This e-book is written by developers for developers. It describes the basics of the Azure platform, its capabilities for developers and organizations, and how to use them effectively.
 
 
In the second half of the manual, scenarios are given, for example, a tour of Azure portal and the creation of a virtual machine. It also describes the development and deployment of a web application on the Node.js platform with the MongoDB database. We will cover typical tasks, for example CI /CD, intermediate environments, scaling and monitoring. Finally, you will learn how to create a server part for your mobile applications that provides authentication and offline synchronization.
 
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Table of contents

 
 
Azure Developer's Guide - 1;
 
Getting Started with Azure - 12;
 
Introduction of intellectual functions in the application - 27;
 
Application security - 33;
 
Where and how to deploy Azure - 36 services;
 
Step-by-step guide to Azure - 40;
 
Using Azure Marketplace - 60.
 
 

Introduction

 
Many books, articles, documents, blogs and other sources describe the advantages of cloud computing, and you can easily find zettabytes of information on the technical side of this issue. However, before you start a detailed study, you need to answer a few simple questions: why should I switch to cloud technologies, what will this transfer me, my team and my company?
 
 

Information technology is a good, not a burden,

 
Cloud computing can be used as a service. What do we mean by this? For clarity, consider one of the everyday services - electricity.
 
 
Today, hardly anyone will say that the installation of minigenerators near each house and company is an effective way of distributing electricity. We used to just turn on the light and do what we need. Obviously, you will not acquire, install and maintain all the electrical equipment necessary to power your home or office. Instead, you monthly purchase electricity from a local energy company, without thinking about its generation, capital costs, maintenance or repair after a hurricane. You just press the button and do your own thing.
 
 
If you are not worried about how electricity gets into your home, why should you care about how the computing resources and services that you use in the cloud are provided? Leave it to others. First of all, the storage resources transferred to the cloud, computing and network resources are convenient to consume - no more difficult than turning on the light. At the same time, you pay only consumed resources in the same way as you pay for the energy you have spent in your home.
 
 
Distracting from our analogy, we will see that the cloud offers many other significant benefits for IT processes, such as scalability and the ability to use intelligent services, such as searching and recognizing faces in applications, and much more.
 
 

Calculations as a service

 
Azure cloud services can be represented as a calculation model as a service. Of course, Azure offers many more programs and services than a local power supplier, so cloud computing is sometimes difficult to clearly define. Some argue that the cloud is simply the use of other people's computers. This statement is technically true, but the cloud means much more.
 
 
The cloud is a system that provides reliable, stable, intelligent services and computing resources in an unlimited, expandable, global scale.
 
So, we will sum up:
 
 
Cloud and Azure provide services that will help you perform a variety of tasks: from simple tasks, such as adding an application to an application, to more complex ones, such as implementing a continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) process. You can conveniently and quickly automatically configure your databases and push notifications for mobile devices. These are just a few examples of standard tasks that previously had to be repeatedly performed by developers, but now they are available as a service. Such services can be used with almost no effort - no more difficult than pressing the button of the switch! At the same time, you can focus on the unique elements of your application: functions that represent real value for users.
 
 
In addition to services, the cloud provides computing resources in the form of virtual machines (VMs), containers, databases, etc. Thanks to them you can place applications or provide a complete infrastructure to your users.
 
 
Cloud services and resources are incredibly reliable and stable: the probability of their failure tends to zero. After all, the cloud has intellectual capabilities - it is self-recovering. Thus, Azure data centers are distributed around the world and use tens of thousands of servers. If one server fails, its function is assumed by the other. If the entire data center is out of order (which is very unlikely), the next one will work in its place. All this became possible due to the huge scale of the cloud.
 
 
One of the most compelling arguments in favor of the cloud is the possibility of an almost unlimited vertical scaling of services and resources. This is almost impossible with the use of local resources, unless you are willing to spend huge sums on capital equipment and maintenance personnel. In addition, the cloud provides the possibility of global scaling. Cloud services are available around the world, they can be effectively delivered to users regardless of location. It also allows you to store your data wherever you need it.
 
 
Perhaps the most important feature of cloud services and resources is that they can be rolled back when demand decreases. Returning to our analogy with electricity, if you have a lot of friends and relatives at the party, you turn on the lights at home and in the yard, often use a microwave oven, listen to music and, as a rule, consume more electricity. But when the holiday is over and the guests are gone, the electricity consumption and costs for it are returned to normal rates. The same thing happens when using the cloud and Azure: you pay only for the resources actually spent, and not for those that you might need for a surge in demand.
 
 
For more information To learn more about the Azure portal and create your first virtual machine, visit page .
 
In addition to broad scalability, ready-made intelligent services and efficient payment as the consumption grows, the cloud provides increased security.
 
 
Cloud around the clock use millions of people around the world, and, of course, a lot of intruders are trying to attack him. Credible and experienced cloud service providers, such as Microsoft, can distinguish the behavior of ordinary users from the actions of intruders. This means that we are able to protect you from both the most common and unique attacks. Intelligent monitoring tools, machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence help cloud service providers detect and block attacks in real time.
 
 
Thanks to many years of experience in providing protection and support for large-scale traffic, as well as the industry's best security experts, the cloud environment has now become much more secure than any local data center.
 
 
More Information To learn more about how Azure protects your applications and data, see sections How the Azure Security Center detects DDoS attacks using cyber threat analysis, Azure Security Overview and How Microsoft is fighting cybercrime .
 
