What is Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing Platform

What is Microsoft Azure: Cloud Computing platform?

In this era, technological advancements are sculpting the way we live as well as work, and there is a transformative force behind this development named cloud computing.

Today, wherever and whenever you turn, you may hear the frequent phrase called ‘ cloud’. You might wonder how it is possible to achieve this much success in a short span of time. But the real fact is that the usage of cloud computing applications allows for real-time collaboration and permits countless people to carry out the task simultaneously. 

By considering these benefits, 70 % of businesses tend to adopt cloud technology for their computing infrastructure. There are many cloud computing platforms available, but two major cloud platforms win the race. It is notable for Amazon web services and Microsoft Azure.

In this blog, we begin a captivating journey into the realm of Azure, exploring its capabilities and unlocking the limitless benefits it offers. 

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a seasonal IT professional, or simply curious about cloud computing features, this comprehensive study on Microsoft Azure will lighten up the path ahead.

Let’s dive in!

What is Microsoft Azure?

A powerful cloud computing platform provided by Microsoft is called Azure. It offers a wide range of cloud services that let companies create, launch, and handle applications and services via globally dispersed data centers run by Microsoft.

Also Read: Top 10 Azure Services

A broad spectrum of services and solutions are provided by Azure to meet different company demands. Azure offers a solid foundation that enables businesses to grow their operations effectively and smoothly, from virtual machines and memory to databases and analytics.

Azure’s versatility is one of its main benefits. Since it supports a wide range of operating systems, structures, and tools, it can easily adapt to a wide range of IT environments. 

In Azure, security and dependability are also top priorities. Azure guarantees the integrity as well as safety of the data and applications with its extensive global network of data centers and high-security standards. As it complies with industry standards and laws, organizations can rest easy knowing that their most important assets are secure.

Azure delivers advanced services in fields including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics in addition to infrastructure. These services give businesses the ability to construct intelligent apps, automate workflows, and reveal insightful data that boosts productivity and fosters creativity.

In essence, Microsoft Azure is a digital transformation engine rather than merely a cloud platform. It gives companies the tools they need to make use of the cloud’s power, speed up creativity, and accomplish their objectives in a quickly changing digital environment.

Why to go for the Azure platform?

In today’s world, businesses face a lot of critical challenges in staying unique in a competitive world while managing their infrastructure in an effective way. This situation favors the growth of Microsoft Azure. 

Read More: New Microsoft Azure Certifications Path in 2023

One of the major reasons to go for Microsoft Azure will be its unmatching scalability. Microsoft Azure, highly scalable global infrastructure, comprises numerous data centers, and ensures the computing infrastructure to scale up or down as per the demand. 

Even if you want to handle the sudden spikes in internet traffic, expand the storage capacity, or want to deploy any new applications, then Microsoft Azure comes into play by offering demanding scaling options.

Let’s have a brief look at how Microsoft Azue helps the business:

  • Low capital: While going for the Microsoft Azure platform, then you need not to worry about cost for installation. The usage of Microsoft Azure really cut down the cost of hardware. It means you can pay as you go, and fully utilize the whole benefits of Azure as it is a subscription-based model. Moreover, the account setup on Azure was simply easy. The user just needs to register in the Microsoft Azure portal and have to pick the required subscription.
  • Less operational cost: In comparison to other computing platforms, Azure has low operational costs as it runs on its own servers and its only role is to make the cloud to be bug free and functional. And its major benefit is that it is more reliable than on-location servers.
  • Cost Effective: In order to set up your own server, it is mandatory to hire a tech team to monitor and to ensure that everything is going fine. And in some cases, the tech team can take a lot more time than expected to fix those issues. In this way, Microsoft Azure is too friendly.
  • Faster Back-Up and Recovery options: Azure retains backups of all the valuable assets. During any disaster, Azure has the power to recover all of the assets in a single click without affecting the business operations. It has been found that Cloud-based backup and recovery solutions conserve time, and eliminate more investments and help in rolling up third-party expertise.
  • Easy to implement: In Azure, implementing your business models is quite simple. With just a few click tasks, you will be ready to go. Even more tutorials are available to help you learn and execute faster.
  • Better Security: Compared to local servers, Azure offers more security. Since it is secure on the Azure Cloud. Azure is the best solution, even during natural disasters where resources gets damaged. The cloud never turns off.
  • Work from anywhere: Azure allows you the flexibility to do so. All that is required are credentials and a network connection. Additionally, you are not limited to the device you have on hand because the majority of the important Azure cloud services have mobile apps.
  • Increased collaboration: Collaboration is improved since teams may view, edit, and distribute documents at any time, from anywhere, using Azure. Together, they can accomplish future objectives and work. Azure also has the benefit of maintaining data and activity logs. One type of record-keeping used by Azure is timestamps. Timestamps foster better teamwork by fostering accountability and promoting openness.

Notable Microsoft Azure Services

Azure services, commonly termed as platform-as-a-service (PaaS), take care of infrastructure management in an organization, allowing them to highly concentrate on application development and innovation. 

