimized for storing data that is accessed or modified frequently. The hot tier has the highest storage costs, but the lowest access costs.
• Cool tier: an online tier optimized for storing data that is less frequently accessed or modified. Data in the cool tier should be stored for a minimum of 30 days. The cool tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to the hot tier.
• Cold tier: an online tier optimized for storing data that is rarely accessed or modified, but still requires fast retrieval. Data in the cold tier should be stored for a minimum of 90 days. The cold tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to the cool tier.
• Archive tier: an offline tier optimized for storing data that is rarely accessed, and that has flexible latency requirements, on the order of hours. Data in the archive tier should be stored for a minimum of 180 days.

DATABASE

Azure Database Services offer a range of fully managed database solutions, allowing you to focus on application development without worrying about database management. The services include:

• Azure SQL Database
• Azure Cosmos DB
• Azure Database for PostgreSQL
• Azure Database for MySQL
• Azure Database for MariaDB
• Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Azure Synapse Analytics (formerly Azure SQL Data Warehouse)

The benefits of Azure Database Services include:

• reduced administrative burden as Azure handles database management tasks.
• increased scalability and performance.
• built-in security features and compliance certifications.
• cost-effectiveness as users pay only for the resources used.

Azure Database Services are applied in several use cases such as:

• As backend for web and mobile application development.
• Azure Synapse Analytics for data warehousing and analytics.
• Migrating existing databases to Azure for improved scalability and performance.

AZURE MARKETPLACE

Azure Marketplace is an online store that allows users find, try, purchase and provision solutions, applications and services that are built on or built for Azure by other leading service providers and are all certified to run on Azure.