A deep look at the Cloud Services Platform by Microsoft

Many businesses are still concerned about migrating their applications to the Microsoft Azure cloud. Chief decision-makers are often overwhelmed by fears about the availability and security of the network, as well as potential downtime. This can sometimes paralyze organizations into preserving their existing technology, even though it is aging rapidly.

Microsoft Azure is the industry’s best solution to move to a cloud-based architecture. Here’s a look at Azure, how it works, the benefits of Microsoft partnering for a cloud-based or hybrid cloud solution and the best way to gain full and actionable insight into your infrastructure metrics and logs so you can quickly react to new opportunities.

What is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft leveraged its ever-expanding global network of data centers to develop Azure, a cloud platform that allows you to build, deploy, and manage services and applications from anywhere. Azure allows you to add cloud capabilities into your network using its platform as a services (PaaS), or entrust Microsoft with all your computing and network requirements with Infrastructure as a Service. Either option gives you secure and reliable access to cloud hosted data, built on Microsoft’s proven architecture. Azure offers a wide range of services and products that can be used to fulfill your requirements. It is easy to use and manage. Here are some examples of the services and capabilities offered by Microsoft Azure. Also, tips to help you decide if Microsoft cloud is right for your company. To know more about Azure, Join Azure certification course today.

What is Microsoft Azure good at?

Microsoft has a growing list of Azure services. More are being added every day. You have all the necessary elements to create a virtual network or deliver services to a global audience.

• Virtual machines
  

  You can create Microsoft and Linux virtual machines (VMs), in minutes using a variety of market templates or your own machine images. These cloud-based VMs can host your apps and services just like they would in your data center.

   

• SQL databases
  

  Azure provides managed SQL relational database services, from one to unlimited.

   

• Azure Active Directory Domain services
  

  This service for Azure is built on the same technology as Windows Active Directory. It allows you to remotely manage group policy and authentication using the same technology. It is easy to move existing security structures partially or completely to the cloud with just a few clicks.

   

• Application services
  

  Azure makes it easier than ever for you to create and deploy apps that work on any of the most popular web and mobile platforms. You can respond quickly to changes in your business by having reliable, scalable cloud access. This saves you time and money. Azure WebApps has been added to the Azure Marketplace. This makes it easier to deploy, test, and manage web applications that scale to meet your business’s needs. Development is greatly accelerated by prebuilt APIs for cloud services such as Salesforce, Office 365 and Salesforce.

   

• Visual Studio team services
  

  Visual Studio team services is an add-on service that Azure offers. It provides a complete solution for application lifecycle management (ALM), in the Microsoft cloud. Azure allows developers to collaborate from anywhere in the world and share code, track changes and perform load testing. Visual Studio team services make it easier to develop and deliver software for large companies, or new companies that are building a service portfolio.

   

• Storage
  

  Microsoft’s global infrastructure will ensure that your data is safe and easily accessible. Microsoft Azure offers massive scalability, intelligent pricing that allows you to store less frequently accessed data at huge savings. This makes it easy to create a cost-effective and safe storage plan.

Why do people trust Microsoft Azure with their workloads?

The on-premise data centre is a dead end. Self-hosted data centres are becoming less popular than dial-up modems and mainframes. They are being replaced with more affordable and readily available cloud solutions. There are several key players in the cloud services sphere. These include Amazon Web Services (AWS), the perennial computing giant IBM, as well as Apple’s ubiquitous iCloud which contains the song preferences and picture memories of hundreds of million of smartphone users. Why are 3M, BMW and GE shifting workloads to Microsoft Azure when there are so many options? These are just a few of the many reasons.

• Flexibility

  Microsoft Azure allows you to create new services and scale your data storage capacity on the fly. This is in contrast to a static server, which requires new hardware and OS purchases, provisioning and deployment. Azure’s modern flexibility makes it attractive for any organization.

   

• Cost

  Azure solutions make it easier and faster to add and scale infrastructure. They also make it more affordable. Infrastructure devices and physical services like load balancers and routers can quickly cost thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. There’s also the IT expertise needed to manage this equipment. This adds up to significant payroll overhead. Azure’s vast infrastructure and expertise can help us reduce our IT budget by significant amounts.

   

• Applications

  Microsoft makes it easy to develop and test mission-critical apps with a range of services such as Visual Studio Team Services and Visual Studio Application Insights. You can quickly move an app from test mode to production mode across a global network. Microsoft offers significant licensing discounts when migrating existing apps to Azure. This is an additional opportunity to save even more.

   

• Disaster recovery
  

  Sometimes, the impossible becomes a very real possibility. Microsoft Azure’s high-speed, geographically distributed infrastructure is another advantage. This allows for unlimited disaster recovery options. You can ensure that critical applications and data are available from multiple sites, even if recovery times last for hours or days. Azure can ensure that you have uninterrupted service delivery, even in the event of disasters.

Microsoft Azure solutions are the preferred choice for two-thirds (33%) of Fortune 500 companies. This is due to Microsoft’s extensive infrastructure, continuous application and service development, and strong presence in the global IT market. Azure’s infinite scaling can be just as beneficial for small businesses.

Microsoft Azure Logging Capabilities

Any infrastructure or service solution’s secret treasure is its operational and security visibility. This can be extracted from the application and underlying infrastructure stack to determine critical log and infrastructure metrics. This visibility is essential for any infrastructure and service solution. Without it, you risk flying blindly. Azure offers integrated health monitoring and alert capabilities, so you can instantly know if there are any performance issues or outages that could be affecting your business. You can set smart alert levels to notify you about events starting at:

• Azure diagnostic infrastructure logs
  

  Get real-time information about how your cloud network performs and take steps to fix bottlenecks, slowdowns, or service problems.

   

• Windows IIS logs
  

  You can view activity on your virtual web servers, and you can respond to traffic patterns or log in anomalies using the data Azure collects on IIS 7.

   

• Crash dumps
  

  Virtual machines can also go ‘bluescreen’, and this can cause major disruptions to your business operations. Microsoft Azure allows you to record and analyze crash dump data, which can be used to troubleshoot problems in the future.

   

• Custom error logs
  

  Set Azure alerts for notification about certain error events. This is particularly useful when you host private applications that generate intelligence about operations. You can also add these errors to Azure’s health checklist about your network.

Microsoft Azure provides the essential tools for troubleshooting and error logging in order to maintain continuous service delivery within your Azure cloud environment.

Get full visibility into Azure using the Unified Logs & Metrics

The sheer volume of data required to run your network or applications can overwhelm even with Azure’s analytics and native logging tools. It is important to not underestimate the volume, variety, and velocity of cloud data. Sumo Logic is a trusted Microsoft partner that makes managing cloud data simple.

Sumo Logic combines logs and metrics from all types of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data in your entire Microsoft environment. Machine learning algorithms analyze large amounts of logs and metrics data and alert you when there are anomalies or deviations from the normal pattern of activity.

Log Reduce, Log Compare, and Outlier Detection allow you to extract continuous intelligence from your application stack, and proactively address operational and security problems.

Sumo Logic apps are available for Microsoft Azure Audit, Microsoft Azure Web Apps and Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory. They also provide interactive visualizations that allow you to see the full picture of your data and applications.

Soon, the on-premise data centre will be gone along with all its costly hardware and the hordes local technicians who work on it. However, smart and well-researched investments in cloud capabilities such as those offered by Microsoft Azure will make it relatively easy to face tomorrow’s big technology challenges and opportunities.

Where can I get the best Azure training in Chennai?

If you have really made up your mind and ready to start your career in Azure, We would recommend you to join Edureka’s Azure Training in chennai which will help you to boost your career.