Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Services

Azure Overview

Azure can really benefit your business by providing access to resources in the cloud and reducing costs at the same time. Azure provides high availability, backup and SLAs for your cloud-based infrastructure.

• Cloud Computing
• Azure Benefits
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Global Azure Infrastructure
• Azure Products Overview
• SLA and Pricing
• Azure Resource Manager

Azure Management Tools

Azure can be managed with a variety of different tools. For basic tasks, the Azure portal can be used. To automate the deployment of a big part of your infrastructure, scripting and command line tools are available as well. You can use both PowerShell and the Azure CLI to manage your entire environment.

• Azure Portal
• Managing Azure with PowerShell
• Managing Azure with the CLI
• Azure Cloud Shell
• LAB: Azure Management Tools

Azure Authoring Solutions

Another method to deploy resources in Azure is by using a declarative approach. Here, you define the required components in a file, which is then deployed to the system. Azure Resource Manager will then make sure that the correct resources are created on the platform.

• Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates
• Terraform
• Bicep
• LAB: Azure Authoring Solutions

Managing Subscriptions

As a company you will probably end up with multiple subscriptions and lots of resources. Naming conventions and tags help you to keep everything organized. Permissions can be assigned to control access to your resources.

• Management Groups
• Naming and Tagging
• Resource Locks
• Role Based Access Control (RBAC)
• LAB: Managing Subscriptions

Azure Storage

An Azure storage account contains all of your Azure Storage data objects: blobs, files, queues, tables, and disks. Data in your Azure storage account is durable and highly available, secure, massively scalable, and accessible from anywhere in the world over HTTPS.

• Azure Storage Types: Blob, Tables, Queues, Files and Disks
• Storage Accounts
• Secure Access to Storage
• Working with Storage
• Azure File Sync
• LAB: Azure Storage

Azure Networking

Virtual Networks in Azure allow you to setup communication between your VMs. Virtual Networks can be connected to one another through VNet peering.

Once VNets are connected, you will be responsible for successful name resolution. Azure DNS can be used to provide name resolution both internally and on the internet.

• Virtual Network Overview
• Virtual Network Design
• VNet Peering
• Azure DNS
• LAB: Azure Networking

Azure Virtual Machines

With virtual machines you have access to a scalable computing infrastructure on demand when you quickly need to create new environments to fulfill the growing needs of your organization. Azure provides a set of predefined Windows and Linux operating systems in different configurations to get you started. You can also upload your own VHDs and start from there.

• Virtual Machines Overview, Pricing and Storage
• VM Networking
• Network Security Groups
• Creating VMs
• Connect to a VM: RDP, SSH, Bastion
• LAB: Azure Virtual Machines

Azure Advanced Networking

To control your network traffic flow, you can implement user defined routes. Protecting access to your resources can be accomplished by enabling endpoints or implementing a Firewall.

• User Defined Networking
• Service Endpoints
• Private Endpoints
• Azure Firewall
• LAB: Azure Advanced Networking

Azure Hybrid Networking

Companies can decide to connect their on-prem network to Azure. A VPN Gateway can be deployed to connect to your on-prem network, using a site-to-site or point-to-site tunnel. If you need dedicated bandwidth, you can choose an ExpressRoute connection, giving your company a direct, private link to the Azure Datacenters.

For larger deployments, you can work with Virtual Network Hubs, a resource that allows you to manage all connections to your Azure VNet from a single interface.

• Virtual Network Gateway
• Site-to-Site Connections
• Point-to-Site Connections
• ExpressRoute
• Azure Virtual WAN
• Azure Virtual Network Hub
• LAB: Azure Hybrid Networking

Azure Load Balancing

Microsoft Azure provides multiple services to distribute and load balance network traffic. You can use these services individually or combine their methods, depending on your needs, to build the optimal solution.

• Azure Load Balancer
• Application Gateway
• Web Application Firewall
• Traffic Manager
• Azure Front Door
• Comparing Load Balancing Solutions
• LAB: Azure Load Balancing

Manage Azure VMs

VMs in Azure are controlled and managed by you. That means that you will be responsible for backup, update management and business continuity. Azure does provide services to help you accomplish these tasks.

• Disk Management
• Windows Admin Center
• VM Extensions
• VM Backup
• Disaster Recovery
• Update Management
• LAB: Manage Azure VMs

Sizing and Troubleshooting Azure VMs

Troubleshooting VMs in the cloud can be difficult, especially if something goes wrong early in the boot process. Azure offers some solutions to assist you in this process.

To improve the performance of your applications, you can implement Virtual Machine Scale Sets. A scale set contains one or more VMs that host the same application. Additional VMs can be started manually or automatically based on resource usage.

• Boot Diagnostics
• Serial Console
• RDP Connection Issues
• Run Command
• Azure Mobile App
• VM Scale Sets
• LAB: Sizing and Troubleshooting Azure VMs

Azure Web Apps

With Azure Web Apps you can deploy and scale modern websites and web apps in seconds.

• App Services and App Service Plans
• Web Apps
• Deployment
• Deployment Slots
• Web App Scaling
• Backup and Restore
• Adding a Custom Domain to your Web App
• Enabling HTTPS
• LAB: Azure Web Apps

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database delivers Database-as-a-Service functionality, based on SQL Server and hosted in Microsoft Azure. SQL Azure focuses on predictable performance, scalability, business continuity, data protection, zero administration, and familiar tools.

• Azure SQL Database Service
• Managed Instances
• Pricing Models
• Creating and Managing Databases
• Connecting to SQL Azure Database
• Business Continuity
• Security
• LAB: Azure SQL Database

Azure Governance

IT Governance ensures that your organization is able to achieve its goals through an effective and efficient use of IT. It does this by creating clarity between your business goals and IT projects. Azure Policy is a service in Azure that you use to create, assign and, manage policies. These policies enforce different rules and effects over your resources, to make sure those resources stay compliant with your corporate standards and service level agreements.

• Azure Policy
• BluePrints
• Cost Management
• LAB: Azure Governance