WHAT IS MICROSOFT AZURE SERVICES AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Microsoft Azure or Windows Azure is a cloud computing platform that enables you to use Microsoft cloud services and resources like data storage, networking, analytics, and data transfer as per your needs.

To use Microsoft services, you need the internet and Azure portal. The Azure platform facilitates business challenges, and lets owners meet their organizational goals.

Azure has four public cloud computing platforms: Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, Software as a Service, and serverless.

Azure ws first announced in 2008 by Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference and was launched on 1 February 2010 as Windows Azure. Later in March 2014, it was renamed, Microsoft Azure.

Today 80 % of fortune 500 companies use Azure services as it backs multiple programming languages like Node Js, Java, and C#.

Microsoft keeps up an ever-growing registry of cloud Azure solutions, with more being included constantly so you can develop a virtual-network and deliver services globally, including: 

1. VIRTUAL MACHINES 

You can implement Microsoft or Linux virtual machines (VMs) easily and quickly. These VMs can host your applications and services as though they were in your own server farm. 

2. SQL DATABASES

MS Azure provides managed relational SQL databases as a service with the freedom to create as many as you want. This spares you overhead costs on equipment and software. 

3. AZURE ACTIVE DIRECTORY DOMAIN SERVICES

This service lets you remotely oversee group-policies, verification, and more. This simplifies moving an existing security structure to the cloud development services in a few clicks. 

4. APPLICATION SERVICES 

With Azure, it's easier to develop and deploy applications globally that are compatible with most of the digital platforms. Solid, flexible cloud framework gives you a chance to react rapidly to your business' recurring pattern, sparing time and cash. With Azure WebApps, it's much simpler to supervise the creation, testing, and deployment of web applications that scale as per your business needs.

  5. VISUAL STUDIO TEAM SERVICES 

This service enables Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) in the Microsoft cloud. Engineers can share code and track changes, perform testing, and send apps to production while working together in Azure. Visual Studio team simplifies the development and deployment for organizations.

6. STORAGE

You can depend on Microsoft's worldwide infrastructure to give secure and easily accessible data storage. With monstrous scalability and an intuitive pricing arrangement, constructing a safe and cost-friendly storage plan is straightforward in Microsoft Azure. 

You may also like: Implementing CI/CD pipeline on Azure

The azure cloud platform has more than 200 services as we as products that are further divided into 18 categories. The Azure categories are computing, storage, containers, security, integration, AI tools, ML tools, networking, IoT, migration, mobile, analytics, databases, developer tools, and web services. 

Let's look at essential services of Azure as per category:

STORAGE

•  Disk Storage: With your virtual machine, this service gives you two storage options: SSD (Solid State Drive) or HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

•  File Storage: This is a file storage service accessible through the industry SMB (server message block) protocol.

•  Queue Storage: It delivers stable message queuing for a considerable workload.

•  Blob Storage: It keeps enormous amounts of unstructured data like text, binary data, etc. 
 

NETWORKING

•  Azure CDN: The Azure CDN (Content Delivery Network) strives to deliver content to users. With its increased bandwidth feature, you can transfer content around the globe. The CDN service employs a network of servers strategically placed anywhere to ensure that users have access to data quickly.

•  Virtual network: It enables you to use MS Azure services to convey privately and securely with one another.

•  Express Route: It enables you to connect Microsoft Azure cloud or other services with your on-premise network via a protected channel. Thus, communications between the enterprise network and your preferred service will happen.

•  Azure DNS: This service can host DNS domains on Azure. 
 

COMPUTE SERVICES

•  Service Fabric: Service fabric greatly simplifies the process of developing a microservice. A microservice is an application that consists of small applications that are bundled together.

•  Virtual Machine: This service allows you to quickly build a virtual machine in Linux, Windows, or other configurations.

•  Cloud Computing: Cloud Azure helps you to build scalable cloud applications and handles everything from provisioning, health monitoring to balancing after application deployment.  

1. IAAS AND PAAS CAPABILITIES

Azure is an interesting blend of IaaS and PaaS solutions. IaaS empowers businesses to put up their framework on Azure and pay for what they use, and PaaS gives them a chance to make their own web applications and systems without purchasing and maintaining the infrastructure. Top Azure consultants from the Microsoft partner network can work with businesses to harness Azure PaaS and IaaS to develop enterprise applications on the Cloud for quickened business growth. 

2. SECURITY OFFERINGS 

Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) is a revolutionary security process on which Azure has been planned. Its core component is security and all your private information and services remain sheltered and secure on Azure Cloud. Microsoft Azure development services offers the ultimate coverage of more than 50 compliance elements and is the most trusted in cloud industry by the U.S. government organizations. Additionally, it is the first to grasp the new worldwide standard for cloud protection, ISO 27018.   

3. SCALABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY 

Applications that run effortlessly, unaffected and scalable from 5 to 5 million clients can be made with no extra coding by utilizing Azure. Azure Storage gives flexible, protected, secure and performance-optimized storage capabilities in the cloud. It results in ease of use when changing settings and utilizing more processors for the application. 

4. INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT WITH OTHER MICROSOFT TOOLS

Businesses subject to Microsoft tools like Office 365, Outlook and SharePoint put their resources into a cloud that immaculately integrates with Microsoft products. Utilization of Azure simplifies tasks by utilizing similar virtual machines like Windows and Linux. 

 5. ANALYTICS AND INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITIES

Azure encourages data services like SQL and NoSQL, and built-in support for delving further into data and revealing vital information for enhancing business and decision processes. Only Azure offers Blockchain as a Service (BaaS), Machine Learning, Bots, and Cognitive APIs enhancements. 

6. EASY LEARNING CURVE 

Tools like Visual Studio, ASP.NET, and programming languages like Visual Basic, C++, C#, and so forth., are utilized to create native cloud applications, hence experts can create enterprise-grade cloud-based applications with ease. 

7. COST EFFICIENT PLATFORM

The pay-as-you-go framework enables you to pay only for the resources you use to create or extend assets utilizing Azure. This drastically chops down the IT budget to a base as the infrastructure is maintained and managed by Microsoft Azure. 

8. IDENTITY & ACCESS MANAGEMENT (IAM)

Azure offers secure IAM capacities with Azure Active Directory service to allows specific users to get to a specific data. With Azure, Enterprises can utilize IAM abilities to lessen identity management costs, consequently supporting clever business activities. 

Also Read: Generating Free SSL Certificates Using AWS

Microsoft Azure is based on a pay-per-use model, meaning you need to pay for your services. It offers various services that can be used as on-premises, Azure public cloud, and hybrid implementations.

The cost of using Azure services depends on numerous aspects like service type, location, required capacity, and management level. The best part is it offers a free trial for certain services for the first 12 months and free usage of specific services for a lifetime.

Some companies pay less than $100 per month for Azure services, while others pay more than $10,000. It entirely depends on the services you use.

Other open cloud platforms, for example, Google Cloud & Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing Platform likewise give comparable abilities like Microsoft Azure. In any case, with the sheer speed that Microsoft is propelling new segments in Azure, it is clear that Azure scored higher in the commercial center. Trusted Microsoft Partners, for example, Zenesys are helping businesses create versatile and secure native cloud applications by leveraging the power of Azure.