#azure fundamentals

[azuretrainingtips]

Azure Fundamentals Certification

Title: Azure Fundamentals Certification: Your Gateway to the Cloud

As the business world continues its digital transformation journey, cloud computing stands as the cornerstone of modern technology infrastructure. Among the many cloud platforms available, Microsoft Azure has gained prominence for its robust features and versatility. For individuals looking to embark on a career in cloud technology, the Azure Fundamentals certification is the perfect starting point.

The Azure Fundamentals certification is an entry-level credential designed to introduce you to the world of Microsoft Azure. It covers essential concepts such as cloud computing principles, Azure services, pricing, and governance. This certification is ideal for beginners, IT professionals exploring cloud technology, or non-technical individuals interested in understanding the fundamentals of Azure.

Obtaining the Azure Fundamentals certification offers several benefits. It validates your foundational knowledge of Azure, enhancing your resume and making you a more attractive candidate for entry-level cloud roles. It also provides a solid understanding of cloud concepts, making it easier to explore more advanced Azure certifications as your career progresses.

Additionally, this certification equips you with the confidence to navigate the Azure portal, create virtual machines, manage storage, and utilize Azure services effectively. It serves as a stepping stone to a world of cloud opportunities, from cloud administration to cloud development and beyond.

In conclusion, the Azure Fundamentals certification serves as your gateway to the cloud. Whether you're a newcomer to the IT field or a professional looking to diversify your skill set, this certification opens doors to a promising career in cloud technology. Start your journey today and embrace the limitless possibilities of Microsoft Azure.

[greenoperator]

MICROSOFT AZURE FUNDAMENTALS AZ-900 (PART 7)

Describe Azure Virtual Private Networks

VPN uses an encrypted tunnel within another network.

VPNs are typically deployed to connect two ore more trusted private networks to one another over an untrusted network

Traffic is encrypted while traveling over an untrusted network

VPN Gateways

A type of a virtual network gateway 

Deployed in a dedicated subnet of the virtual network and enabled the following connectivity

Content on-premises data centers to virtual networks through a site-to-site connection. 

Content individual devices to virtual networks through a point-to-site connection. 

Connect virtual networks to other virtual networks through a network-to-network connection

All transfers are encrypted 

Only one VPN gateway per virtual network 

Two types of gateway configuration and they both use a pre-shared key for authentication

Policy-based

Specify statically the IP address of packets that should be encrypted in the tunnel 

This type of devices evaluates every data package against those sets of IP addresses to choose the tunnel where that packet is going to be sent through

Route-based

IPSec tunnels are modeled as a network interface or virtual tunnel interface. 

 IP routing (static or dynamic router protocols) decides which one of these tunnel interfaces to use when sending each package. 

Preferred connection method for on-premises devices (more resilient to topology changes like creation of new subnets)

Use route-based VPN gateways if you need the following connectivity

Connections between virtual networks

Point-to-site connections 

Multisite connections 

Coexistence with an Azure ExpressRoute gateway

Describe Azure ExpressRoute

Express route lets you extend your on-premises network into the Microsoft cloud over a private connection.

The connection is also called an ExpressRemote Circuit.

This allows you to connect offices, data centers, and other facilities to the Microsoft cloud.

Each location would have its own ExpressRoute circuit

Connectivity can be from 

any-to-any (IP VPN)network 

Point-to-point ethernet network 

Virtual cross-connection through a connectivity provider at a colocation facility 

ExpressRoute connections don’t go over the public internet 

This allows connections to offer more reliability, faster speeds, consistent latencies, and higher security than typical connections over the internet.

Features and benefits of ExpressRoute

Connectivity to Microsoft cloud services across all regions in the geopolitical region 

Global connectivity to Microsoft services across all regions with express route global reach. 

Dynamic routing between your network and Microsoft via Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) 

Built in redundancy in every peering location for higher reliability

Direct access to these services in all regions

Microsoft Office 365 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 

Azure computer services such as Virtual machines 

Azure cloud services such as Azure Cosmos DB and Azure storage

Global connectivity -  ExpressRoute Global reach to exchange data across your premises sites by connecting your ExpressRoute circuits.

Dynamic routing

ExpressRoute uses the BGP to exchange routes between on-premises networks and resources running in Azure. 

Enables dynamic routing between your on-premises network and services running in the Microsoft cloud

Built-in redundancy -  Each connectivity provider uses redundant devices to ensure connections established with Microsoft are highly available.