  • Compute: Azure Contains virtual machines, virtual machine scaling sets, functionalities for serverless computation, batch for packaged batch workloads, service fabric for orchestrating microservices and containers, and cloud services for creating cloud-based apps and APIs.
  • Networking: The Virtual Network, which connects to on-premise data centres, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, VPN Gateway, Azure DNS for hosting domains, Content Delivery Network, Traffic Manager, ExpressRoute devoted private network fibre connections, and Network Watcher tracking and diagnostics are just a few of the networking tools that you can use with Azure.
  • Storage: Blob, queue, file, and disc storage are among the storage options available. A data lake store, backup, and site recovery are also included.
  • Web + Mobile: Since it comes with a number of services for developing and delivering applications, developing Web + Mobile applications is relatively simple.
  • Containers: A component of Azure’s infrastructure called Container Service enables Kubernetes, DC/OS or Docker Swarm, Container Registry, as well as microservices development tools.
  • Databases: A number of SQL-based databases and associated tools were also included in Azure.
  • Data + Analytics: HDInsight for Hadoop Spark, HBase, R Server and Storm clusters are among big data tools available on Azure.
  • AI + Cognitive Services: Azure is used to create software using artificial intelligence features, such as the Language Understanding Intelligent, Computer Vision based API, Face API, Bing Web Search, and Face API.
  • Internet of Things: Consists of IoT Hub and IoT Edge services that can be integrated with various analytics, communications, and machine learning tools.
  • Security : Azure offers security services including Azure Active Directory, Key Vault, and Multi-Factor Authentication. 
  • Developer Tools: These services include cloud-based development tools like Azure DevTest Labs, Visual Studio Team Services, HockeyApp for mobile app deployment and monitoring, and Xamarin for cross-platform mobile development.

How Microsoft Azure works?

Developers and IT specialists may build, deploy, and manage applications using this hybrid cloud platform. It capitalizes on the advantage of virtualization technology. Through the use of a hypervisor, an abstraction layer, virtualization decouples the hardware and operating system’s close relationship. 

Each virtual machine is capable of running any operating system, such as Windows or Linux, and the hypervisor mimics all of the operations of a real computer. It can run numerous virtual machines concurrently. In a Microsoft-owned datacenter, Azure uses this virtualization approach to replicate it on a large scale.

Each data center contains numerous server racks that are each equipped with a hypervisor that allows it to operate multiple virtual machines. Connectivity is provided through the network switch.

The fabric controller, a unique piece of software, is run by one server per rack. Each fabric controller is linked to the Orchestrator, an additional unique piece of software. Each Orchestrator is in charge of overseeing tasks like handling user requests.

In addition to the various services that are offered by Microsoft Azure portal, a number of third-party vendors also ensure the software to be directly available through Azure. Although the price charged for third-party applications differs greatly, it is possible to pay both a subscription fee for the application and a usage fee for the infrastructure that hosts the application.

For Azure, Microsoft furnish the following 5 customer support choices:

  • Basic
  • Developer
  • Standard
  • Professional Direct
  • Enterprise (Premier)

The scope and cost of these customer assistance initiatives vary. All Azure accounts have access to basic help, but Microsoft charges extra for its other support services. 

Microsoft Azure Applications

The Azure platforms are designed to assist organizations in managing their difficulties and achieving their goals. Here are some applications of Azure:

  • From the large range of templates available on the marketplace, you can quickly design your own Linux virtual machine, and Azure will host the applications and services.
  • It is interoperable with other free and open-source technology and provides capabilities to support numerous industries, including e-commerce, data analysis, and finance.
  • Additionally, Azure provides managed SQL relational databases as a service in any number between one and infinity.
  • When building and launching your application on a virtual machine, you may utilize Azure as a resource. Azure offers a cost-effective substitute for the high budget needed for resource provision.
  • It is simpler to develop and deploy applications that are compatible with well-known web and portable platforms using Azure, which also includes data storage that is both safe and easily accessible.
  • The Visual Studio team services fall under the Azure and it offers a full application life cycle administration (ALM) solution in the cloud.

FAQs

What are the 4 types of cloud computing?

The major types of cloud computing includes private clouds, public clouds, hybrid clouds, and multi clouds.

Why to go for the Azure platform?

Azure makes it simple to move between on-premises and public clouds and provides a stable as well as consistent platform.

What programming language does Azure support?

Azure supports popular programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, . NET and Go.

What are the 4 types of cloud computing?

Cloud computing encompasses four primary types: private clouds, public clouds, hybrid clouds, and multi-clouds.

Why use the Azure platform?

Ensure the safety of your customers and organization by implementing comprehensive security measures across data centers, infrastructure, and operations. Azure, the trusted cloud solution, is committed to protecting your data with over USD 1 billion invested in research and development, along with a team of 3,500 dedicated security experts who continuously monitor and safeguard your valuable information.

What are the advantages of Azure?

Microsoft Azure Cloud Services offer several advantages, including: 

Data Security: Robust measures are in place to ensure the security of your data. 

Cloud Security Center: A centralized hub to manage and monitor your cloud security. Integrated Delivery Pipeline: Seamless integration and efficient delivery of your applications and services. 

Scalability: The ability to easily scale resources up or down based on your needs. Analytics Solutions: Advanced analytics capabilities to gain insights from your data. Disaster Recovery: Reliable disaster recovery solutions to protect your business-critical data and applications.

Conclusion

Hope this blog has witnessed how Azure has empowered businesses across the various industries to develop, scale, and attain remarkable outcomes. It has been found that Azure certification has become a driving force behind digital transformation, making organizations achieve streamlined operations, offer exceptional customer services, and gain a competitive edge in the IT market.

By moving to the Azure platform, businesses can unlock limitless opportunities, speed up their digital journey, and enlighten the way for a future with innovation, efficiency, and growth. 

If you have any clarifications regarding this blog, please feel free to comment us!

About Basant Singh

Basant Singh is a Cloud Product Manager with over 18+ years of experience in the field. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Instrumentation Engineering, and has dedicated his career to mastering the intricacies of cloud computing technologies. With expertise in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), he stays current with the latest developments in the industry. In addition, he has developed a strong interest and proficiency in Google Go Programming (Golang), Docker, and NoSQL databases. With a history of successfully leading teams and building efficient operations and infrastructure, he is well-equipped to help organizations scale and thrive in the ever-evolving world of cloud technology.

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