Microsoft Azure formerly known as Windows Azure is the Microsoft cloud, it is a solution given by Microsoft for the cloud. It is a cloud computing platform for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services by a global network of managed data centers of Microsoft. Azure uses a technology of virtualization.
When we want to host website, we required various service. Azure provides a range of cloud services, and it is widely considered for software as a service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and a Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering.
The first version of Azure was released on February 1, 2010, as “Windows Azure” later on it renamed to “Microsoft Azure” on March 25, 2014.
WHAT IS MICROSOFT AZURE USED FOR?
Azure as a platform can be used by developers to build and deploy applications. They create the code with tools provided by Azure, and then VM (virtual machines) execute the rules.
Azure gives you the ability to create VM-Virtual Machines simply by specifying the space and the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) you want to use.
You can also use this platform for creating and hosting websites and web applications.
With Azure, you can build apps for Android, iOS, HTML/ JavaScript, and Windows Phone.
Microsoft Azure cloud services
Followings are important services of Microsoft Azure cloud:
- ComputeThese services enable a user to manage and deploy virtual machines (VMs), containers and processing of the batch, as well as support remote application access.
- Mobile servicesMobile Engagement collects real-time analytics which helps to track users’ behavior. It also helps in push notifications. It also helps a developer build cloud applications for mobile devices, providing push notifications, support for back-end tasks, tools for building APIs and location services.
- ManagementThese services help in managing cloud administrator and provide a range of backup, compliance, recovery, automation, scheduling and monitoring tools.
- DatabasesAzure provides Database as a Service (DBaaS) offerings for SQL and NoSQL, as well as other databases, such as Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Database for PostgreSQL.
- Hybrid integrationAzure provides services for server backup, recovery of site and connecting private and public clouds.
- Media and content delivery network (CDN)
These services play a vital role in the security and delivery of content. It includes indexing, encoding, on-demand streaming, digital rights protection and media playback.
- Identity and access management (IAM)These offerings are about authentication, i.e., it ensures that only authorised users can access services, and help safeguard encryption keys and other valuable information in the cloud.