ExpressRoute connectivity models

CloudExchange colocation

Your data center, office, or facility being physically co-located at a cloud exchange such as an ISP 

If you’re co-located at a cloud exchange you can request a virtual cross-connect to the Microsoft cloud

Point-to-Point Ethernet connection - Connecting your facility to the Microsoft cloud

Any-to-Any connection

You can integrate your wide area network (WAN) with azure by providing connections to your offices and data centers.

Integrates your WAN connections to provide a connection like you would have between your datacenter and any branch offices.

Directly from ExpressRoute sites -  Connect into Microsoft global network at a peering location strategically distributed across the world

Security considerations -  Everything runs over the private connection except for DNS queries, certificate revocation, etc.

Describe Azure DNS

Azure DNS is a hosting service for DNS domains that provides name resolution

Benefits of Azure DNS

Reliability and performance

Hosted on  Azure’s global network of DNS servers providing resiliency and high availability 

Uses any cast networking so each DNS query is answered by the closes DNS server

Security

Based on Azure Resource Manager 

Provides RBAC control to who has access to specific actions 

Activity logs to monitor how a resource is changed 

Resource locking to lock a subscription, resource group, resource

Ease of use

Manage DNS records for Azure and non-Azure resources 

Integrated with your Azure portal for bulling and support

Customizable virtual networks

Supports private DNS domains 

Feature allows you to use your own custom domain names in your private networks.

Alias records

Supports alias record sets. 

Use an alias record to refer to an Azure resource, such as an Azure public address, an Azure Traffic manager profile, etc.

Describe Azure Storage Services

Storage accounts provide unique namespaces for your Azure Storage data that is accessible from anywhere in the world over HTTP or HTTPs.

Data in this account is very secure, highly available, durable, and massively scalable

When creating a storage account, pick the account type which determines the storage services and redundancy options and has impact on the use cases.

Redundancy options

Locally redundant storage (LRS) 

Geo-redundant storage (GRS) 

Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) 

Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) 

Geo-zone-redundant storage (GZRS) 

Read-access geo-zone-redundant storage (RA-GZRS)

Storage account endpoints

Unique namespaces for your data 

Every storage account must have a unique-in-azure account name 

Combination of account name with Azure storage service end point, form the endpoints for a storage account.

Describe Azure storage redundancy

Always stores multiple copies of your data so that its protected from planned and unplanned events

Shoes best option for your scenario (tradeoffs between lower cost and higher availability)

Factors include

How data is replicated in the primary region 

Whether data is replicated to a second region that is geographically distant to the primary region to protect against regional disasters 

Whether your application requires read access to the replicated data in the secondary region if the primary region becomes unavailable.

The end!

[shadowpeachyuri]

saw a post in this fandom once about azure lion being the same as LBD/just LBD all over again or smth and im still mad about that.

[nekofantasia]

"Nevermind I am an idiot."

[tysonfurybattlepass]

i dont make fan characters to ship with canon characters. i make fan characters to FISTFIGHT canon characters. if i make a fan character u KNOW it’s cause i got some beef w someone in that story

[girlbob-boypants]

Frieren's magic system and worldbuilding around mages are both fun cause if you think about how your own magic-using ocs would grow up in the world your oc power ratings shift a lot

[26140310]

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900): The Essential Certification for Cloud Beginners

As cloud computing transforms how organizations operate, businesses need skilled professionals to manage and optimize these digital infrastructures. Microsoft Azure is one of the leading cloud platforms globally, and understanding its foundational elements is a valuable skill for anyone entering the IT field. The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification is designed for beginners to grasp the core principles of Azure services, making it an ideal starting point for those interested in cloud computing careers. In this article, we’ll explore what the AZ-900 certification entails, its benefits, and how to prepare for it.

What is the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Certification?

The AZ-900 certification is a beginner-level credential provided by Microsoft to validate foundational knowledge of cloud services and how those services are implemented in Microsoft Azure. Unlike other cloud certifications, AZ-900 is intended for individuals with no prior cloud computing experience. It covers the basic concepts of Azure services, pricing models, cloud principles, and security, making it accessible for students, entry-level IT professionals, and even non-technical roles in sales, marketing, or project management.

The certification exam includes 30-40 questions in multiple-choice and drag-and-drop formats. Candidates have 60 minutes to complete the exam, which covers topics such as:

Cloud Concepts: Understanding cloud computing, its benefits, types of cloud models (public, private, and hybrid), and cloud service types (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).

Core Azure Services: Familiarizing oneself with key Azure services such as compute, networking, storage, and databases.

Security, Privacy, Compliance, and Trust: Learning about Azure’s security tools, network security, compliance offerings, and identity services.

Azure Pricing and Support: Understanding the Azure cost management options, service-level agreements (SLAs), and support plans.

