Cloud Services
Common Cloud Services
Computing Services
Azure Virtual Machines
Windows or Linux virtual machines (VMS). The most common type of compute. You choose your OS, Memory, CPU, Storage. You share hardware with other customers
Azure Container Instances
Docker as a Service Run containerized apps on Azure without provisioning servers or VMS
Develop apps fast without managing virtual machines or having to learn new tools—it is just your application, in a container, running in the cloud. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/container-instances/
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Kubernetes as a Service. Easy to deploy, manage and scale containerized applications. Uses the open source Kubernetes (K8) software.
Deploy and manage containerised applications more easily with a fully managed Kubernetes service. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) offers serverless Kubernetes, an integrated continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) experience and enterprise-grade security and governance.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/kubernetes-service/
Azure Service Fabric
Tier-I Enterprise Containers as a Service Distributed systems platform. Runs in Azure or on-premises. Easy to package, deploy, and manage scalable and reliable microservices.
Azure Functions
Event-driven, serverless compute (functions) run code without provisioning or managing servers. You pay only for the compute time you consume.
Azure Batch
Plans, schedules and executes your batch computer workloads across running 100+ jobs in parallel. Use Spot VMS to save money (previously used Low-priority VMS to save on compute)
Storage Services
Azure Blob Storage
Store very large files and large amounts of unstructured files. Pay for what you store, unlimited storage, no-resizing volumes, no filesystem protocols.
Massively scalable and secure object storage for cloud-native workloads, archives, data lakes, high-performance computing and machine learning.
Store petabytes of data, cost-effectively With multiple storage tiers and automated lifecycle management, store massive amounts of infrequently or rarely accessed data in a cost-efficient way. Replace your tape archives with Blob storage and never worry about migrating across hardware generations.
Blob storage is designed for:
- Serving images or documents directly to a browser.
- Storing files for distributed access.
- Streaming video and audio.
- Writing to log files.
- Storing data for backup and restore, disaster recovery, and archiving.
- Storing data for analysis by an on-premises or Azure-hosted service.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/storage/blobs/
Azure Disk Storage
A virtual volume. Choose SSD or HDD, encryption by default, attach volume to VMS
High-performance, highly durable block storage for Azure Virtual Machines https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/storage/disks/#overview
Azure File Storage
A shared volume that you can access and manage like a file server. eg SMB
Replace your file server with a serverless Azure file share
Azure Files can be used to completely replace or supplement traditional on-premises file servers or NAS devices. Popular operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux can directly mount Azure file shares wherever they are in the world
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-introduction
*Azure Queue Storage
Messaging Queue A data store for queuing and reliably delivering messages between applications
Azure Queue Storage is a service for storing large numbers of messages. You access messages from anywhere in the world via authenticated calls using HTTP or HTTPS. A queue message can be up to 64 KB in size. A queue may contain millions of messages, up to the total capacity limit of a storage account. Queues are commonly used to create a backlog of work to process asynchronously.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/queues/storage-queues-introduction
*Azure Table Storage
Wide-Column NoSQL Database A NoSQL store that hosts unstructured data independent of any schema
A NoSQL key-value store for rapid development using massive semi-structured datasets https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/storage/tables/
Azure Data Box / Azure Databox Heavy
A rugged (मज़बूत) briefcase computer and storage designed to move terabytes or petabytes of data
The Microsoft Azure Data Box cloud solution lets you send terabytes of data into and out of Azure in a quick, inexpensive, and reliable way . The secure data transfer is accelerated by shipping you a proprietary Data Box storage device. Each storage device has a maximum usable storage capacity of 80 TB and is transported to your datacenter through a regional carrier. The device has a rugged casing to protect and secure data during the transit .
You can order the Data Box device via the Azure portal to import or export data from Azure. Once the device is received, you can quickly set it up using the local web UI. Depending on whether you will import or export data, copy the data from your servers to the device or from the device to your servers, and ship the device back to Azure. If importing data to Azure, in the Azure datacenter, your data is automatically uploaded from the device to Azure. The entire process is tracked end-to-end by the Data Box service in the Azure portal.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databox/data-box-overview
Azure Archive Storage
Long term cold storage for when you need to hold onto files for years on the cheapest storage options
Industry leading price point for storing rarely accessed data
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/storage/archive/
Azure Data Lake Storage
A centralized repository that allows you to store all your structured and unstructured data at any scale.