We briefly reviewed the reasons for the transition to cloud technologies and Azure. Now let's study the basic components of the cloud, their purpose and place in the general scheme.
 
 

Types of deployment of cloud computing

 
The cloud offers products and services of several levels, for example infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and a platform as a service (PaaS). However, before we begin to consider them, we will dwell on three basic types of clouds: public, private and hybrid. These terms quickly entered modern technical jargon. Let's find out what they mean.
 
 

The public cloud

 
Using the public cloud model, you do not own equipment - your cloud provider is responsible for purchasing and maintaining it. A public cloud provides services and computing resources that you also do not own, but which you can use with the help of the provider. The provider maintains everything in working order and ensures compliance with service level agreements (SLAs). You pay for what you use, not for what you own.
 
 

The private cloud

 
Using a private cloud, you own all the equipment or at least completely control it. The equipment on which services are performed and your data is stored is stored in your local data center. Obviously, full control is very expensive: you need to purchase and maintain all equipment. You pay for what you own, not for what you use.
 
 
But how to deploy a private cloud in a traditional local data center? You will be helped by the unique solution Azure Stack, which is designed to work in such an environment. In general terms, Azure Stack is your ready-made Azure instance, which can be executed in local data centers.
 
 
Running services in a private cloud is not equivalent to running them in a local data center. Azure Stack offers all the benefits of Azure, including intelligent services that you can use in your applications - all within your local data center. Therefore, if for any reason related to security or management, you need to perform certain processes in the local data center, you can still use all the benefits of Azure and the cloud.
 
 

Hybrid cloud

 
As the name suggests, a hybrid cloud is a combination of a public and private cloud. You can work with public cloud services that use the resources of your private cloud, and vice versa. For example, in Azure, you can run applications in the Azure Web Application Service, which connects to the local database using Azure hybrid connections. This opens up many opportunities. You choose the location for your applications and data, while retaining the benefits of intelligent cloud services.
 
 
Azure provides solutions for all types of cloud computing deployments. This allows companies to flexibly use Azure anywhere in any way and determine the degree of control over their applications and data.
 
 

Types of cloud computing

 
Within the framework of cloud computing, you can separate services and resources by type. There are many definitions of different types of cloud computing. These types differ in the ratio of the degree of control and responsibilities, as well as the amount of time and effort you spend on creating business benefits for your company or customers. Figures 1-1 and 1-2 show how we define the types of cloud computing for Azure.
 
 
 
Figure 1. Types of cloud computing
 
 
 
Figure 2. Examples of cloud solutions
 
 

Infrastructure as a service

 
Using the infrastructure as a service model (IaaS), you are responsible for everything except equipment. In turn, Azure is responsible for the equipment: SSDs, network cables, routers, power supplies, backup generators, cooling systems, etc. This category includes the following Azure services: virtual machines, virtual networks and containers.
 
 
You are responsible for everything else: your application, operating system (OS) fixes, setting up logical networks and even updating anti-virus programs on machines. This means that you retain full control over these components. However, this also means that you need to spend a lot of time and effort supporting services and resources, so you have less time to create business benefits for the main software products.
 
 

The platform as a service

 
Using the "platform as a service" (PaaS) model, you are responsible for your application and its configuration, and Azure for the operating system and hardware. As you can see in Figure 1-? PaaS is the level of abstraction above IaaS. Compared to IaaS, you have much less responsibilities, but less direct control over your equipment. The PaaS category includes Azure App Service, SQL Azure Database, Redis Cache for Azure and Azure Batch.
 
 
Thanks to PaaS you can not only place your application, but also use additional built-in features: push notifications for mobile devices (using the Azure mobile application service) and automatic database customization (using the SQL Azure database).
 
 
You deploy and configure your application, and also choose a basic server configuration, for example, scaling the price level or the number of instances on which the application runs. Your application runs on the server, but you are not responsible for the operation of this server and do not control it. This means that you can allocate much more time to create business benefits for your application and less - to maintain the server.
 
 
Try to create an application based on Node.js from the MongoDB database on the Azure platform using step-by-step instructions on page .
 

Function as a service

 
Using the "function as a service" model, you are responsible only for your application and business logic. You do not have to worry about scaling, operating system and hardware. FaaS is sometimes referred to as serverless computing. FaaS includes Azure, Azure Logic Apps and the Azure events grid.
 
 
In FaaS, you only need to build business logic or create an application and run it. Scaling is automaticOmatically. One of the significant advantages of FaaS is that you pay for the resources used only when the function is performed, and not for the service that is always active and waiting for use.
 
 
However, FaaS not only allows you to place an application, but also connects your logic with triggers and sources. External sources, such as the Azure or WebHooks storage service queues, can initiate Azure or Logic Apps functions and provide them with data for processing. You do not have to create an activating logic or configure an infrastructure to connect external data stores or services. This means that you can focus on your logic and the functions used by clients.
 
 

Software as a service

 
Using the "software as a service" model (SaaS), you only configure the software. SaaS provides the highest level of abstraction among the types of cloud computing. The services of the SaaS category include Azure Cognitive Services and Azure oT Suite. Office 365 is another example of a set of SaaS Azure solutions that contains robust business applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and many others. And they are all accessible without the need for installation and maintenance.
 
 
In the SaaS model, the software is ready for use right after you configure it according to your preferences. You do not have to create software, but also think about deploying, scaling, operating systems and hardware.
 
 
 
You can download the full version of the book and study it at the link below.
 
 
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