Microsoft Azure It is a cloud computing platform, designed by Microsoft to successfully build, deploy, and manage applications and services through a global network of datacenters.
Cloud Computing: It can be referred to as the storing and accessing of data over the internet rather than your computer's hard drive. OR Cloud computing means data is stored at a remote place and is synchronized with other web information.
one of the example of cloud computing is Office 365 which allows users to store, access, edit their MS Office documents online (in browser) without installing the actual program on their device/laptop.
Benefits of Cloud or Advantages of Azure There are many benefits of clouds. Some of them are listed below.
Cost: It reduces the huge capital costs of buying hardware and software.
Speed: Resources can be accessed in minutes, typically within a few clicks.
Scalability: We can increase or decrease the requirement of resources according to the business requirements.
Productivity: While using cloud computing, we put less operational effort. We do not need to apply patching, as well as no need to maintain hardware and software. So, in this way, the IT team can be more productive and focus on achieving business goals.
Reliability: Backup and recovery of data are less expensive and very fast for business continuity.
Security: Many cloud vendors offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls that strengthen our data security.
Applications of Azure Microsoft Azure is used in a broad spectrum of applications like:
Infrastructure Services
Mobile Apps
Web Applications
Cloud Services
Storage, Backup, and Recovery
Data Management
Media Services
Types of Cloud Computing:
We have three types of clouds which are
Public
Private
Hybrid
Public Cloud: Public clouds are owned and maintained by third-party cloud service providers. They deliver their computing resources such as storage and servers over the internet. The most popular example of a public cloud is Microsoft Azure. it is a multi tenant.
Pros
Public clouds are easy to set up and the most convenient option, since all the management and services are handled by the service provider.
Many cloud companies have a high level of customer support.
Businesses can use public cloud storage to quickly scale up or down as needed.
Cons
Many cloud solutions only provide basic functionality with limited customization options.
There may be a limit to the amount of resources you can consume.
Private Cloud: In a private cloud, the infrastructure and services are operated on a private network. It refers to cloud computing resources extensively utilized by an organization or a single business. it is s single tenant.
Pros
The corporation is the sole owner and controls service integrations, operations, rules, and user behavior.
Companies can tailor their solutions to meet specific needs.
Private clouds can accommodate legacy apps that aren’t compatible with public clouds.
Cons
Private clouds kept in-house may require a lot of maintenance.
Sometimes the hardware has an impact on the application’s scalability when there is an unexpected increase in traffic.
If the cloud data center is limited to on-premises resources, the infrastructure may not be equipped for unexpected traffic.
Hybrid Cloud: Hybrid cloud combines private and public clouds, bound together by technology that enables applications and data to be shared between them. Hybrid cloud provides businesses with more deployment options and greater flexibility by allowing applications and data to move between public and private clouds
Pros
Hybrid cloud deployments offer adaptability, combining the best features of each cloud type.
Businesses can choose which workloads should run in the cloud and which ones should stay on-premises.
You can offer an environment combining both types of resources with minimal latency.
Because you’re not bound by the constraints of any one platform, you can scale to meet the needs of your users.
Cons
This model takes much more time to set up than traditional cloud models.
Ensuring file compatibility across private and public clouds might be difficult.
The hybrid model can be harder to implement and maintain.
Types of Azure Clouds
SaaS (Software as a Service) It is software which is centrally hosted and managed. It is a single version of the application is used for all customers. You can scale out to multiple instances. This helps you to ensure the best performance in all locations. The software is licensed through a monthly or annual subscription. MS Exchange, Office, Dynamics are offered as a SaaS Example: − E-mail (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.), MS Exchange, Office, MS One Drive, Dropbox etc
PaaS (Platform as a Service) This is a service where a platform is given to a client to build and deploy software. It helps the client to focus on application development rather than looking after infrastructure and hardware. Azure PaaS also manages the majority of operating systems, network issues, and servers. OR
This service provides an on-demand environment for developing, testing, delivering, and managing software applications. The developer is responsible for the application, and the PaaS vendor provides the ability to deploy and run it. Using PaaS, the flexibility gets reduce, but the management of the environment is taken care of by the cloud vendors. Example: Microsoft Azure
Advantages:
The total cost is low as the resources are allocated on demand and servers are automatically added or subtracted.
Azure is less vulnerable because servers are automatically checked for all known security issues
The entire process is not visible to the developer, so it does not have a risk of a data breach
Disadvantages:
Portability issues can occur when you use PaaS services
There may be different environment at Azure, so the application needs to adapt accordingly.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) In IaaS, we can rent IT infrastructures like servers and virtual machines (VMs), storage, networks, operating systems from a cloud service vendor. We can create VM running Windows or Linux and install anything we want on it. Using IaaS, we don’t need to care about the hardware or virtualization software, but other than that, we do have to manage everything else. Using IaaS, we get maximum flexibility, but still, we need to put more effort into maintenance. Example: Amazon S3
Advantages:
It offers efficient design time portability
It is advisable for the application which needs complete control
IaaS offers quick transition of services to clouds
The apparent benefit of laaS is that it frees you from the concerns of setting up many physical or virtual machines.
Helps you to access, monitor and manage datacenters
Disadvantages :
Plenty of security risks from unpatched servers
Some companies have defined processes for testing and updating on-premise servers vulnerabilities. This cannot be done with Azure.
The increasing popularity of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS is reducing the need for on-premise hosting. Some cloud computing server models are more complicated than others. The level of system administration knowledge decreases as you go down the list in this order: On-premise > IaaS > PaaS > SaaS.
Single tenant provides each customer with a distinct software instance running on infrastructure that is not shared with other users. Multi-tenant uses a shared infrastructure to provide access to the SaaS solution to multiple customers.