Massively scalable and secure data lake for your high-performance analytics workloads
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/storage/data-lake-storage/
Database Services
Azure Cosmos DB
A fully managed NoSQL databases. Designed for scale with guarantee of 99.999% availability
Azure SQL Database
Fully managed MS SQL database with auto-scale, integral intelligence, and robust security
Azure Database for MySQL / PSQL / MariaDB
Fully managed and scalable MySQL / PostgreSQL / MariaDB database with high availability and security
SQL Server on VMSs
Host enterprise SQL Server apps in the cloud. Lift-and-shift MS SQL servers from on-premise to Azure Cloud.
Azure Synapse Analytics (Azure SQL Data Warehouse)
Fully managed data warehouse with integral security at every level of scale at no extra cost
Azure Synapse Analytics is a limitless analytics service that brings together data integration, enterprise data warehousing and big data analytics. It gives you the freedom to query data on your terms, using either serverless or dedicated options—at scale. Azure Synapse brings these worlds together with a unified experience to ingest, explore, prepare, transform, manage and serve data for immediate BI and machine learning needs.
Azure Database Migration Service
Migrates your databases to the cloud with no application code changes
Azure Database Migration Service is a tool that helps you simplify, guide, and automate your database migration to Azure. Easily migrate your data, schema, and objects from multiple sources to the cloud at scale.
Azure Cache (कैश) for Redis
Caches frequently used and static data to reduce data and application latency
*Azure Table Storage
Wide-Column NoSQL Database A NoSQL store that hosts unstructured data independent of any schema
A NoSQL key-value store for rapid development using massive semi-structured datasets
Application Integration Services
Azure Notifications Hub
Send push notifications to any platform from any back end
Fast broadcast to millions of devices
Azure Notification Hubs is a massively scalable mobile push notification engine for quickly sending millions of notifications to iOS, Android, Windows or Kindle devices, working with APNs (Apple Push Notification service), GCM (Google Cloud Messaging), WNS (Windows Push Notification Service), MPNS (Microsoft Push Notification Service) and more. Tailor your notifications to specific customers—or entire audiences—with just a few lines of code and do it across any platform.
Works with any back end
Notification Hubs is flexible enough to plug into any back end—Microsoft .NET, PHP, Java, Node.js—whether it is located on-premises or in the cloud. This makes it easier to instantly update your mobile apps and engage your customers.
Azure API Apps
API Gateway Quickly build and consume APIs in the cloud. Route APIs to Azure Services
Azure Service Bus
Reliable cloud messaging as a service (MaaS) and simple hybrid integration Service Bus
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/service-bus/
Azure Stream Analytics
Serverless real-time analytics, from the cloud to the edge
Azure Logic Apps
Schedule, automate and orchestrate tasks, businesses processes and workflows. Integration with Enterprise SaaS and Enterprise applications.
Azure Logic Apps is a cloud-based platform for creating and running automated workflows that integrate your apps, data, services, and systems. With this platform, you can quickly develop highly scalable integration solutions for your enterprise and business-to-business (B2B) scenarios. As a member of Azure Integration Services, Azure Logic Apps simplifies the way that you connect legacy, modern, and cutting-edge systems across cloud, on premises, and hybrid environments.
Azure API Management
Hybrid, multi-cloud management platform for APIs across all environments. Put in-front of existing APIs to add additional functionality.
*Azure Queue Storage
Messaging Queue A data store for queuing and reliably delivering messages between applications
Developer and Mobile Tools
Azure SignalR Service
Real-Time Messaging Easily add real-time web functionality to applications Think of it like the Pusher for Azure
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/signalr-service/#overview
Azure App Service
Easy to use service for deploying and scaling web-applications with .Net, Node.js Java, Python and PHP Developer focus on building their web-apps, and not worry about the underlying infrastructure Think of it like Heroku for Azure
Azure App Service lets you create apps faster with a one-of-a kind cloud service to quickly and easily create enterprise-ready web and mobile apps for any platform or device and deploy them on a scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/app-service/#overview
Visual Studio (Microsoft-owned)
Code Editor The integrated development environment (IDE) designed for creating powerful, scalable applications for Azure
Xamarin (Microsoft-owned)
Mobile-App Framework Create powerful and scalable native mobile apps with .NET and Azure Free. Cross-platform. Open source.An app platform for building Android and iOS apps with .NET and C#.