The AZ-900 exam provides a broad overview, rather than focusing deeply on any specific technology. It serves as a stepping stone to more advanced certifications, such as Azure Administrator (AZ-104) or Azure Developer (AZ-204).

Why Pursue the AZ-900 Certification?

Several factors make the AZ-900 certification an excellent investment for professionals new to cloud computing and Microsoft Azure. Here are some of the key benefits:

1. An Entry Point to Cloud Computing

AZ-900 is perfect for individuals with little or no experience in cloud computing. It doesn’t require advanced technical skills, making it accessible to a wide audience. For those looking to switch careers, this certification provides an easy on-ramp to the cloud industry and helps build a foundational understanding without overwhelming technical details.

2. Broad Understanding of Azure

The certification provides an overview of Microsoft Azure’s architecture, services, and capabilities. It offers insights into how organizations use the cloud, such as by leveraging resources on-demand, automating operations, or scaling to meet user needs. Understanding these concepts is invaluable for working effectively with or within IT teams, even if you’re not in a technical role.

3. Career Advancement Opportunities

With cloud computing continuing to grow rapidly, professionals with cloud knowledge are in high demand. Earning the AZ-900 certification not only adds value to your resume but also demonstrates to employers that you’re serious about learning cloud concepts. Additionally, as organizations increasingly migrate to the cloud, professionals with basic Azure knowledge will be well-positioned to contribute to these projects.

4. Foundation for Advanced Azure Certifications

If you’re aiming for a more technical role, such as Azure Administrator, Developer, or Solutions Architect, AZ-900 provides the foundation to pursue these more specialized certifications. Building your knowledge in stages can make the process less overwhelming, as you’ll already have a handle on Azure’s basic principles.

5. Confidence with Cloud-Based Solutions

AZ-900 certification can boost confidence when discussing cloud-based solutions with colleagues or clients. This certification equips you to understand the cloud’s role in digital transformation, making it easier to participate in or manage cloud-related projects within your organization.

Preparing for the AZ-900 Certification

While AZ-900 is an entry-level certification, preparing effectively is key to passing the exam. Here are some strategies and resources to help you succeed:

1. Review Microsoft’s Learning Paths

Microsoft offers free online learning paths for AZ-900, covering each exam objective in detail. These modules provide interactive exercises, videos, and summaries, making it easier to understand complex topics. Starting with these learning paths ensures you have a well-rounded foundation in each area covered by the exam.

2. Explore Azure Free Account

One of the best ways to learn is through hands-on experience. Microsoft offers a free Azure account that includes $200 in credits for the first 30 days and limited free access to certain services for 12 months. Using the platform directly allows you to experiment with virtual machines, storage, databases, and other Azure services. Practical experience not only enhances understanding but also reinforces what you learn in theory.

3. Use Practice Exams

Practice exams are helpful for getting familiar with the exam format and identifying areas for improvement. Sites like MeasureUp and Whizlabs offer AZ-900 practice exams that simulate the real test. Reviewing questions and answers after completing these exams helps reinforce concepts and pinpoint areas where you may need additional review.

4. Attend Microsoft Azure Virtual Training Days

Microsoft frequently hosts free, one-day training sessions called Azure Virtual Training Days. These sessions are led by certified Azure instructors and provide an in-depth overview of Azure fundamentals. Attendees also receive a voucher to take the AZ-900 exam for free, making this an excellent option for those who want to save on certification costs.

5. Consider Video Courses on Platforms Like Udemy or LinkedIn Learning

For more structured learning, consider enrolling in a video course. Courses from platforms like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, or Pluralsight can provide guided lessons, quizzes, and resources to help you pass the AZ-900 exam.

Conclusion

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification is an excellent starting point for those interested in cloud computing or looking to enhance their understanding of Microsoft Azure. By covering core cloud concepts, Azure services, security, and pricing, the certification equips professionals with a foundational knowledge of how Azure works. For career switchers, entry-level IT professionals, and non-technical roles alike, AZ-900 offers a pathway to cloud proficiency and a gateway to further career opportunities in the digital world.

As cloud technology continues to shape business landscapes, understanding Azure’s basics will only become more valuable. With accessible study resources, hands-on experience options, and ample exam prep tools, pursuing the AZ-900 certification is a manageable and rewarding way to start your cloud journey. Whether as a stepping stone to more advanced certifications or as a standalone credential, AZ-900 can give you a significant edge in today’s tech-driven job market.

