Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure
Developer(s) Microsoft
Initial release 1 February 2010 (2010-02-01)
Operating system Microsoft Windows, Linux
License Closed source for platform, Open source for client SDKs
Website azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft Azure /ˈæʒər/ is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure, created by Microsoft, for building, deploying and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed and Microsoft partner hosted datacenters. It provides both PaaS and IaaS services and supports many different programming languages, tools and frameworks, including both Microsoft-specific and third-party software and systems. Azure was announced in October 2008 and released on 1 February 2010 as Windows Azure, before being renamed to Microsoft Azure on 25 March 2014.[1] In the most recent Gartner “Magic Quadrant” rating of cloud IaaS providers, Azure was one of only two vendors (along with Amazon Web Services) to place in the “Leaders” category.[2]

Services

Compute

App services

App Services are platform as a service (PaaS) environment letting developers easily publish and manage web sites.

Websites

High density hosting of websites developers to build sites using ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js, or Python and can be deployed using FTP, Git, Mercurial or Team Foundation Server. This feature was announced in preview form in June 2012 at the Meet Microsoft Azure event.[3] Customers can create websites in PHP, ASP.NET, Node.js, or Python, or select from several open source applications from a gallery to deploy. This comprises one aspect of the platform as a service (PaaS) offerings for the Microsoft Azure Platform. It was renamed to Web Apps in April 2015.[4]

WebJobs

These applications can be deployed to a Web App to implement background processing. That can be invoked on a schedule, on demand or can run continuously. The Blob, Table and Queue services can be used to communicate between Web Apps and Web Jobs and to provide state.

Biztalk Services

Cloud services

Azure network and computes deployment architecture

Cloud Services is a platform as a service (PaaS) environment and can be used to create scalable applications and services. It supports multi-tier architectures and automated deployments. Previously named "Hosted Services", the Cloud Services for Microsoft Azure comprise one aspect of the PaaS offerings from the Microsoft Azure Platform. The Cloud Services are containers of hosted applications. These applications can be Internet-facing public web applications (such as web sites and e-commerce solutions) named "Web Roles", or they can be private processing engines for other work, such as processing orders or analyzing data named "Worker Roles".

Developers can write code for Cloud Services in a variety of different programming languages. There are specific software development kits (SDKs) provided by Microsoft for Python, Java, Node.js and .NET.[5] Other languages may have support through Open Source projects. Microsoft published the source code for their client libraries on GitHub.[6]

Virtual machines

Windows Azure virtual machines constitute the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offering from Microsoft for their public cloud. Virtual machines enable developers to migrate applications and infrastructure without changing existing code and can run both Windows Server and Linux virtual machines. It was announced in preview form at the Meet Windows Azure event in June 2012.[3] Customers can create virtual machines, of which they have complete control, to run in Microsoft's data centers. The General Availability version of Virtual Machine was released in May 2013. As of December 2015, Azure supported Windows Server 2008 and 2012 operating systems, as well as Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, openSUSE, SLES, and CoreOS.

Big Compute

Batch

Helps run large parallel and high performance computing workloads in the Cloud. in the cloud means program runs on the resources of Microsoft and result comes to the user.

HPC Pack

The high performance computing pack lets developers implement parallel processing.

Scheduler

Scheduler automatically runs previously declared recurring and one-off tasks.[7]

Remote App

Delivers Windows apps from Azure to run on a variety of devices – Windows, Mac OS X, iOS or Android. Remote applications are run on Windows Server in the Azure cloud, where they’re easier to scale and update. Application users install Remote Desktop clients on their Internet-connected laptop, tablet or phone, and can access applications as if they were running locally.[8]

Storage Services

Storage Services provides REST and SDK APIs for storing and accessing data on the cloud.

Table Service

This service lets programs store structured text in partitioned collections of entities that are accessed by partition key and primary key.

Blob Service

This service lets programs store unstructured text and binary data as blobs that can be accessed by a path.

Queue Service

This service lets programs communicate asynchronously by message using queues.