Azure DevOps Services
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/devops/#overview
Azure DevOps
Plan smarter, collaborate , and ship faster with a set of modern dev services.
Azure Boards
Kanban Deliver value to your users faster using proven agile tools to plan, track, and discuss work across your teams.
Azure Boards is a service for managing the work for your software projects. Teams need tools that flex and grow. Azure Boards does just that, brining you a rich set of capabilities including native support for Scrum and Kanban, customizable dashboards, and integrated reporting.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/blog/deep-dive-into-azure-boards/
Azure Pipelines
CI/CD Build, test, and deploy with that works with any language, platform, and cloud. Connect to GitHub or any other Git provider and deploy continuously.
Azure Repos
Get unlimited, cloud-hosted private Git repos and collaborate to build better code with pull requests and advanced file management.
Azure Test Plans
Test and ship with confidence using manual and exploratory testing tools.
Azure Artifacts
Create, host, and share packages with your team, and add artifacts to CI/CD pipelines with a single click.
Create and share Maven, npm, NuGet and Python package feeds from public and private sources.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/devops/artifacts/
Azure DevTest Labs
Fast, easy, and lean dev-test environments
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/devtest-lab/#features
Cloud-Native Networking Services
Azure DNS
Provides ultra-fast DNS responses and ultra-high domain availability
Azure DNS is a hosting service for DNS domains that provides name resolution by using Microsoft Azure infrastructure. By hosting your domains in Azure, you can manage your DNS records by using the same credentials, APIs, tools, and billing as your other Azure services.
You can’t use Azure DNS to buy a domain name. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/dns/dns-overview
Azure Virtual Network (vNET)
A logical isolated section of the Azure network for customers to launch Azure resources within.
Azure Load Balancer
OSI Level 4 (Transport) Load Balancer
An Azure load balancer is a Layer-4 (TCP, UDP) load balancer that provides high availability by distributing incoming traffic among healthy VMs. A load balancer health probe monitors a given port on each VM and only distributes traffic to an operational VM.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/tutorial-load-balancer
Azure Application Gateway
OSI Level 7 (HTTP) Load Balancer, can apply a Web Application Firewall
Build secure, scalable and highly available web front ends in Azure https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/application-gateway/
Network Security Groups
A virtual firewall at the subnet level
You can use an Azure network security group to filter network traffic to and from Azure resources in an Azure virtual network. A network security group contains security rules that allow or deny inbound network traffic to, or outbound network traffic from, several types of Azure resources. For each rule, you can specify source and destination, port, and protocol.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/network-security-groups-overview
Enterprise/Hybrid Networking Services
Azure Front Door
Scalable and secure entry point for fast delivery of your global applications
Azure Front Door is a global, scalable entry-point that uses the Microsoft global edge network to create fast, secure, and widely scalable web applications. With Front Door, you can transform your global consumer and enterprise applications into robust, high-performing personalized modern applications with contents that reach a global audience through Azure.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/frontdoor/front-door-overview
Azure Express Route
A connection between your on-premise to Azure cloud from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps
ExpressRoute lets you extend your on-premises networks into the Microsoft cloud over a private connection with the help of a connectivity provider. With ExpressRoute, you can establish connections to Microsoft cloud services, such as Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.
Connectivity can be from an any-to-any (IP VPN) network, a point-to-point Ethernet network, or a virtual cross-connection through a connectivity provider at a colocation facility. ExpressRoute connections don’t go over the public Internet. This allows ExpressRoute connections to offer more reliability, faster speeds, consistent latencies, and higher security than typical connections over the Internet. For information on how to connect your network to Microsoft using ExpressRoute, see ExpressRoute connectivity models.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/expressroute/#overview
Virtual WAN
a networking service that brings many networking, security, and routing functionalities together to provide a single operational interface
Azure Virtual WAN is a networking service that brings many networking, security, and routing functionalities together to provide a single operational interface. These functionalities include branch connectivity (via connectivity automation from Virtual WAN Partner devices such as SD-WAN or VPN CPE), Site-to-site VPN connectivity, remote user VPN (Point-to-site) connectivity, private (ExpressRoute) connectivity, intra-cloud connectivity (transitive connectivity for virtual networks), VPN ExpressRoute inter-connectivity, routing, Azure Firewall, and encryption for private connectivity. You do not have to have all of these use cases to start using Virtual WAN. You can simply get started with just one use case, and then adjust your network as it evolves.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-wan/virtual-wan-about
Azure Connection
A VPN connection securely connects two Azure local network via (IPsec).