[digitalmarketing6669]

Microsoft Azure for Beginners: Your 2025 Guide to Cloud Mastery

[future-skills-prime]

Boost Your Career with AZ-900 Learning: The Gateway to Cloud Mastery

The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 course is ideal for those starting their cloud journey because it covers essential cloud concepts and services in a structured, accessible way. It introduces key Azure services like compute, storage, networking, and databases, along with the Azure Resource Manager, helping learners understand Azure's architecture and deployment models. It also addresses core security, compliance, and pricing concepts, including Azure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and cost management tools.

[nit2023]

Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Online Training - NareshIT

Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Online Training - NareshIT

Description:

The Azure Fundamentals course covers a wide range of topics essential for understanding cloud computing and Azure services. These topics include cloud concepts, core Azure services, security, privacy, compliance, and Azure pricing and support. The course provides a comprehensive overview of Azure's capabilities, enabling learners to understand how Azure can benefit businesses and organizations of various sizes and industries.

Course Objectives:

Understanding cloud concepts, such as the benefits of cloud computing, different cloud models (public, private, hybrid), and cloud deployment models.

Exploring core Azure services, including compute, storage, networking, and databases.

Learning about Azure solutions for various scenarios, such as Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).

Understanding security, privacy, compliance, and trust in Azure.

Familiarizing with Azure pricing, service level agreements (SLAs), and support options.

Prerequisites:

The Azure Fundamentals course (AZ-900) does not have any specific prerequisites. It is designed for beginners and individuals who are new to cloud computing and Azure. However, having a basic understanding of IT concepts and familiarity with the internet and web services can be beneficial.

Who can learn this course:

IT professionals looking to expand their knowledge of cloud computing and Azure.

Students or recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in cloud computing or Azure.

Business decision-makers and stakeholders who want to understand the benefits and possibilities of adopting Azure for their organizations.

Anyone interested in gaining a foundational understanding of cloud computing concepts and Azure services.

Training Features:

Comprehensive Course Curriculum

Experienced Industry Professionals

24/7 Learning Access

Comprehensive Placement Programs

Hands-on Practice

Lab Facility with Expert Mentors

Conclusion:

Microsoft Azure online training provides a flexible and effective way to acquire valuable cloud computing skills and advance your career. By choosing the right course and committing to your learning journey, you can become proficient in Azure and take full advantage of its powerful capabilities.

[jcmarchi]

Microsoft’s Leap Towards Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing with Azure Quantum

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/microsofts-leap-towards-fault-tolerant-quantum-computing-with-azure-quantum/

Microsoft’s Leap Towards Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing with Azure Quantum

Quantum computing, with its promise of solving complex problems that classical computers struggle with, has been a topic of intense research and development. Microsoft, a key player in the quantum computing field, is making significant strides toward achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing at scale through its Azure Quantum platform. This article takes a closer look at these developments, explaining their significance and considering how they might shape the future of computing.

Quantum at Scale: A Necessity

In the quest to use quantum computing for solving some of the biggest challenges like climate change and medical breakthroughs, experts estimate that we would need quantum computers powered by at least one million qubits. A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing. Unlike classical bits that can only exist in one of two states, 0 or 1, at any given time, qubits can exist in a superposition of states. This means a qubit can be in a state representing both 0 and 1 simultaneously. Moreover, qubits can be entangled with each other, where the state of one qubit depends on the state of another qubit. This enables qubits to encode complex information and parallel processing capabilities that surpass classical computing. However, qubits need to be both stable and controllable to perform these complex calculations effectively.

Achieving this scale—developing a quantum computer with a million qubits—is an enormous challenge. Currently, managing even a few qubits requires sophisticated technology and precise control. Scaling up to a million qubits multiplies these challenges in terms of maintaining qubit stability and ensuring error-free operations across such a large scale.

The Challenge of Qubit’s Sensitivity

One of the key challenges in quantum computing is the sensitivity of qubits to errors. Even minor environmental changes can lead to errors that substantially impact the reliability of quantum computers for practical uses. Moreover, even small errors can have a big impact on the processes in quantum computing. For instance, although a fidelity rate of 99.9% seems reasonable, meaning errors happen only once in every 1,000 operations, it’s quite high for quantum computing where operations run into the million qubits to solve complex problems. This can lead to many errors that stack up, making the results less reliable.

For quantum computers to work effectively and reliably, they need to perform these operations with extreme accuracy over long periods. This requirement becomes more formidable as the system expands to manage complex calculations more effectively.

Error Correction using Logical Qubits

Enhancing the robustness against errors is critical for improving the reliability and scalability of quantum computing. Researchers are actively developing error detection and correction strategies at both the physical and logical levels of qubits. While simply boosting the fidelity of physical qubits may not fully address the issue, the use of logical qubits offers a promising path forward.