File Service

This service lets programs store and access data on the cloud using the SMB protocol.

Data management

SQL Database

SQL Database, formerly known as SQL Azure Database, works to create, scale and extend applications into the cloud using Microsoft SQL Server technology. It also integrates with Active Directory and Microsoft System Center and Hadoop.[9]

Azure Search

The Search service provides text search and a subset of [OData]'s structured filters using REST or SDK APIs.

Document DB

DocumentDB is a NoSQL database service that implements a subset of the [SQL] SELECT statement on [JSON] documents.

Redis Cache

A managed implementation of Redis

StorSimple

The StorSimple service manages storage tasks between on-premises devices and cloud storage.

Business Analytics

HDInsight

HDInsight[10] is Microsoft's cloud based Hadoop distribution[11]

Azure Machine Learning

Cloud-based predictive analytics and publishing of APIs on the cloud.[12]

Stream Analytics

The Stream Analytics service provides low latency, highly available, scalable complex event processing over streaming data in the cloud.[13]

Data Catalogue

The Data Catalog service is a system of registration and system of discovery for enterprise data sources.[14]

Data Factory

The Data Factory allows developers to build data-driven workflows between their local, cloud-based and internet services with complex data processing logic and little programming.[15]

Messaging

Microsoft Azure Service Bus

Azure service bus allows applications running on azure premise to communicate each other. This helps to build scalable and reliable applications in a service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Media services

A PaaS offering that can be used for encoding, content protection, streaming, and/or analytics.

CDN

A global content delivery network for audio, video, applications, images, and other static files. Can be used to cache static assets of websites geographically closer to users to increase performance. The network can be managed by a REST based HTTP API.

Networking

Virtual Network

A hosted Virtual private network

DNS

Azure DNS is a DNS domain hosting service. It provides domain name resolution services using the cloud infrastructure of Microsoft Azure. The Azure DNS services are integrated with other Azure services in terms of APIs, billing, credentials. The Azure DNS service is built up on the highly scalable cloud infrastructure provided by Microsoft Azure. The deployment is Anycast based and the service has a high global footprint to provide faster network resolution. Azure DNS is currently open for public preview.[16]

Express Route

This offering lets you create private connections between Azure datacenters and infrastructure that’s on your premises or in a colocation environment. ExpressRoute connections don't go over the public Internet (sometimes called "dark fiber") and offer more reliability, faster speeds (it's like a leased line), lower latencies (one hop to Azure), and may offer higher security than typical Internet connections. In some cases, using ExpressRoute connections to transfer data between on-premises systems and Azure can also yield significant cost benefits.

Management

Azure Automation

Microsoft Azure Automation provides a way for users to automate the manual, long-running, error-prone, and frequently repeated tasks that are commonly performed in a cloud and enterprise environment. It saves time and increases the reliability of regular administrative tasks and even schedules them to be automatically performed at regular intervals. You can automate processes using runbooks or automate configuration management using Desired State Configuration.Microsoft SMA (software)

Design

Microsoft Azure uses a specialized operating system, called Microsoft Azure, to run its "fabric layer": a cluster hosted at Microsoft's data centers that manages computing and storage resources of the computers and provisions the resources (or a subset of them) to applications running on top of Microsoft Azure. Microsoft Azure has been described as a "cloud layer" on top of a number of Windows Server systems, which use Windows Server 2008 and a customized version of Hyper-V, known as the Microsoft Azure Hypervisor to provide virtualization of services.

Scaling and reliability are controlled by the Microsoft Azure Fabric Controller so the services and environment do not crash if one of the servers crashes within the Microsoft data center and provides the management of the user's web application like memory resources and load balancing.

Azure provides an API built on REST, HTTP, and XML that allows a developer to interact with the services provided by Microsoft Azure. Microsoft also provides a client-side managed class library which encapsulates the functions of interacting with the services. It also integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio, Git, and Eclipse.

In addition to interacting with services via API, users can manage Azure services using the web-based Azure Portal, which reached General Availability in December 2015.[17] The portal allows users to browse active resources, modify settings, launch new resources, and view basic monitoring data from active virtual machines and services.

