Azure Cloud - A Close Look

Every two or three years, there comes a new technology that carries the potential to change the world, and “Cloud Computing” is the one. However, there are numerous terms and definitions of the cloud floating around in the industry, such as “the cloud”, “cloud computing”, “cloud services”, etc. But there are a few key features where cloud computing is all set to change the rules of the game.

• Pay as you use
  
  
  
  A simple elastic model for paying only for the services which you use for your applications like virtual machines, storage, or even IP addresses.

• Scale up and down at your command
  
  
  
  Now, consumer can easily manage the site performance by defining when to spin new servers and when to scale back to the default set of servers.
  

• Keep content closer to your audience
  
  
  
  The content delivery network enables the contents to be cached at closest (or edge) data center to avoid delay in the content by reducing the number of hops. However, the content replication makes sure that data-set available at edge servers is always a fresh copy of the data.

• Great buffet of services and platforms
  
  
  
  Now again, cloud takes clear advantage when it comes to catering to the needs of different types of consumers from start-ups needing complete SaaS (Software as a Service) based offerings to large enterprises looking for IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).

• Secure connectivity
  
  
  
  Cloud computing now addresses the earlier concerns on the information security while data remains in the cloud. Enterprises dealing with sensitive data can have direct dedicated connectivity with cloud data centers to have the most secure network. Dedicated WAN links are the easy and secure means of extending the local data center to cloud.
  
  According to Microsoft, cloud computing is an approach to computing that enables applications to be delivered at scale for a variety of workloads and client devices. While Microsoft Azure has all of the basic features of cloud offering as listed above, it also has a cutting-edge advantage over the other prominent cloud services. Following is a high-level list of features, which are available in Azure stack of services, making it most advanced and almost one-stop-shop-for-all cloud consumers:

• Cognitive APIs
  
  Azure provides a first-in-class Cognitive APIs to develop the applications around the data collected/processed by different cognitive mechanisms like hear, speak, listen and developing an understanding/memory pattern

• Bots
  
  Those who wish to develop different bots in server-less architecture to scale on demand, look no further than Azure Bot services

• Azure ML Studio
  
  A fully managed one-of-its-kind service platform to develop applications including predictive analysis based on different data sources and patterns

• BaaS: Blockchain as a Service
  
  Experience the new way to handling the transactions which are more secure and transparent by using BaaS from Azure stack and start developing blockchain enabled applications
  

The above features, which place Microsoft Azure ahead of its competition, are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a plethora of services in the Azure stack, like cloud services for government or for enterprise dealing with sensitive data that requires stringent compliance requirements like ITAR etc.

For Microsoft; “Azure can help deliver IT as a standardized service…freeing you up to focus on your business”.

This article provides an overview of Azure cloud computing with its distinct features over other service providers. In future articles, we will explore the MS Azure cloud service for different business requirements and solutions, enabling you to think like an Azure architect and associated solutions.

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