An IT Pro’s Guide to Microsoft Azure
Whether you are considering cloud for your company or you are already utilizing cloud services, it is likely that you have heard of Microsoft Azure. This guide provides a high-level overview of this cloud platform, the different applications, the benefits, and the potential drawbacks.
What is Microsoft Azure?
Microsoft Azure is Microsoft’s public cloud computing platform. It was introduced in October 2008 as Windows Azure and later rebranded as Microsoft Azure in April 2014. It provides a range of cloud services, including those for compute, analysis, storage, and networking, as well as cloud-based versions of enterprise Microsoft solutions such as Active Directory and SQL Server. It is designed to allow businesses to easily build and manage customized applications and other services deployed on an enterprise-grade data centre supported or managed by Microsoft.
What Services Does Microsoft Azure Provide?
The directory of Azure services is growing all the time. Below are the key service types:
- Compute — Including virtual machines, cloud apps, containers, batch schedules, and APIs
- Networking — Provision private networks, load balancing, VPN gateways, manage traffic, and monitor network performance
- Storage — Cloud storage, blob storage, queue storage, file storage, disk storage, as well as cloud backup and recovery
- Web and Mobile — Create and deploy cloud apps for web and mobile, automate access and use of data, build cloud APIs, and deliver content virtually to all devices
- Containers — Including container registry, container instances, and service fabric and container server
- Databases — Managed SQL database and managed MySQL database as a service, data transformation and movement, and Azure Cosmos DB
Examples of Microsoft Azure Products
- Data & Analytics — Build, deploy, and manage predictive analytics solutions; create interactive data visualizations; manage data transformation
- AI and Cognitive Services — APIs for emotion recognition, facial detection, computer vision, and speech conversion
- Internet of Things — Capture, monitor, and analyze IoT data from sensors and other devices
- Enterprise Integration — Connect cloud environments and automate the access and use of data
- Security and Identity — Manage Azure deployments, identify and respond to security threats
- Developer Tools — Collaborate with other users, create environments, and detect and diagnose issues within web apps and services
- Monitoring and Management — Monitor, manage, analyze, and automate your Azure resources
What are the Benefits of Microsoft Azure?
- Fast — Azure is fast to deploy, operate, and scale
- Easy Transition — Typically easier to use out-of-box and more user-friendly; Azure virtual machines integrate with other Microsoft products, making the transition smoother
- Security — Microsoft holds numerous security accreditations including ISO/IEC 27018, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, HIPAA, HITECH, FedRAMP, and IRS 1075. You have complete control over the collection, access, use, and distribution of your company data
- Development — Microsoft regularly adds new features and solutions to Azure’s directory
- Agile — Enables businesses to develop, test, feedback, and retry when developing applications without expensive outlay or complicated infrastructure
- Scalable — Azure can typically be leveraged for any size business, from start-up to enterprise level
- Flexible — Offers the ability to instantly provision computing resources on demand
- Fully Integrated — Contains many elements beyond storage, including a unified delivery pipeline, IoT integrations, and a development environment. Azure is closely integrated with Microsoft tools such as SharePoint, Office 365, and Outlook
- Protected — Azure has regional and global failover options, and hot and cold data redundancy built in