Logical qubits function like repetition codes in classical computing, where information is duplicated across multiple bits to protect against errors. However, due to the no-cloning theorem in physics, direct replication of qubits is not possible. Instead, quantum error correction spreads the state of a logical qubit across several physical qubits. This redundancy enables the detection and correction of errors in individual physical qubits, maintaining the integrity of the quantum information and greatly reducing the error rate. By forming a single logical qubit from multiple physical ones, this method introduces fault tolerance. Even if some physical qubits err, the state of the logical qubit remains intact, determined by the unaltered physical qubits. This significantly boosts the stability and reliability of quantum computers, allowing them to handle more complex and lengthy computations. However, this requires a well-thought-out system with carefully designed hardware and software to manage errors effectively.

Microsoft and Quantinuum’s Error Reduction Breakthrough

In a recent collaboration, Microsoft and Quantinuum successfully addressed the longstanding challenge of qubits’ vulnerability to errors. They accomplished this by integrating Quantinuum’s hardware system with Microsoft’s qubit-virtualization or logic qubit system, resulting in an integrated and robust system that achieved an impressive 800-fold enhancement in error handling. This integration allowed researchers to carry out 14,000 independent instances without encountering any errors. Central to this achievement is Microsoft’s qubit virtualization system, which converts physical qubits into logical qubits and executes error correction. Through this virtualization system, they were able to produce four stable logical qubits from only 30 out of Quantinuum’s 32 physical qubits, showcasing an extremely low circuit error rate of 0.00001, indicating one error per 100,000 operations.

Understanding the impact of this development becomes more apparent when we think about reducing the error rate by 800 times, which is like improving a signal by 29 dB, similar to the experience of using a high-quality noise-canceling headset. Think of the background noise on an airplane as the ambient noise from physical qubits. Just as the headset cancels noise for better music listening, the qubit-virtualization system helps reduce errors caused by physical qubits during quantum computing tasks.

The Impact Beyond Error Reduction

The collaboration between Quantinuum’s hardware and Microsoft’s qubit-virtualization systems extends beyond just reducing errors. By integrating these technologies, researchers are provided with a stable platform to develop and implement complex quantum algorithms. This development could encourage innovation in areas like material science and cryptography, and improve the accessibility of quantum computing technologies. As the platform continues to mature and becomes more accessible, it might broaden access to quantum computing, enabling more scientists and institutions to engage in advanced research.

The Bottom Line

Microsoft’s pursuit of fault-tolerant quantum computing through Azure Quantum signifies a transformative leap in computational capabilities. While the focus has been on error reduction, the integration of Quantinuum’s quantum hardware with Microsoft’s qubit-virtualization systems unveils a realm of possibilities beyond mere error mitigation. This advancement doesn’t just refine error handling; it establishes a robust foundation for exploring intricate quantum algorithms. By bridging the gap between hardware and virtualization, Microsoft empowers researchers to delve into new frontiers across scientific domains like material science and cryptography.

[greenoperator]

MICROSOFT AZURE FUNDAMENTALS AZ-900 (PART 6)

Monitoring tools in Azure

Azure Advisor

Evaluates your Azure resources and makes recommendations to improve reliability, security, and performance, achieve operational excellence and reduce costs 

Recommendations are available via the API and portal. You can setup notifications to alert new recommendations 

Divided into five categories

Reliability used to ensure and improve the continuity of your business critical applications 

Security used to detect threats and vulnerabilities that might lead to security breaches 

Performance used to improve the speed of your applications 

Operational Excellence used to help achieve process and workflow efficiency, resource manageability, and deployment best practices 

Cost is used to optimize and reduce your overall Azure spending

Azure Service Health

Helps you keep track of Azure resources, both your specifically deployed resources and overall status of Azure.

Azure Status

Broad picture of the status of Azure globally 

Informs you of service outages in Azure 

Global view of health of all Azure services across all Azure regions.

Service Health

Narrower view of Azure services and regions 

Focuses on the Azure service and regions you are using 

Can use your authenticated account to identify your services and then report on status of those 

Alerts can be setup to notify you when service issues, planned maintenance or other changes may affect your services and/or region.

Resource Health

Tailored view of your actual Azure resources 

Information about the health of your individual cloud resources 

Use Azure monitor to configure alerts to notify of availability changes to your resources

Azure Monitor

Platform collecting data on your resources, analyzing the data, visualizing the information and even acting on the results 

Can monitor Azure resources, on-prem resources, and even multi-cloud resources hosted on a different provider.

Configure alerts based on critical events

Azure Log Analytics

Tool in Azure Portal where you’ll write and run log queries on data from the Azure Monitor. 

