What is Azure?
At its core, Azure is a public cloud computing platform—with solutions including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) that can be used for services such as analytics, virtual computing, storage, networking, and much more. It can be used to replace or supplement your on-premise servers.
Here are some quick facts about Azure:
- SLA and 24×7 tech support·
- Global – Data housed in geo-synchronous data centers·
- Microsoft Azure – IaaS, PaaS and SaaS·
- Flexible – Move compute resources up and down as needed·
- Open – Supports almost any OS, language, tool, or framework·
- Reliable – 99.95% availability.
- Economical – Only pay for what you use.
Azure is a fast, flexible, and affordable platform. Now let’s take a look at how to put it to work for you.
1. Enhance and Implement Backup and Disaster Recovery
Azure is a backup and disaster recovery dream tool. Why? Because of its flexibility, advanced site recovery, and built-in integration.
As a cloud-based solution, Azure is innately flexible – it can back up your data in almost any language, on any OS, and from any location. Plus, you define the frequency and extent of your backup schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).
2. Host and Develop Web and Mobile Apps
Whether you’re looking for a platform for hosting, developing, or managing a web or mobile app, Azure makes those apps autonomous and adaptive with patch management, AutoScale, and integration for on-premise apps.
3. Distribute and Supplement Active Directory
Azure can integrate with your Active Directory to supplement your identity and access capabilities—this gives your DNS a global reach, centralized management, and robust security.
With Azure, you can globally distribute an Active Directory environment that is direct connect enabled. No other cloud provider has the ability to extend the reach of your domain controller and consolidate AD management like Azure.
4. Innovate with IoT Industry Solutions
The scalability, flexibility, and security of Microsoft Azure makes it the perfect resource for companies moving toward IoT solutions. You can connect your devices to the cloud using solutions that integrate with your existing infrastructure and start collecting new data about your company.
Three Types of Cloud Computing Service Models
- IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
- PaaS (Platform as a Service)
- SaaS (Software as a Service).
IaaS
IaaS is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet. In the IaaS model, the cloud provider manages IT infrastructures such as storage, server and networking resources, and delivers them to subscriber organizations via virtual machines accessible through the internet.
In an IaaS service model, a cloud provider hosts the infrastructure components that are traditionally present in an on-premises data center. This includes servers, storage and networking hardware, as well as the virtualization or hypervisor layer.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Microsoft Azure.
- Google Compute Engine (GCE)
When to use IaaS?
Organizations of all sizes can benefit from IaaS. Small companies who want to avoid purchasing hardware or don’t have the time, staff, or ability to host large data centers on-premise, as well as larger businesses who want to stay in control of their apps and only want to consume the resources they actually need. The scalability of IaaS is also great for companies that experience rapid growth.
IaaS delivery
With IaaS, enterprises get a full cloud computing infrastructure including network, servers, operating system, and data centers/storage. Full access is granted through virtualization technology via dashboard or API. This way, clients have complete control over their computing infrastructure.
The IaaS provider is responsible for managing and maintaining servers, hard drives, storage, and virtualization tools. However, applications, runtime, OS, middleware, and data still need to be managed by the client.
IaaS benefits
IaaS offers many benefits to companies who want to migrate to the cloud. The most compelling ones are listed below.
- Flexibility: IaaS is more flexible than all the other cloud computing models.
- Automation: With IaaS, you can easily automate the deployment of servers, storage, and networking.
- Cost-reduction: IaaS lets you purchase resources on an as-needed basis, so you only pay for what you’re actually using.
- Control: IaaS lets you retain complete control of your infrastructure.
- Scalability: Since you’re only “renting” IT components, you can easily upscale or downscale your resources.
IaaS disadvantages
IaaS also has some potential drawbacks that you should be aware of before settling on a provider.
- Legacy systems: Before migrating to the cloud, legacy apps might have to be enhanced for the new type of infrastructure.
- Internal training: Staff might have to undergo additional training to effectively manage and monitor IaaS.
- Security: While you are in control over your apps, data, middleware, and the OS platform, you are also responsible for mitigating new security threats.
PaaS
PaaS is a cloud computing platform where a third party offers the necessary software and hardware resources. These offerings enable clients to develop, run, and manage business applications without maintaining the infrastructure required for such software development processes.
PaaS can be seen as a scaled-down version of IaaS. Just like IaaS, the customers have access to servers and data centers which are maintained and managed by the third-party provider. However, they mainly use PaaS for building custom SaaS applications.
PaaS example:
- libraries
- storage
- databases
When to use PaaS?
There are several situations when a Platform-as-a-Service would be a good idea. For example, if you have several developers working on the same development project, PaaS is a great way to streamline workflows.
You can even include other vendors and stay flexible during the entire process. PaaS is also the way to go if your organization requires customized applications that need to be developed and deployed in a short amount of time.
PaaS delivery
PaaS delivery can be compared to the way SaaS is delivered. The only difference is that customers don’t access online software, but an online platform for the creation of software. And since tools and environment are ready-to-use, software engineers and developers can concentrate on building applications without having to worry about other components like operation systems, storage, and infrastructure.
PaaS benefits
Below are a few of the biggest benefits that speak for adopting PaaS as a cloud computing model.
