Microsoft: Windows Azure

Microsoft Azure, often just called Azure, is a cloud computing platform and cloud service created by Microsoft. It provides a wide range of services like computing power, storage, networking, databases, artificial intelligence (AI), and many other tools, all hosted on Microsoft-managed data centers.

Cloud computing, in simple terms, is when you use computing resources (like servers and storage) over the internet instead of having to own and maintain physical hardware on-site. Azure is one of the largest and most popular platforms for cloud computing, alongside Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.

 Types of Cloud Services Provided by Azure:

Azure offers three main types of cloud services that businesses and developers can use:

·      Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):

·      This provides users with virtualized computing resources over the internet. Azure offers virtual machines (VMs) that run on Microsoft's cloud infrastructure. Users can rent VMs to run their applications without needing to buy physical servers.

·      Platform as a Service (PaaS):

·      PaaS provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure (servers, storage, etc.). Azure App Services is an example of a PaaS offering that helps developers build web applications.

·      Software as a Service (SaaS):

·      SaaS allows users to access software applications over the internet. With Azure, users can access Microsoft’s tools like Office 365, Dynamics 365, and other applications hosted on the cloud.

 

Features of Microsoft Azure:

Azure has many services and features, but here are some of the key ones that are especially useful:

·      Virtual Machines (VMs):
You can create and manage virtual computers in the cloud. These machines can run any operating system (Windows, Linux, etc.) and are highly customizable to meet your needs.

·      Azure Storage:
Azure provides multiple types of storage services:

·      Blob Storage for storing large amounts of unstructured data (like videos and images).

·      File Storage to store files accessible by virtual machines.

·      Disk Storage for persistent disks used with virtual machines.

·      Azure Networking:
This includes services for managing virtual networks, VPNs, and load balancing. Azure’s Virtual Network (VNet) helps in creating private networks within the cloud, similar to traditional networks but with more flexibility.

·      Databases:
Azure offers multiple managed database services such as:

·      Azure SQL Database (for relational data storage),

·      Cosmos DB (for NoSQL and highly scalable databases),

·      Azure Database for MySQL/PostgreSQL (for open-source databases).

·      AI and Machine Learning:
Azure provides a variety of tools and services for artificial intelligence, such as:

·      Azure Cognitive Services for vision, speech, language processing, and decision-making tasks.

·      Azure Machine Learning to build, train, and deploy machine learning models.

·      Azure DevOps:
A set of development tools for automating workflows, managing source code, and building and deploying applications. It helps developers collaborate and streamline the software development process.

 

Advantages  of Using Microsoft Azure:

·      Scalability:
Azure can easily scale up or down to meet the changing demands of a business. You can add more computing power or storage when necessary and scale down when it's no longer needed, so you only pay for what you use.

·      Global Reach:
Azure has a vast network of data centers around the world, so you can host your services closer to your customers. This reduces latency (delay in processing) and improves performance.

·      Security:
Azure has built-in security features like data encryption, identity management, and threat detection. Microsoft invests heavily in security to protect user data, which is crucial in cloud computing.

·      Cost Efficiency:
Azure operates on a pay-as-you-go model. This means businesses only pay for the services they use, which helps reduce upfront costs and avoid unnecessary spending.

·      Hybrid Capabilities:
Azure allows businesses to create a hybrid environment, which means they can connect on-premises data centers with the cloud. This helps businesses gradually transition to the cloud without fully abandoning their existing infrastructure.

Real-World Applications of Microsoft Azure:

Here are some common ways Azure is used in different industries:

·      E-Commerce:
Online retailers use Azure to host websites, manage customer data, and scale their infrastructure during peak shopping seasons (like Black Friday or Christmas).

·      Healthcare:
Healthcare providers use Azure to store patient data securely, and to use AI for diagnosing diseases or analyzing medical images.

·      Gaming:
Game developers use Azure to host multiplayer games, manage player accounts, and process large amounts of game-related data.

·      Finance:
Financial institutions rely on Azure for secure transactions, managing huge amounts of data, and using AI for fraud detection.

.How Azure works

It is essential to understand the internal workings of Azure so that we can design our applications on Azure effectively with high availability, data residency, resilience, etc.

Microsoft Azure is completely based on the concept of virtualization. So, similar to other virtualized data center, it also contains racks. Each rack has a separate power unit and network switch, and also each rack is integrated with a software called Fabric-Controller. This Fabric-controller is a distributed application, which is responsible for managing and monitoring servers within the rack. In case of any server failure, the Fabric-controller recognizes it and recovers it. And Each of these Fabric-Controller is, in turn, connected to a piece of software called Orchestrator. This Orchestrator includes web-services, Rest API to create, update, and delete resources.

