Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Azure Everything You Need to Know

Are you one of those who heard the hot-topic “Azure” and landed here? Need not to worry, you have reached the best place. By the end of this, you will have everything to get started with Microsoft Azure.This is the first blog of Azure series. In this blog, we will discuss the following sections: –

• What is Azure?
• Why Azure is needed?
• How to sign up on Azure?
• What services are provided by Azure?

What is Azure?

From its Core, Azure has been a public cloud computing platform with solutions including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), as well as Software as a Service (SaaS) that is used for services such as analytics, virtual computing, storage, networking, and far much more. It is used to replace or supplement your on-premise servers.Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform which helps developers and IT professionals build, deploy and manage applications through their global network of datacenters.

You might be thinking how the Azure Dashboard actually looks like, here’s a screenshot for the same. On the left side, all the resources are entitled: –

Why Azure is needed?

1. Enhance and Implement Backup and Disaster Recovery

   Azure has been a backup and disaster recovery dream tool. Why? Because of its flexibility, advanced site recovery, and in-built integration.
   As a cloud-based service, Azure is innately versatile – it can virtually back up your data in almost any language, on any OS, and from any location. Plus, you can outline the frequency and extent of your backup schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).

   Tape backup has a time and place, but it has limited capabilities as a complete disaster recovery solution. Azure Site Recovery enhances tape backups with offsite replication, minimal onsite maintenance, up to 99 years of data retention, minimal or no capital investment, and low operational costs.

   Azure Backup stores 3 copies of your data in 3 different data center locations, and another 3 copies in a remote Azure data center—so you never have to worry about data loss.

   If you’re using a Windows virtual environment, Azure’s built-in integration makes additional backups quick and painless. Azure Site Recovery integrates seamlessly with System Center and Hyper-V.

2. Host and Develop Web & Mobile Apps

   Whether you’re hosting, developing, or managing a web or mobile app, Azure empowers you with patch management, Auto Scale, and on-premise app integration.

   With automatic patch management for virtual machines, you spend less time on infrastructure and more time enhancing your apps. Azure also offers continuous deployment support for streamlined code updates.

   Auto Scale adjusts your web app resources automatically based on traffic—scaling up during peak times and saving costs during low usage periods.

   You can also link web apps with on-premise apps to securely provide employees and partners access to resources behind your firewall.

3. Distribute and Supplement Active Directory

   Azure integrates with Active Directory to extend identity and access capabilities—offering global reach, centralized management, and robust security.

   You can distribute Active Directory environments widely and enable direct connections. No other cloud provider can expand your domain controller’s reach and consolidate AD management like Azure.

   If you use multiple locations, or rely on apps like Microsoft 365, Azure AD integration becomes the core tool for managing access.

   Azure also supports multi-factor authentication, adding a layer of security without complicating user access. It’s easy to implement single sign-on across Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS cloud applications.

4. Innovate with IoT Industry Solutions

   Microsoft Azure’s scalability, flexibility, and security make it the perfect platform for organizations embracing IoT. You can connect devices to the cloud using solutions that integrate with your existing infrastructure and begin collecting valuable new data.

   With the Azure IoT Hub, monitor and manage billions of devices, gain insights, make better decisions, enhance customer experiences, reduce costs, and accelerate development.

   The built-in security of Azure is a major asset for IoT—an area often vulnerable to cyberattacks. Other benefits include remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, and real-time analytics.

   Getting started is easy with Azure IoT solution accelerators—pre-built templates you can customize to your needs.

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How to sign up on Azure?

Step 1 → Go to Azure Home Page:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/

Step 2 → Click on Free Azure Account on the top right corner.

Step 3 → Click on Start Free.

Step 4 → Sign in or sign up for a Microsoft account using your email address and password.

Step 5 → Enter your Country/Region and Date of Birth, then click Next.

Step 6 → Enter the verification code received via email and click Next.

Step 7 → Type the captcha shown on screen and click Next.

Step 8 → You’ll be redirected to the Azure Sign-up page. Fill in your name, region, phone number, and email address.

Step 9 → Verify your phone number by choosing Text Me or Call Me and entering the received code.

Step 10 → Enter your payment details. Make sure your MasterCard, American Express, or Visa credit card has international payments enabled.

Step 11 → Agree to the Terms and Conditions and click Sign-up.

Step 12 → Your Microsoft Azure free account is now active with a credit balance of $200.

Step 13 → Click on Portal on the top right corner to access the Azure Portal.

Step 14 → If your free credit is exhausted, you will need to switch to the Pay-As-You-Go subscription model.

What services are provided by Azure?

-Service Domains in Azure: –

1. Virtualisation and Cloud Computing:
   It is used to process data on the cloud by using powerful processors that serve multiple instances at a time.
   • Virtual Machines
   • VM Scale Sets
   • Azure Container
   • Container Registry
   • Functions
   • Batch
   • Service Fabric
   • Cloud Services
2. Storage Services:
   As the name suggests, storage is used to store data in the cloud with the ability to scale as and when needed.
   • Blob Storage
   • Queue Storage
   • File Storage
   • Table Storage
3. Database:
   The database domain is used to provide reliable relational and non-relational database instances managed by Azure.
   • SQL Databases
   • Document DB
   • Redis Cache
4. Networking:
   It includes services that provide a range of networking options like security and faster access.
   • Virtual Network
   • Load Balancer
   • Application Gateway
   • Azure DNS
   • Content Delivery Network
   • VPN Gateway
   • Traffic Manager
   • Express Route
5. Developer Tools:
   Services that ease the process of coding and collaboration for organizations.
   • Visual Studio Team Services
   • Application Insights
   • API Management
6. Management and Monitoring Tools:
   Includes services to manage and monitor Azure instances.
   • Microsoft Azure Portal
   • Azure Resource Manager
   • Automation
7. Enterprise Integration:
   Services that enable seamless integration between the enterprise and the cloud.
   • Service Bus
   • SQL Server Stretch Database
8. Security and Identity:
   Services for user authentication and access control on Azure resources.
   • Key Vault
   • Azure Active Directory
   • Azure AD B2C
   • Azure AD Domain Services
   • Multi-Factor Authentication
9. Web and Mobile Apps:
   Used to create web and mobile applications for any platform or device.
   • Web Apps
   • Mobile Apps
   • API Apps
   • Logic Apps
   • Notification Hubs
   • Event Hubs
   • Azure Search