Supports simple and complex queries and data analysis

Azure Monitor Alerts

Are automated to stay informed when Azure monitor detects a threshold being crossed. 

Set alert conditions, the notification actions, and then Azure monitor Alerts notifies when an alert is triggered. 

It can sometimes attempt corrective actions 

Alerts can trigger on certain log events too.

Application Insights

Azure Monitor feature that monitors your web applications 

Capable of monitoring applications that run in Azure, on-premises, or in a different cloud environment 

Two ways to configure Application Insights

Install SDK in your application 

Use the Application Insights agent -  Agent supported in C#, VB.NET, Java, JavaScript, Node.is, and Python

It can monitor

Request rates, response times, and failure rates 

Dependency rates, response times and failure rates for external services 

Page views and load performance reported by users browsers 

AJAX calls from web pages 

User and session counts 

Performance counters for OS information

It can monitor, but also send synthetic requests to check if your application is up

Azure Fundamentals: Describe Azure architecture and services

Supports SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS

You need an Azure subscription to create and use Azure services

Structure of objects in Azure

Core Architectural components of Azure

Physical infrastructure

The physical “stuff” that is in a data center (racks, dedicated power, cooling, networking infrastructure) 

Azure has data centers around the world. 

Data centers are not directly accessible, but they are grouped into Azure Regions or Azure Availability Zones to provide resiliency and reliability.

Regions

Geographical area that contains at least one, but possibly more data centers 

Networked together with a low latency network 

Azure assigns workloads across the region to balance workloads

Availability Zones

Physically separate data centers within an Azure region 

Each zone is made up of one or more data centers with independent power, cooling, and networking 

Availability zone is setup to be an isolation boundary 

If one goes down the others continue to work 

Connected with high-speed private fiber optic networks

Use Availability zones in your apps

Ensure services and data are redundant to protect your information 

Azure can make your app highly available through availability zones 

Primarily for VMs, managed disks, load balancers, and SQL database 

Three categories

Zone service - You pin the resource to as specific zone (VMs, managed disks, etc) 

Zone-redundant services - The platform replicates automatically across zones (zone-redundant storage, databases) 

Non-regional services - always available from Azure geographies and resilient to zone-wide outages as well as region-wide outages.

Region Pairs

Most Azure regions are paired with another region within he same geography (at least 300 miles away) 

Allows for replication of resources across a geography mitigating risks of one data center going down 

Provides fail-over for a region 

Examples of Azure are West US with East US and South-East Asia with East Asia

Additional Advantages

Planned Azure updates are rolled out to paired regions with one going down at a time 

Data continues to reside within the same geography as its pair (except for Brazil South) for tax and law enforcement jurisdiction purposes

Sovereign Regions

Azure has sovereign regions 

Isolated from the main instance of Azure 

US DoD Central, US Gov Virginia, US Gov Iowa and more for the US government. Operated by screened US personnel with additional compliance certifications 

China East, China North and more, regions available through a unique partnership between Microsoft and 21vianet. MS doesn’t maintain the data centers.

Describe Azure management Infrastructure

Azure resources and resource groups

Resource - basic building block of Azure 

Anything you create, provision, deploy, etc is a resource. 

Resource Groups are grouping of resources and cannot be nested 

When are resource is created, it must be added to a resource group 

Actions applied to a resource group apply to all the resources within the group 

Current and future resources are applied the setting if one is added. 

Deleting a group will result in deleting all resources in the group 

Grant or deny access to a group and it is inherited by the resources within the group

Azure subscriptions

Unit of management, billing, and scale 

Similar to how resource groups are away to logically organize resources, subscriptions allow you to logically organize your resource groups and facilitate billing

Provides you with authenticated and authorized access to Azure 

Links to an Azure account which is an identity in Azure Active Directory, or in a directly that Azure AD trusts 

Accounts can have multiple subscriptions 

Multi-subscription accounts can use subscriptions to configure billing models or different access-management policies.

Billing boundary

Determines how an azure account is billed 

You can configure different billing requirements. 

Different reports and invoices are created for each subscription

Access control boundary

Applies access-management policies at the subscription level 

Can create separate subscriptions to reflect different organizational structures. 