When a request is made by the user either using PowerShell or Azure portal. First, it will go to the Orchestrator, where it will fundamentally do three things:

1. Authenticate the User
2. It will Authorize the user, i.e., it will check whether the user is allowed to do the requested task.
3. It will look into the database for the availability of space based on the resources and pass the request to an appropriate Azure Fabric controller to execute the request.

Combinations of racks form a cluster. We have multiple clusters within a data center, and we can have multiple Data Centers within an Availability zone, multiple Availability zones within a Region, and multiple Regions within a Geography.

• Geographies: It is a discrete market, typically contains two or more regions, that preserves data residency and compliance boundaries.
• Azure regions: A region is a collection of data centers deployed within a defined perimeter and interconnected through a dedicated regional low-latency network.

Azure covers more global regions than any other cloud provider, which offers the scalability needed to bring applications and users closer around the world. It is globally available in 50 regions around the world. Due to its availability over many regions, it helps in preserving data residency and offers comprehensive compliance and flexible options to the customers.

Availability Zones: These are the physically separated location within an Azure region. Each one of them is made up of one or more data centers, independent configuration.

 SQL Azure (Azure SQL Database)

SQL Azure, also known as Azure SQL Database, is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering built on Microsoft SQL Server technology. It allows users to run relational databases in the cloud without managing the underlying infrastructure.

Features of SQL Azure

1.      Fully Managed Service:

• Azure SQL Database automatically handles database management tasks like patching, backups, and replication.

2.      High Availability:

• Built-in high availability with geo-replication and automatic failover, ensuring the database remains accessible during failures.

3.      Elastic Pools:

• Elastic pools allow you to manage and scale multiple databases under a shared resource pool. This helps in cost optimization when managing databases with varying usage patterns.

4.      Scaling:

• Users can easily scale the database up or down based on performance needs using DTUs (Database Transaction Units) or vCore-based pricing.

5.      Intelligent Performance:

• Azure SQL Database provides intelligent insights and performance recommendations for query tuning, indexing, and more.
• Features like automatic tuning can fix performance issues without manual intervention.

6.      Security:

• Transparent data encryption (TDE) protects data at rest, and Always Encrypted protects data in motion.
• Azure Defender for SQL and Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) help monitor for suspicious activities and vulnerabilities.

7.      Backup and Restore:

• Automated backups are taken regularly with point-in-time restore capabilities. Geo-redundant backups can be stored in another Azure region for disaster recovery.

8.      Global Reach:

• SQL Azure is available in multiple Azure regions, allowing organizations to deploy databases close to their users and achieve low-latency access globally.

SQL Azure Use Cases

• Running traditional SQL Server databases in the cloud without worrying about infrastructure.
• Applications requiring high availability, automatic scaling, and performance optimization.

 Windows Azure Platform Appliance (WAPA)

The Windows Azure Platform Appliance (WAPA) was a pre-configured solution introduced by Microsoft in 2010. Although this product is no longer actively promoted, it was significant in Azure’s early history as it allowed enterprises and large service providers to run Azure services within their own data centers.

What Was Windows Azure Platform Appliance?

• The Windows Azure Platform Appliance was essentially a hybrid cloud solution that allowed customers to deploy a private version of Microsoft’s Azure platform in their own on-premises data centers.
• It combined hardware, networking, and software into a single integrated package, allowing organizations to benefit from cloud-like capabilities while maintaining control over their infrastructure.

Key Components of WAPA:

1.      Compute:

• Provided scalable computing power through on-premises infrastructure, similar to running VMs in the cloud. This allowed enterprises to deploy and manage applications locally.

2.      Storage:

• Local storage capabilities were built-in to handle the massive amounts of data generated by applications running in a private Azure cloud.

3.      Networking:

• Networking components allowed enterprises to create virtual networks and control traffic between cloud-based applications and on-premises systems.

4.      Management:

• A management layer that integrated with Azure's management tools allowed administrators to deploy, scale, and manage resources just like in Azure’s public cloud.

Use Cases for WAPA:

1.      Large Enterprises:

• Enterprises with regulatory or data residency requirements that prevent them from moving certain workloads to the public cloud could still leverage the Azure platform in their own data centers.

2.      Service Providers:

• Telecommunications companies and hosting providers could offer cloud services to their customers using their own infrastructure.

3.      Hybrid Scenarios:

• Organizations wanting to adopt a hybrid cloud model could seamlessly connect their on-premises Windows Azure Platform Appliance to Microsoft’s public Azure cloud, achieving hybrid capabilities for workloads.