History

Ray Ozzie announcing Windows Azure at PDC 2008, October 27

October 2008 (PDC LA)

March 2009

November 2009

February 2010

June 2010

October 2010 (PDC)

December 2011

June 2012

Former Windows Azure logo, 2012-2014

April 2014

July 2014

November 2014

September 2015

Data center regions

Some data center regions have servers grouped inside containers, each containing 1800–2500 servers.[22][23] As of 2014, the servers running in China (North) and China (East) are available for customers signed up through 21Vianet only, the local Microsoft Azure operator.[24] Microsoft Azure officially launched its Oceania location on 27 October 2014,[25] the Australia Regions is currently limited to customers with billing addresses in Australia and New Zealand.[26] Pricing, terms and conditions may differ between regions.

The locations of the data centers[27][28] are:

North America
  • Central US: Iowa
  • North-central US: Chicago, IL
  • South-central US: San Antonio, TX
  • West US: California
  • East US: Boydton, VA[29]
  • East Canada: Toronto and Quebec City (2016)[30]
South America
  • Brazil: São Paulo State
Europe
Asia
  • China (North): Beijing
  • China (East): Shanghai
  • East Asia: Hong Kong
  • South East Asia: Singapore
  • South Asia: Mumbai, Pune
Japan
  • Japan East: Saitama
  • Japan West: Osaka
Oceania[31][32]
  • Sydney, New South Wales
  • Melbourne, Victoria

The CDN nodes are located in 24 countries.[33][33][34]

As of July 2010, Microsoft had completed 6,000 installations of Azure in Ireland.[35] Executives at Microsoft hoped that this figure would rise to 100,000 installations by 2011.[35]

Construction of the $500 million facility required one million man-hours of work with a peak workforce of around 2,100 workers.[36] The facility, which began operating on 1 July 2009, currently covers 303,000 square feet (2.815 hectares), with 5.4 megawatts of critical power available. Over time, the data center is expandable to a total of 22.2 megawatts of critical power to support future growth.

Privacy

Microsoft has stated that, per the USA Patriot Act, the US government can have access to the data even if the hosted company is not American and the data resides outside the USA.[37] However, Microsoft Azure is compliant with the E.U. Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC). To manage privacy and security related concerns, Microsoft has created a Microsoft Azure Trust Center,[38] and Microsoft Azure has several of its services compliant with several compliance programs including ISO 27001:2005 and HIPAA. A full and current listing can be found on the Microsoft Azure Trust Center Compliance page.[39] Of special note, Microsoft Azure has been granted JAB Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO) from the U.S. government in accordance with guidelines spelled out under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), a U.S. government program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud services used by the federal government.[40]

Significant outages

Documented Microsoft Azure outages and service disruptions.

Date Cause Notes
2012-02-29 Incorrect code for calculating leap day dates[41]
2012-07-26 Misconfigured network device[42][43]
2013-02-22 Expiry of an SSL certificate[44] Xbox Live, Xbox Music and Video also affected[45]
2013-10-30 Worldwide partial compute outage[46]
2014-11-18 Azure storage upgrade caused reduced capacity across several regions[47] Xbox Live, Windows Store, MSN, Search, Visual Studio Online among others were affected.[48]

