(2) Describe Azure compute and networking services Flashcards
(2) Describe Azure Architecture and Services
These are lightweight and designed to be created, scaled out, and stopped dynamically; they allow you to respond to changes on demand; the most popular version of this is Docker.
Container
What is used to create solutions within containers?
Microservice Architecture
Use Case: You might split a website into a container hosting your front end, another hosting your back end, and a third for storage. This split allows you to separate portions of your app into logical sections that can be maintained, scaled, or updated independently.
Microservice Architecture - Containers (Example)
Use Case: Imagine your website back-end has reached capacity but the front end and storage aren’t being stressed. With this you could scale the back-end separately to improve performance. If something necessitated such a change, you could also choose to change the storage service or modify the front-end without impacting any of the other components.
Microservice Architecture - Containers (Example)
An event driven, server-less compute option that doesn’t require maintaining virtual machines. If you build an app using VMs or containers, those resources have to be “running” in order for your app to function. With this service, an event wakes up the this service, alleviating the need to keep resources provisioned when there are no events.
Azure Functions
Use Case: When your company is only concerned about the code running your service and not about the underlying platform or infrastructure. This service runs your code when it’s triggered and automatically deallocates resources when the function is finished.
Azure Function(s) - Example
When they are in this mode (default), the service behaves as if they’re restarted every time they respond to an event.
Stateless Azure Function
When they are in this mode (Durable), a context is passed through the function to track prior activity.
Stateful Azure Function
T/F: Functions are NOT a key component of server-less computing.
FALSE: They are a key component. If the needs of the developer’s app change, you can deploy the project in an environment that isn’t server-less. This flexibility allows you to manage scaling, run on virtual networks, and even completely isolate the functions.
VM Use Case: During Testing and Development
They are quick and easy to create different OS and application configurations. Personnel can then easily delete the VMs when they no longer need them.
VM Use Case: When running applications in the Cloud
Applications may need to handle fluctuations in demand (starting up VMs or shutting them down during low use periods).
VM Use Case: When extending your Datacenter to the Cloud
Apps like Sharepoint can run on AZ VM instead of running locally, making it easier and less expensive to deploy than in an on-prem environment.
VM Use Case: During disaster recovery
If a primary datacenter fails, you can create VMs running on Azure to run your critical applications and then shut them down when the primary datacenter become operational again.
What service would Azure VMs be categorized as?
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
Total control over the operating system (OS); the ability to run custom software; To use custom hosting configurations; customer still needs to configure, update and maintain the software running.
Azure Virtual Machines
A template used to create a VM and may already include an OS and other software, like development tools or web hosting environments.
Image
These let you create and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs.
Virtual Machine Scale Sets
Automates configs, network routing parameters, and monitors utilization to determine if you need to increase or decrease the number of machines being used; Allows you centrally manage, configure, and update a large number of machines; Automatically deploy a load balancer to make sure that your resources are being used efficiently.
Benefits of Virtual Machines
These are designed to ensure that VMs stagger updates and have varied power and network connectivity, preventing you from losing all your VMs with a single network or power failure.
Virtual Machine Availability Sets
Groups of VMs that can be rebooted at the same time, allows you to apply updates while knowing that only on update domain grouping will be offline at a time.
Update Domain
Groups your VMs by commong power source and network switch. This will split your VMs across up to three areas, helping protect against physical power or networking failures by having VMs in different fault domains.
Fault Domain
This service allows you to use a cloud-hosted version of Windows from any location; it works across devices and operating systems, and works with apps that you can use to access remote desktops or most modern browsers.
Azure Virtual Desktop
How does Azure Virtual Desktop enhance security?
It enables MFA; uses RBACs; the data and the apps are seaparatd from the local hardware. The actual desktop and apps are running in the cloud, meaning the risk of confidential data being left on a personal device is reduced.
What are the 3 resources required for Virtual Machines?
- Size (purpose, number of processor cores, and amount of RAM); 2. Storage Disks (hard disk drives, solid state drives, etc.); 3. Networking (virtual network, public IP addresses, and port configuration)