Each department can have a different subscription policies

Create additional subscriptions

Environments - primarily good for resource access controls 

Organizational Structures - reflect different organizational structures via subscriptions 

Billing - Aggregated at the subscription level, can set up additional subscriptions for managing and tracking cost base on needs

Azure Management Groups

Resources are gathered into resource groups

Resource groups are gathered into Subscriptions

Management Groups If you have many subscriptions and want to manage access, policies, and compliance for those you can organize subscriptions into containers

You can apply governance conditions to the management groups

Management groups can be nested

You can build flexible structure of management groups and subscriptions 

Can be used to apply policies, provide user access to multiple subscriptions 

10000 management groups can be supported in a single directory 

Depth of the Tree can be 6 levels (Does not include the root level or the subscription level) Each management group and subscription can support only one parent

Describe Azure compute and networking services

Azure virtual machines

VMs provide SaaS in the form of a virtualized server 

Flexibility of virtualization without having to buy and maintain physical hardware that runs the vm. 

You can use images to create VMs at scale.

Scale VMs in Azure

You can run a single VM or group VMs together 

Grouped VMs provide high availability, scalability, and redundancy. 

You can manage the grouping of VMs for you with features such as scale sets and availability sets

Virtual Machine Scale sets

Lets you create and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs. 

If you create them one at at time, you must configure them identical and then set up network routing parameters to ensure efficiency. 

Azure automates most of that work with scale sets 

Allow you to centrally manage, configure, and update a large number of VMs in minutes 

The number of VMs can automatically increase o decrease in response to demand or can be configured to scale based on a defined schedule. 

Automatically deploy a load balancer to make sure that your resources are used efficiently.

Virtual Machine Availability sets

Another tool to help you build a more resilient, highly available environment 

Availability sets are designed to ensure that Vm stagger updates and have varied power and network connectivity 

Availability sets do this by grouping VMs into two ways

Update Domain

VMs can be rebooted at the same time 

Allows to apply updates while knowing that only one update domain grouping will be offline at a time. 

Update group going through the update process has 30 minutes to recover before maintenance of the next update domain starts

Fault Domain

Groups VMs by common power source and network switch. 

By default availability set will split your VMS across three fault domains. 

This helps protect against physical power or network failure

Azure Virtual Desktop

Another type of virtual machine 

It is a desktop and application virtualization service in the cloud 

You can get to Cloud hosted versions of Windows over the internet. 

Accessible from clients that are available from native OS’ and HTML5 browsers. 

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) use to be expensive an difficult to setup - Could take weeks to set up

Now setup the rules in Azure PaaS. The users connect to the VMs on a secure connection 

You have control of how the users are spread across those VMs and workloads 

You can have multiple users on a single VM with a multisession Win10 Enterprise 

For users, their experience is the same 

A globe indicates that the application is virtual, otherwise it seems like being on the same workstation/PC 

Enhance security

Provides centralized security management of users’ desktops 

You can enable MFA to secure signing 

Secure access to data by assigning granular RBAC to users 

Data and apps are separate from the local hardware 

User sessions are isolated in both a single or multi-session environment

Multi-Session Windows 10 or Windows 11

The only client-based operating system that enables multiple sessions on the same single VM 

More consistent experience similar to that of a windows server based operating system with broader application support

Describe Azure Containers

Although VMs are excellent to reduce cost versus investment for physical hardware, they are limited to a single operating system per virtual machine

If you need multiple instances of an application on a single host machine, you can use containers

Containers

Virtualization environment 

Multiple containers on a single physical or virtual host 

You don’t manage the OS for the container 

They appear as an instance of an OS that you connect to and manage. 

Light weight and designed to be created, scaled out, and stopped dynamically 

You can quickly restart if there is a crash or hardware interruption. 

Most popular engine is Docker and it is supported by Azure

Compare Virtual Machine to Containers

Virtual Machines provide abstraction layer for CPU, memory, Storage

VMs you are in control with OS, tools, and packages 

Downsides - only one OS at a time. If the apps require different runtime environments, you may need multiple VMs

Containers

Bundles an app and its dependencies 

Deploys it as a unit to a container host -  The container host has a standardized runtime environment and abstracts away the OS and hardware

VM machines virtualize hardware 

Containers virtualize the Operating system 

Containerized apps are smaller in size 

You wait for the app and not the OS to restart if you reboot it 

Development process is simplified because your development environment can look like production 

Use Cluster orchestration without wondering which server to put it on. 

Complete control of environment may mean using a VM 

Portability and management capabilities of containers may be a better choice

Azure Container Instances

Offer fastest and simplest way to run a container in Azure 

Without having to manage any virtual machines or adopt services. 

Azure container instances allow you to upload your containers and the services will run them for you 

Use containers in your solution

Used to create solutions by using a micro services architecture 

Break your solution into smaller independent pieces 

You could scale one part of the application. For example your backend can be called if the front-end is not being stressed.