- Cost-reduction: PaaS is a simple, cost-effective way to quickly develop and deploy new apps.
- Scalability: PaaS service models can easily be adjusted to a developer’s needs.
- Migration: With PaaS, it’s easy to migrate to a hybrid cloud model.
- Less coding: Your developer teams have to do a lot less coding than before.
- Freedom: PaaS frees up time as developers can customize apps without having to maintain the software.
PaaS disadvantages
Not surprisingly, there are also some drawbacks that you need to be aware of before subscribing to a PaaS cloud computing model.
- Data security: Using third-party vendor-controlled servers means that there are various security risks to look out for.
- Runtime issues: Some PaaS solutions are not optimized for the language or framework that your development teams are used to.
- Integrations: You might encounter some challenges with integrating new applications as not every component of your legacy IT system is built for the cloud.
- Limitations: Customized cloud operations tend to have automated workflows that might not be compatible with PaaS solutions, thus limiting operational capabilities for your end-user.
SaaS (Software-as-Service)
SaaS entire cloud application services are the most common form of cloud computing. They are ready-to-use and often run directly through the client’s web browser, meaning there is no need for installations or downloads like it with on-prem solutions.
SaaS is hosted on remote servers and fully managed, updated, and maintained by a third-party vendor. This results in less responsibility but also less control for the end-user.
SaaS example:
- Google Apps,
- Dropbox
- Slack
When to use SaaS?
SaaS is ideal for small companies or startups that don’t have the capacity to develop their own software applications. From e-commerce to short-term projects, SaaS is the quickest and easiest solution if you don’t need highly customized applications. SaaS is also a great option for applications that are not used very often, e.g. tax software.
SaaS delivery
SaaS is delivered as a fully functional service and can be accessed remotely via any web browser, allowing clients to work from anywhere. The users connect to the app through a dashboard or API and rely on the SaaS provider when it comes to bug fixes, middleware, support, and any potential technical issues.
SaaS benefits
Software-as-a-Service provides several advantages to businesses and their teams.
- Cost-reduction: SaaS usually resides in a shared or multi-tenant environment. When managed correctly, the license costs are lower compared to traditional models.
- Scalability: SaaS solutions are easy to scale up or down based on your specific needs.
- Integration: Many SaaS solutions have integrations with other SaaS offerings, so you don’t have to buy another server or software.
- Upgrades: With SaaS, you instantly benefit from new software releases and upgrades.
- Ease of use: Without installation or download, SaaS is easy to use and comes with baked-in best practices.
SaaS disadvantages
Before opting for a SaaS cloud computing model, you should also be aware of its potential drawbacks.
- Data security: Since large volumes of sensitive data are being exchanged with off-premise servers, security and compliance might be compromised.
- Limited customization: SaaS only allows for minimal customization when it comes to features and capabilities.
- Interoperability: It might be difficult to integrate SaaS with existing apps and services due to dependencies.
- Less control: Users have very little control over functionalities, performance, downtime, or how their data is governed.
- Wasted resources: With the ease of use and scalability SaaS provides, an organization’s SaaS stack includes many overlapping, underutilized, or unused apps. The value of SaaS apps in the organization can drop without automated SaaS Management or SaaS optimization processes in place.
- Shadow IT: Employees often purchase or sign up for new SaaS without the knowledge of IT. Unmanaged SaaS apps could have potential security gaps.
Differences between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS?
IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS stand for Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, and Software-as-a-Service. Each describes a way of how you can use the cloud for your organization. The service models don’t stand in direct opposition to each other but cover a degree of IT management, thus offering an alternative to self-managed on-premise IT solutions.
While traditional solutions require you to manage your own IT infrastructure and in-house software, IaaS provides a pay-as-you-go approach for storage, networking, and virtualization. In addition, PaaS includes even more services like hardware and software development tools available via the web. And with SaaS, you get the highest degree of vendor management by “renting” full software solutions.
The diagram “As-a-Service” below illustrates the differences between IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS and the level of vendor management that you get with each service model.
What is RBAC?
Manager that provides fine-grained access management of resources in Azure. With
RBAC, you can grant the exact access that users need to do their jobs. For example,
you can use RBAC to let one employee manage virtual machines in a subscription
while another manages SQL databases within the same subscription.
What is role-based access control?
applications at a certain scope. The scope of a role assignment can be a subscription,
a resource group, or a single resource. A role assigned at a parent scope also grants
access to the child scopes contained within it. For example, a user with access to a
resource group can manage all the resources it contains, like websites, virtual
machines, and subnets. The RBAC role that you assign dictates what resources the
user, group, or application can manage within that scope.
The following diagram depicts how the classic subscription administrator roles, RBAC
roles, and Azure AD administrator roles are related at a high level. Roles assigned at
a higher scope, like an entire subscription, are inherited by child scopes, like service
instances.
What is a webhook?
service offered by Azure Container Registry. Services and applications can subscribe
to the webhook to receive notifications about updates to images in the registry. A
web app that uses App Service can subscribe to an Azure Container Registry
webhook to receive notifications about updates to the image that contains the webapp. When the image is updated, and App Service receives a notification, your app
automatically restarts the site and pulls the latest version of the image.