Virtual Network Gateway
A site-to-site VPN connection between an Azure virtual network and your local network
A VPN gateway is a specific type of virtual network gateway that is used to send encrypted traffic between an Azure virtual network and an on-premises location over the public Internet. You can also use a VPN gateway to send encrypted traffic between Azure virtual networks over the Microsoft network. Each virtual network can have only one VPN gateway. However, you can create multiple connections to the same VPN gateway. When you create multiple connections to the same VPN gateway, all VPN tunnels share the available gateway bandwidth.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/vpn-gateway/vpn-gateway-about-vpngateways
IOT Services
What is Internet of Things (IoTs)?
A network of Internet connected objects (usually hardware) able to collect and exchange data.
- Smart Bulbs
- Smart Fridges
- Smart Light Switches
- Narrowband vs Wideband hardware
- Security Cameras
- Voice Command Speakers
- Temperature, Pressure or Humidity Sensors
- Drones
- Phones
- Buttons
IOT Central
Connects your IOT devices to the cloud
I0T Hub
Enable highly secure and reliable communication between your IOT application and the devices it manage
I0T Edge
A fully managed service built on Azure IOT Hub. It allows data processing and analysis nearest the IOT devices. Edge computing is when you offload compute from the cloud to local computing hardware such as IOT devices, phones or home computers
Windows 10 IOT Core Services
A cloud services subscription that provides the essential services needed to commercialize a device on Windows 10 IOT Core. Long-term OS support and services to manage device updates and assess device health
Big Data and Analytics Services
What is BigData? A term used to describe massive volumes of structured/unstructured data that is so large it is difficult to move and process using traditional database and software techniques.
Azure Synapse Analytics (formally known as SQL Data Warehouse)
Enterprise data warehousing and Big Data analytics. Intended to run SQL queries against large databases for things such as reporting.
HDInsight
Run open-source analytics software such as Hadoop, Kafka and Spark
Run popular open-source frameworks—including Apache Hadoop, Spark, Hive, Kafka and more—using Azure HDInsight, a customisable, enterprise-grade service for open-source analytics. Effortlessly process massive amounts of data and get all the benefits of the broad open-source project ecosystem with the global scale of Azure. Easily migrate your big data workloads and processing to the cloud.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/hdinsight/
Azure Databricks
An Apache Spark-based analytics platform optimized for the Microsoft Azure cloud services platform. Third-Party Databricks cloud services supported within Azure.
Design AI with Apache Spark™-based analytics https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/databricks/#overview
Data Lake Analytics
An on-demand analytics job service that simplifies big data. A data lake is a storage repository that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed.
Distributed analytics service which makes big data easy https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/data-lake-analytics/#overview
Al/ ML Services
Enterprise-grade machine learning service to build and deploy models faster https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/machine-learning/
What is Artificial Intelligence (Al)?
Machines that perform jobs that mimic human behavior
Discover Azure AI—a portfolio of AI services designed for developers and data scientists. Take advantage of the decades of breakthrough research, responsible AI practices and flexibility that Azure AI offers to build and deploy your own AI solutions.
What is Machine Learning (ML)?
Machines that get better at a task without explicit programming
Enterprise-grade machine learning service to build and deploy models faster https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/machine-learning/
What is Deep Learning (DL)?
Machines that have an artificial neural network inspired by the human brain to solve complex problems.
Azure Machine Learning Service
Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Deep Learning A service for that simplifies running Al/ML related workloads allowing you to build flexible Pipelines to automate workflow. Use Python an R, Run DL workloads such as Tensorflow
Azure Machine Learning Studio (classic)
An older service that manages Al/ML workloads. Does not have a pipeline and other limitations. Workloads are not easily transferable to from classic to the new service.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/concept-deep-learning-vs-machine-learning
Personalizer
Deliver rich, personalised experiences for every user.