Describe Azure Functions

Event-driven, server less compute option that doesn’t require maintaining virtual machines or containers

With Azure Functions an event wakes the function and prevents having the resource (VM or container) always running

Serverless computing

Removes the server management tasks from the users’ responsibilities 

Allows you to focus on pushing your applications to the customers 

“Servers are there, but you don’t need to manage them” 

Take your mind off the infrastructure concerns and move to application. 

Often triggered based on an event (a REST request), timer, or message from another service 

Benefits

No infrastructure management 

Scalability 

Only pay for your use

By default functions are stateless. 

When they are stateful (called Durable Functions) a context is passed through the function to track prior activity

Describe application hosting options

Azure Ap Service

Enables you to build and host web apps, background jobs, mobile back-ends, and RESTful APIs in the language you choose

No management of infrastructure

Automatic scaling and high availability

Supports Windows and Linux

Automated deployments from Github, Azure DevOps, or any git repo

Types of app services

Web apps -  Full support for hosting web apps using ASP.NET, ASP.NET core, Java, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, or python Linux or windows

API apps

You can build REST-based web APIs using your language and framework 

Full Swagger support and ability to publish your API in Azure Marketplace

Web Jobs

Allow you to run a program (.exe, Java, PHP, Python, or Node.js) or script (.cmd, .bat, PowerShell, or bash) in the same context as a web app, API, or mobile app. 

Often used to run background tasks as part of your application logic.

Mobile Apps

Quickly build back-end for iOS an android apps 

Store mobile data in cloud-based sql database 

Authenticate customers against social providers, such as MSA, Google, Twitter, and Facebook 

Send push notifications 

Execute custom back-end logic in c# or node.js

Handles most of the infrastructure decisions you deal with in hosting web-accessible apps

Deployment and management are integrated into the platform 

Endpoints can be secured 

Sites can be scaled quickly to handle high traffic loads

The built-in load balancing and traffic manager provide high availability

Describe Azure Virtual Networking

Azure Virtual Networking

Allows you to create virtual networks and virtual subnets to enable Azure resources to communicate

With each other, users on the internet and with your on-premises client computers.

Provide the following key networking capabilities

Isolation and segmentation

Allows creating multiple isolated virtual networks 

You define a private address space using either public or private addresses 

You can use internal or eternal DNS servers for name resolution

Internet communications -  Assign a public ip address to the resource or put it behind a public load balancer to have internet connectivity

Communicate between Azure resources

Virtual networks can connect not only VMs, but the resources too 

Service endpoints can connect to other resource types 

This enables you to link multiple Azure resources to virtual networks to improve security and provide optimal routing between resources

Communicate with on-premises resources

Virtual networks allow you to link resources together in your on-premises environment with your azure subscription. 

Network that spans both your local and cloud environments. 

Three mechanism for this

Point to Site

Virtual networks connections are from a computer outside the origination back into your corporate network 

A client computer initiates an encrypted VPN connection to connect to the Azure virtual network

Site to Site

Virtual private networks link your on-premise VPN device or gateway to an Azure VPN gateway in a virtual network. 

Devices in Azure can appear as being on the local network. 

 The connection is encrypted and works over the internet. 

Azure VPN device (also known as Virtual Network Gateway) 

Gateway subnets are a virtual subnet gateway located in a dedicated subnet in the Azure virtual network.

Azure Express Route

Dedicated private connectivity to Azure that doesn’t travel over the internet 

Useful for environments where you need greater bandwidth and even higher levels of security

Route network traffic

Allow you to define rules about how traffic should be directed. 

You can create custom route tables that control how packets are routed between subnets 

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) works with Azure VPN gateways, Azure Route Server, or Azure ExpressRoute to propagate on-premises BGP routes to Azure virtual networks

Filter network traffic

Allow you filter traffic between subnets 

Network security groups

Are Azure resources that can contain multiple inbound and outbound security rules 

You can define these rules to allow or block traffic, based on source and destination IP address, port, and protocol 

Network virtual appliance

Are specialized VMs that can be compared to hardened network appliances. 

Carry out a particular network function like a firewall or WAN optimization

Connect virtual networks

Link virtual networks together using virtual network peering 

Peering allows two virtual networks to connect directly to each other 

Traffic between peered networks is private and travels on Microsoft’s backbone network. 

User-defined Routes (UDR) allow you to control the routing tables between subnets or between virtual networks

It supports both public and private endpoints to enable communication between external and internal resources

Public endpoints have a public IP address can be accessed from anywhere in the world 

Private endpoints exist within a virtual network and have private IP addresses from within the address space of the virtual network

[geethaasrinivasan]

If you are preparing for the Azure AI-900 exam check the practice questions with answers

[azuretrainingtricks]

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