As of December 4, 2015 Azure has been available for 99.9936% of the past year.[49]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Windows Azure General Availability". The Official Microsoft Blog. Microsoft. 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  2. ↑ "How to monitor Microsoft Azure VMs". Datadog. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  3. 1 2 "Meet Windows Azure event June 2012". Weblogs.asp.net. 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  4. ↑ "Web App Service - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft.
  5. ↑ "Windows Azure Documentation: Get started building cloud applications". Windowsazure.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  6. ↑ "Azure (Windows Azure) on GitHub". Github.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  7. ↑ "What is Scheduler - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure. Microsoft. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  8. ↑ "RemoteApp - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure. Microsoft. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  9. ↑ http://www.connx.com/products/azure.html Azure and CONNX
  10. ↑ "HDInsight". Microsoft.
  11. ↑ "HDInsight - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure HDInsight. Microsoft. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
  12. ↑ "Machine Learning - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure. Microsoft. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  13. ↑ "Stream Analytics - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure. Microsoft. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  14. ↑ "Data Catalog Search syntax reference - Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure. Microsoft. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  15. ↑ "Data Factory Developer Reference- Microsoft Azure". Microsoft Azure. Microsoft. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "DNS | Microsoft Azure". Azure.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  17. ↑ Welicki, Leon. "Announcing Azure Portal general availability". Microsoft. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "SQL Azure SU3 is Now Live and Available in 6 Datacenters Worldwide". SQL Azure Team Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  19. ↑ "Microsoft Azure Machine Learning combines power of comprehensive machine learning with benefits of cloud". blogs.microsoft.com. 2014-06-16.
  20. ↑ "Human Error Caused Microsoft Azure Outage". Cloudwards.net. 2014-12-20.
  21. ↑ "Microsoft demonstrates its Linux-based Azure Cloud Switch operating system". ZDNet.com. 2015-09-18.
  22. ↑ "Inside Microsoft Azure's data center, one of world's largest". Neowin. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  23. ↑ Miller, Rich (2010-03-23). "Video: Building Microsoft's ITPAC Container". Data Center Knowledge. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  24. ↑ "21Vianet Announces General Availability of Microsoft Azure Services in China". 21Vianet. 21Vianet. March 26, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Microsoft Azure Australia open for business". ZDNet. ZDNet. October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Locations". Microsoft. Microsoft. October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Microsoft Azure Data Center Locations World Wide | Joran Markx". Joranmarkx.wordpress.com. 2014-09-15. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  28. ↑ "Privacy". Microsoft Azure Trust Center. Windowsazure.com. 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  29. ↑ "Microsoft Datacenters - Microsoft".
  30. ↑ "Microsoft Canada | Microsoft Cloud Touches Down in Canada". reimagine.microsoft.ca. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  31. ↑ Bowers, Toby. "Microsoft Azure expands Downunder". Microsoft Australia Blog. Microsoft.
  32. ↑ "Microsoft Azure in Australia Goes Live Today". CloudWedge.com.
  33. 1 2 "UPDATED: 24 Nodes Available Globally for the Microsoft Azure CDN Including New Node in Doha, QT". MSDN Blogs. Microsoft. 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  34. ↑ "Two New Nodes for the Windows Azure CDN Enhance Service Across Asia". MSDN Blogs. Microsoft. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  35. 1 2 Sunday Business Post Archived 28 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ↑ "Microsoft’s new Dublin Data Centre to support demand for online services for business and consumers".
  37. ↑ Toor, Amar (2011-06-30). "Microsoft: European cloud data may not be immune to the Patriot Act". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  38. ↑ "Microsoft Azure Trust Center". Windowsazure.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  39. ↑ "Microsoft Azure Trust Center Compliance". Windowsazure.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  40. ↑ "FedRAMP Compliant Cloud Systems". cloud.cio.gov. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  41. ↑ "Summary of Windows Azure Service Disruption on Feb 29th, 2012". Blogs.msdn.com. 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  42. ↑ "Windows Azure outage hits Europe". Gigaom.com. 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  43. ↑ "Microsoft pins Azure outage on network miscue". Gigaom.com. 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  44. ↑ Microsoft’s Azure storage service goes down, locking out corporate customers from their data Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ↑ Bishop, Bryan. "Xbox Live and Windows Azure suffering from extended outages". Theverge.com. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  46. ↑ "Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud hit by worldwide management interuption [sic]". www.pcworld.com. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  47. ↑ Zander, Jason. "Update on Azure Storage Service Interruption". Microsoft. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  48. ↑ Foley, Mary J. "Microsoft says Storage service performance update brought Azure down". ZD.NET. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  49. ↑ "Service Status - CloudHarmony".

Further reading

External links

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