Microsoft Azure fundamentals: Cloud concepts and benefits of cloud

Azure is a cloud computing platform that offers a range of services, from simple web services to complex offerings like virtualized computers, remote storage, database hosting, centralized account management, AI, and IoT services.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the internet, including virtual machines, storage, databases, networking, IoT, machine learning, AI services,etc.

Shared responsibility model

The shared responsibility model is a way to divide tasks between the cloud service provider (CSP) and the customer. Microsoft offers three types of services: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). Depending on the type of service, some responsibilities shift from the customer to the CSP.

Below is the diagram showing the responsibilities and the owner based on the service:

IaaS

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the most flexible category of cloud services because it provides the highest level of control over your cloud resources. In an IaaS model, the cloud provider is responsible for maintaining the hardware, network connectivity to the internet, and physical security.

Some common scenarios where IaaS might include:

· Lift-and-shift migration: Moving the on-prem datacenter to run on cloud using IaaS infrastructure.

· Testing and development: To replicate already established configurations for development and test environments, IaaS infrastructure can be used.

PaaS

Platform as a Service (PaaS) is positioned between Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). In a PaaS setup, the cloud provider takes care of the physical infrastructure, security, and internet connection. Additionally, they manage the operating systems, middleware, development tools, and business intelligence services required for a cloud solution.

Here is the revised text:

“PaaS can be utilized in various scenarios, such as:

• Development Framework: PaaS offers a framework for developers to create or customize cloud-based applications. It enables developers to build applications using pre-existing software components and takes advantage of cloud features like scalability, high-availability, and multi-tenant capability, thus reducing the amount of coding required.
• Analytics or Business Intelligence: PaaS provides tools as a service, allowing organizations to analyze and extract insights from their data. This helps in identifying patterns, predicting outcomes, and improving decision-making in areas such as forecasting, product design, and investment returns.

SaaS

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most comprehensive cloud service model from a product perspective. With SaaS, you are essentially renting or using a fully developed application. Examples of SaaS include email, financial software, messaging applications, and connectivity software.

Some common scenarios for SaaS are:

· Email and messaging.

· Business productivity applications.

· Finance and expense tracking.

Cloud model

Cloud models are the deployment types of cloud resources. There are three main categories: private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud.

A private cloud is exclusively used by a single entity, offering the company greater control. It can be hosted from an on-site data center, a dedicated offsite data center, or by a third party with a dedicated data center.

A third party cloud provider manages the public cloud. Anyone who purchases cloud services can access and use the services provided.

A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that utilizes both public and private clouds, giving users the flexibility to select which services to keep in the public cloud and which to keep in the private cloud. In a multi-cloud environment, you deal with two or more public cloud providers and manage resources and security in both clouds.

Azure Arc is a set of technologies that helps to manage any type of cloud environment.

Azure VMware solution helps to run VMware workloads in Azure seamlessly.

Sure, here is the revised text:

Consumption-Based Model

There are two types of expenses: Capital Expenditure (CapEx) and Operational Expenditure (OpEx). CapEx is typically a one-time, up-front expenditure to purchase or secure tangible resources. OpEx is spending money on services or products over time. Cloud computing falls under OpEx as it operates on a consumption-based model.

Benefits of Cloud Computing:

• High Availability: Ensures maximum availability regardless of disruptions, guaranteed as part of SLAs.
  - Scalability: Adjusts resources to meet demand, with two varieties: vertical scaling focuses on increasing or decreasing resource capabilities, while horizontal scaling involves adding or removing resources.
  - Reliability: Recovers from failures and continues to function seamlessly.
  - Predictability: Performance predictability focuses on the resources needed to deliver a positive customer experience, while cost predictability is focused on predicting the cost of cloud spend. Auto scaling, load balancing, and high availability support performance predictability.
  - Security and Governance: Set templates help to ensure deployed resources meet corporate standards and government regulatory requirements. Cloud-based auditing helps flag any resources that are out of compliance with corporate standards and provides mitigation strategies. Cloud handles attacks, such as DDoS attacks, making networks more robust and secure.
  - Manageability of the Cloud: Divided into two types:
  — Management of the Cloud: Automatically scales resource deployment based on need, deploys resources based on pre-configured templates, monitors the health of resources, and automatically replaces failing resources. Receives automatic alerts based on configured metrics for real-time performance awareness.
  — Management in the Cloud: Cloud environment and resources can be managed through web portals, command line interfaces, APIs, and PowerShells.

SLA

SLA (service level agreement) is a formal agreement between service provider and the customer that guarantees a customer a stated level of service. SLAs are also used inside organizations in an agreement between IT departments and business users. Azure SLAs represent a percentage related to the service or application availability (or up time).

references:
learn.microsoft.com