Azure Flashcards

Microsoft Azure, also known as Azure, is a cloud platform created by Microsoft. It is a set of cloud services that provides tools and capabilities for building, managing, and developing applications. Azure offers a wide range of services including computing, data analytics, data storage, databases, networking, security, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

With Azure, users can create applications and services in the cloud using a pay-as-you-go model, meaning they only pay for the resources they actually use. Various subscription tiers are available, catering to the needs of different types of businesses, from small startups to large corporations.

Azure supports many different programming languages, including .NET, Java, Node.js, and Python, as well as offering support for various environments such as Windows and Linux. From a business perspective, using cloud solutions like Azure allows for increased operational flexibility, scalability, and potential cost reductions associated with maintaining IT infrastructure.

One of Azure's key advantages is its global reach, with numerous data centers spread around the world. This helps optimize application performance and availability and ensures compliance with local data storage regulations.

Azure SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB are two different types of databases offered by Microsoft Azure, each serving different needs.

Azure SQL Database is a database as a service (DBaaS) that is based on Microsoft SQL Server technology. It is primarily a relational database that supports data structures organized in tables, which can be linked using foreign keys. Azure SQL Database provides high compatibility with existing SQL Server tools and offers scalability, automatic backup management, and many other features that facilitate the administration and scaling of database resources.

Azure Cosmos DB, on the other hand, is a globally distributed NoSQL database as a service (DBaaS). It is dedicated to handling large, global applications that require a database with low latency access to data from different regions of the world. Cosmos DB supports various data models, including document, graph, key-value, and column-family. It also offers global traffic distribution, automatic throughput scaling, and multiple consistency models to choose from depending on the needs of the application.

In summary, the main difference between Azure SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB lies in the type and management of data: Azure SQL Database is a traditional relational database ideal for applications requiring strong data integrity and structural consistency, while Azure Cosmos DB is a highly scalable NoSQL database suited for handling flexible data schemas and providing globally available low-latency access.

Auto-scaling in the context of Azure refers to the ability to automatically adjust the number of resources in response to current demand without the need for user intervention. The main goal of auto-scaling is to ensure the appropriate level of resources to handle current traffic while optimizing resource use and controlling costs.

Auto-scaling can be applied to both Virtual Machines and App Services as well as other resources in Azure that experience variable load dynamics. The operation of auto-scaling is based on rules and monitoring metrics that can be defined by the user. For example, you can set the number of service instances to increase when CPU usage reaches more than 75% for a specified period.

Azure offers two main types of auto-scaling: vertical (scale up/down) - where the size of resources for a single instance changes (e.g., increasing RAM or CPU power) and horizontal (scale out/in) - where the number of resource instances changes (e.g., increasing the number of virtual machines).

Auto-scaling in Azure is implemented through tools like Azure Autoscale and Azure Monitor, which support automatic scaling through configurations based on ready-made templates or advanced scenarios tailored to the specific needs of an application.

Azure CDN (Content Delivery Network) accelerates content delivery by placing copied content in geographically distributed locations called Points of Presence (PoPs). The primary mechanism of Azure CDN is caching various types of content, such as images, stylesheets, JavaScript, and other files and data. When a user requests specific content, the CDN system directs the query to the nearest PoP relative to the user, significantly reducing data access time and latency while lowering the load on the origin servers.

Azure CDN automatically manages caching, updates, and invalidation, which is crucial for maintaining the freshness and accuracy of data. Additionally, the CDN offers optimization features like file minification and compression, which help reduce the size of transmitted data, further speeding up loading times.

Here is a code snippet demonstrating sample CDN configurations in Azure:



In the above example, content minification and compression are enabled at the CDN level, and caching is initialized with a specified lifetime of one hour. Utilizing Azure CDN ensures that content is delivered much faster to users worldwide, enhancing the overall performance of web applications.