Micosoft Azure

In this repo, I'm documenting the learnings of Azure Services.

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Index:

1. Regions and Zones
2. VM
3. Availability
4. VMSS
5. Scaling
6. Managed Services: Iaas, Paas, Saas
7. Azure Web App
8. Azure Administration: Azure CLI, AzurePowershell & Cloudshell, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Azure Dashboard
9. Container
10. ACI (Azure Container Instances)
11. Container Orchestration (AKS & Service Fabric)
12. Serverless (Azure Functions)
13. Shared Responsibility Model
14. Storage types, Azure Storage ----------- Storage ---------------
15. Azure Storage - Data Redundancy
16. Region Pairs
17. Azure files
18. Database
19. Networking: Virtual Network, Subnet, Load balncer, Azure front door, Application Gateway vs API Gateway, Content Delivery Network (CDN)
20. Azure Network Security: Firewall, Network Security Group (NSG), DDoS, Azure Private Link & Private Endpoints, Bastin Host, VNet Peering
21. Organizing & Managing Azure Resources: Resource Hierarchy (Management Groups > Subscription > Resource Group > Resources)
22. Azure Identity Services: AAD, RBAC
23. Azure Logic App
24. Azure App Service =====================================================================================

1. VM

Azure Virtual Machine (VM) is an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) offering. It lets you create a virtual computer in the cloud. Just like your laptop or server, but running inside Azure’s datacenters.

• You control the OS, software, and settings.
• Azure provides the physical hardware.

Hands-on Time!

Let's create a VM

2. VMSS (Virtual Machine Scale Sets)?

Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) let you automatically create and manage a group of identical virtual machines (VMs).

• They all run the same application.
• They scale out (add VMs) when demand is high.
• They scale in (remove VMs) when demand is low.
• Azure handles the scaling for you.

Handson Time!

Let's create a VMSS with 2 identical VMs, configure Nginx on both VMs, 1 Load balancer and then check the accessibility of both VM and LB using curl command using Cloud Shell

Check the VMs..

These VMs can be accessible using their Public IPs as fillowing.. VM1

VM2

Load Balancer (lb)

Now we will use Cloud shell and hit the lb url using curl command and lb will redirect on the availabele VMs.

curl http://135.235.112.61

3. Azure Web App

Azure Web App is part of Azure App Service. It lets you host websites and web applications without managing any servers!

• Azure takes care of the hardware, updates, scaling, and security.
• You just focus on your app (like your website, API, or backend).

Hit the domain of Web App on browser, we can see the web app page as follow.

8. Azure Administration: Azure CLI, AzurePowershell & Cloudshell, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Azure Dashboard

Azure Dashboard

The Azure Dashboard is a customizable canvas in the Microsoft Azure portal that allows you to monitor resources, track billing, view metrics, and access tools in one place. It’s especially helpful for system administrators, DevOps engineers, and developers to quickly access and manage their cloud resources. Lets create a Dashboard..

9. Container

• Lets create a container using azure portal

  

• We have given the Public IP for container, now hit the domain name on browser. We'll get the Azure Container Instances page.

  containerlh24.atayd9hqd7h6bpdn.westindia.azurecontainer.io
  

  

16. Region Pairs

Azure Region Pairs are two Azure regions that are linked together to:

• Provide high availability 🛡️
• Support disaster recovery 🔄
• Ensure data backup across a wide area 🌐

If one region has an outage (disaster, update), the paired region can take over.

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17. Azure Files

Azure Files is a cloud-based shared file system that you can access just like a network drive — but it lives in Azure.

• Fully managed by Azure
• Accessible from Windows, Linux, and macOS
• Access over SMB protocol (the same protocol you use for network drives at work)

Hands-on Time!

15. Storage

Let's create a Storage Account from the Azure portal

Create a File share in this storage

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Azure Front Door?

Azure Front Door is a global, scalable entry point for your web applications.

It helps to:

• Route user traffic smartly,
• Accelerate performance (make apps load faster),
• Protect against threats like DDoS attacks.

Think of it as a smart doorman that directs users to the best and fastest version of your app.

Snapshot

A Snapshot is a full backup of a VM's disk that you can use for backup, recovery, or creating new disks/VMs.

• It captures the exact state of your VM disk.
• You can restore your VM later using the snapshot if needed (like after a crash or accidental deletion).

Disc Backup

• A full backup of one or more VM disks (automated).
• Regular, scheduled backups for long-term retention.
• Whole VM, including OS and data disks.

Key Difference:

• Snapshot = Manual, one-time, disk-level.
• Disk Backup = Scheduled, full VM-level protection using Azure Backup service.

Swap Memory

Swap memory is virtual memory used when your system's RAM is full. It's a portion of disk storage that acts like "extra RAM" to keep the system running smoothly. System moves less-used data to swap space (on disk) to free up memory.

• It’s slower than RAM
• Helps prevent crashes when RAM is overloaded

Server Hardening

• Server hardening means securing your server by reducing its vulnerabilities.
• Server hardening in Azure means following best practices to secure virtual machines, including limiting access, keeping systems updated, and monitoring activity.
• In Azure: Use tools like NSGs, Just-in-Time VM access, Microsoft Defender for Cloud

16. Networking

Virtual Vetwork (VNet)

An Azure Virtual Network (VNet) is the foundation of networking in Azure. It's a private, isolated network you create in the Azure cloud, much like a traditional network in your on-premises environment.

Features	Description
Isolation	Each VNet is isolated from other VNets and from the public internet unless you connect them.
Subnets	You can divide a VNet into subnets to organize and secure resources.
Private IP Addressing	Resources in a VNet (like VMs, databases) get private IPs.
Secure Communication	Resources within a VNet can communicate securely with each other.
Internet Access	Outbound internet access is allowed by default; inbound is restricted unless configured.
VNet Peering	You can connect VNets across regions or subscriptions privately using VNet Peering.

VNet Peering

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) Peering is a mechanism that connects two VNets in the same or different Azure regions, enabling resources in each VNet to communicate with each other using private IP addresses - just as if they were part of the same network.

Types of VNet Peering

1. Intra-region VNet Peering

• Peers VNets within the same Azure region
• Uses low-latency, high-bandwidth Azure backbone
• No encryption between VNets (since it's internal)

2. Global VNet Peering

• Peers VNets across different Azure regions
• Also uses Azure backbone, but incurs data transfer charges

VNet Peering Features

• Private IP connectivity across VNets
• No public internet, VPN, or gateway required
• Low latency, high bandwidth connectivity
• Supports transitive routing (via NVA) with custom configuration
• Can be used with Hub-and-Spoke or Mesh architectures

Security and Access Control

• Peering is not transitive by default (A ↔ B and B ↔ C doesn't mean A ↔ C)
• Network security groups (NSGs) and route tables still apply
• You can enable/disable options like:
• Forwarded traffic
• Gateway transit
• Remote gateway usage

21.

Management Group

We can see the current subscription details, as follow

22. Azure Identity Services

23. Azure Logic App

24. Azure App Service