Microsoft Azure- Introduction
Microsoft Azure is a growing collection of integrated cloud services – analytics, computing, database, mobile, networking, storage and web – for moving faster, achieving more and saving money.
Microsoft Azure Offering
Compute Services
Windows Azure currently offers four different compute services.
- Virtual Machines – Create, deploy and manage virtual machines running in the Windows Azure Cloud.
- Web Sites – Create new websites or migrate your existing business websites into the cloud
- Cloud Services – Build and deploy highly available and almost infinitely scalable applications with low administration costs.
- Mobile Services – Build and deploy apps and storing data for mobile devices
Network Services
Windows Azure currently offers two different network services.
- VirtualNetwork – Treat the Windows Azure public cloud as if it is an extension of your on-premises datacenter.
- Traffic Manager – Route application traffic for the user who is using the application to Windows Azure datacenters.
Data Services
Windows Azure currently offers six different data services:
- Data Management – Store your business data in SQL databases using Windows Azure SQL, database, using NoSQL Tables via REST, or using BLOB storage.
- Business Analytics – Enables ease of discovery and data enrichment using Microsoft SQL server Reporting and Analysis services.
- HDInsight – Brings a 100 percent Apache Hadoop solution to the cloud.
- Cache – Provides a distributed caching solution that can help speed up your cloud-based applications and reduce database load.
- Backup – Helps you protect your server data offsite by using automated and manual backups to Windows Azure.
- Recovery Manager – Hyper-V Recovery Manager helps you protect business critical services by coordinating the replication and recovery of System Center 2012 private clouds at a secondary location.
Application Services
Windows Azure currently offers six different app services:
- Media Services- Allows you to build workflows for the creation, management, and distribution of media using the Windows Azure public cloud.
- Notification Hubs – Provides a highly scalable, cross-platform push notification infrastructure for applications running on mobile devices.
- Messaging – Allows you to help your apps connected across you provide cloud environment and the Windows Azure public cloud.
- BizTalk Services – Provides Business-to-Business (B2B) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) capabilities for delivering cloud and hybrid integration solutions.
- Active Directory – Provides you with identity management and access control capabilities for your cloud applications.
- Multifactor Authentication – Provides an extra layer of authentication, in addition to the user’s account credentials, in order to better secure access for both on-premises and cloud applications.
Microsoft Azure Benefits
Moves Faster
- Never waits for servers or infrastructure again
- Fast provisioning times
- No capacity problem
Saves Money
- Pay only for what you use (including licenses)
- Scale Out/In or Up/Down resources only when needed
- Shut down resources when they are not needed
- Full OPEX
Lowers Your Risk
- High available & redundant
- No data lost with 3 local & 3 geo copies
- Hi-tech security
- 95% monthly SLA
Integrates with on-premises
- Extended your network to cloud with site-to-site VPN
- Manage private & public cloud with App Controller
Rich Services
- IaaS: (Infrastructure as a Service)
- PaaS: (Platform as a Service)
- SaaS: (Software as a Service)
Heterogeneity
- Languages
- CMS
- Devices
- Databases
- Operating Systems