An AI service that delivers a personalised user experience
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cognitive-services/personalizer/#overview
Translator
Add real-time, multi-language text translation to your apps, website and tools.
Translator is a cloud-based neural machine translation service that is part of the Azure Cognitive Services family of REST APIs. … In this overview, you’ll learn how Translator can enable you to build intelligent, multi-language solutions for your applications across all supported languages.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/translator/translator-overview
Anomaly detector
Detect anomalies in data to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues.
An AI service that helps you foresee problems before they occur https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/anomaly-detector/
Azure Bot Service
Intelligent, serverless bot service that scales on demand
A comprehensive development environment for designing and building enterprise-grade conversational AI.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/bot-services/#overview
Azure Form Recogniser
Automate the extraction of text, key/value pairs and tables from your documents. The AI-powered document extraction service that understands your forms
Quickly extract text and structure from documents Accelerate your business processes by automating information extraction. Azure Form Recogniser applies advanced machine learning to accurately extract text, key-value pairs, tables and structures from documents. With just a few samples, tailor Azure Form Recogniser to understand your documents, both on-premises and in the cloud. Turn documents into usable data at a fraction of the time and cost to focus more on acting on the information rather than compiling it.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/form-recognizer/#overview
Computer Vision
Easily customize computer vision models for your unique use case.
An AI service that analyses content in images and video. Extract rich information from images and video.
Boost content discoverability, automate text extraction, analyse video in real time and create products that more people can use by embedding cloud vision capabilities in your apps with Computer Vision, part of Azure Cognitive Services. Use visual data processing to label content with objects and concepts, extract text, generate image descriptions, moderate content and understand people’s movement in physical spaces. No machine learning expertise required.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cognitive-services/computer-vision/
Conversational language understanding
Build natural language understanding into apps, bots and IOT devices.
A feature of Cognitive Service for Language that uses natural language understanding (NLU) so people can interact with your apps, bots, and IoT devices.
QnA Maker
Create a conversational question-and-answer bot from your existing content.
Distill information into conversational, easy-to-navigate answers https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cognitive-services/question-answering/#overview
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/pricing/details/cognitive-services/qna-maker/
Text Analytics
Extract information such as sentiment, key phrases, named entities and language from your text.
A collection of features from Cognitive Service for Language that extract, classify and understand text within documents https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cognitive-services/text-analytics/
Content moderator
Moderate text and images to provide a safer, more positive user experience.
Automated image, text, and video moderation
- Detection of potential offensive and unwanted images
- Filtering of possible profanity(गाली-गलौज ,ईश निन्दा) and undesirable text
- Moderation of adult and racy content in videos
- Built-in review tool for best results
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/content-moderator/
Face API
Detect and identify people and emotions in images.
An AI service that analyses faces in images https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/cognitive-services/face/
Ink Recognizer API
Recogniser Recognise digital ink content, such as handwriting, shapes and document layout.
The Ink Recognizer API has ended its preview on August 26th, 2020. If you have existing Ink Recognizer resources, you can continue using them until the service is fully retired on January 31st, 2021.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/azure/cognitive-services/Ink-Recognizer/overview
Serverless Services
What is Serverless?
When the underlying servers, infrastructure and OS is taken care of by the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) It will generally be highly available, scalable and cost-effective.
Event-Driven Scale
A serverless function can be triggered or trigger other events allowing you to compose complex applications and its just scales.
Abstraction of Servers
Servers are abstracted away. Your code is described as functions. These functions can be running on different compute instances.
Micro-Billing
Serverless compute could run for a fraction of a second. Billing into micro-seconds will save you money.
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/why-you-should-care-about-serverless-computing/
Azure Functions
Run small amounts of code known as serverless functions in your favorite language: C#, Java, JavaScript, Python and PowerSheII
Blob Storage
Serverless Object Storage. Just upload files, don’t think about the underlying file-systems, resizing
Logic Apps
Allows you to build serverless workflows composed of Azure Functions Building a state machines for serverless compute.
Event Grid
Uses Pub/Sub messaging system to allow you react to events and trigger other Azure cloud services such as Azure Functions.