If you are wondering What is Microsoft Azure, it is a Cloud Computing platform that provides more than six hundred services. These services are primarily used to test, build, manage, and deploy applications. It offers its infrastructure as Software as a Service (SaaS), Management as a Service (MaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS).
It also enables Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported and Machine Learning (ML) applications. Getting Microsoft Azure Certification is also a great idea if you want to know more about the platform from a professional vantage point. Let’s discover its core services and various features.
Features of Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is adorned with some essential features. This includes data storage and management, Single-pane operations, calculative services, AI and Machine Learning. All these aspects play vital roles in setting Azure apart from other Cloud Computing platforms.
Data Storage and Management
Microsoft Azure features an extensive range of management services and data storage. Its important features include diverse data handling, scalability, secure storage, and advanced analytical capabilities. Azure’s Blob and SQL, respectively, are responsible for this comprehensive amount of secure storage, vast quantities of unstructured data, and scalable and dependable database service.
Single-pane operations
One of its most vital features is single-pane operations. It serves a unified view of hybrid environments through Operation Management Suit (OMS), a MaaS that allows seamless management and monitoring of various data sources. These diverse data sources include storage, logs, insights, Virtual Machines (VMs), and network services.
Calculative Services
Along with other features, Microsoft Azure also provides a wide range of computational services. It includes a PaaS feature, where developers can use PaaS to manage websites and publish efficiently. Applications can be partially deployed and examined for any glitches before they can go live. This feature ensures the site’s seamless functioning without compromising performance.
AI and ML
Microsoft Azure’s amalgamation with AI and ML empowers businesses to leverage advanced analytics and automation capacities. This feature helps companies to train, construct, and deploy models, gaining important insights from their data. The cognitive services by Microsoft Azure offer different pre-built AI models for other tasks.
Microsoft Azure Core Services
Azure offers a wide range of services to assist businesses by exploring the Cloud Computing structure. These services help enterprises to elevate, scale and innovate. Here are the Azure core services:
Storage service
Azure storage is secure and scalable. Some examples are as follows:
- High-performance Computing (HPC) Cache allows data to be cached for HPC workloads. It is designed primarily to reduce latency and magnify performance.
- Data Leak storage is orchestrated for Big Data Analytics workloads. This service allows for storing and assessing huge volumes of unstructured, semi-structured, and structured data.
- Managed disks offer high-performance block storage for all complicated Virtual Machines.
Database service
To simplify management, scaling and deployment of databases, Azure provides certain database services:
- Redic Cache: It offers in-memory storage for faster access to data.
- Azure Database: This cost-effective solution has a service level agreement (SLA) and top-notch security.
- Azure Cosmo: It’s a serverless database which supports Apache Cassandra, Mongo Db, etc.
- Apache Cassandra: It offers cost-effective workload scaling and flexible management.
Compute service
Compute services let businesses manage, scale and deploy workloads and applications in the cloud. Listed below are some of the core compute services:
- VMs: It lets manage and deploy VMs inside the Azure virtual network.
- Azure App Service allows for scaling web applications, easy creation, API usage, and deployment.
- Container Apps is a managed service built on Kubernetes that simplifies the deployment of containerized applications in a serverless environment.
- Azure functions: Another serverless platform that simplifies development and makes it faster, using programming language.
Networking service
Azure Networking service offers networking solutions for businesses to manage, build and secure their network structure in the cloud environment. Here are some Azure core networking services:
- ExpressRoute: This permits private connections between colocation infrastructure and Azure data centres.
- Azure DNS is a hosting service for the Domain Name System (DNS) that offers name resolution using Azure infrastructure.
- Private link: This helps establish private and secure connections amongst Azure PaaS and virtual networks, improving network security.
Conclusion
Keeping all Core Services and Features of Microsoft Azure in mind, it goes without saying that it is an ideal solution for businesses wanting to optimise services in a cost-effective environment. Microsoft Azure is indeed an essential tool for organisations of all sizes.