azure introduction and account setup

Table of Contents

1. Definition of Microsoft Azure
2. Procedure to set up a Microsoft Azure account
3. Array of features included with a free Azure account
4. Services offered through Microsoft Azure
5. How to manage resources
6. How to determine the CLA version
7. Creation of VM using Azure CLA
8. Video Tutorial

WHAT IS MICROSOFT AZURE?

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying and managing application and service through the Microsoft managed data centres. It provides software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and supports many different programming languages, tools and frameworks, including both Microsoft – specific and third party software and system.

ACCOUNT SETUP

There are two options available where one can create a free Azure account or opt for the subscription account which includes regular payment.

FEATURES OF FREE AZURE ACCOUNT

12 month validity for access to popular free services

1. Linux Virtual Machines
2. Windows Virtual Machines
3. Managed Disks
4. Blob Storage
5. File Storage
6. SQL Database

200 USD credit amount upon creating the free account for the purpose of exploring any Azure service listed for a period of 30 days.

25 + services are always available free of cost

SERVICES OFFERED BY MICROSOFT AZURE

The portal of the Azure website is a portal that manages all the resources and services on the Azure platform. The left side tab has the list of all the resources that are offered. However, if the desired resource has not been listed, there also exists an option to search for a new resource. All the services that are offered by Microsoft Azure are categorized into broad categories on the basis of their nature of service. Some of the main categories along with their subtypes are listed below as follows –

1. General
   1. Management Groups – When there are multiple subscriptions, this tool is utilized to manage it. Usage of management groups aids in the process of managing access, policy, and compliance by grouping multiple subscriptions together.
   2. Subscriptions – Pay / Free
   3. Resource Groups – Logical grouping of all the resources.
   4. Reservations
   5. Marketplace – Enables one to reach out to third-party services out of the box.
   6. Help & Support
   7. Service Health
   8. Templates
   9. Tags
   10. Quick Start Centre
   11. Shared Dashboards
   12. Free Services
2. Compute
   1. Virtual Machines
   2. Availability Sets
3. Networking
   1. Virtual Network
   2. Load Balancer
   3. Public IP Addresses

1. Storage
2. Web
3. Mobile
4. Containers
5. Databases
6. Analytics
7. Block Chain
8. AI & Machine Learning
9. Internet of Things
10. Mixed Reality

HOW TO MANAGE RESOURCES

How can one manage their resources apart from using the Azure portal? Azure also provides another option such as Azure CLA and Azure PowerShell Scripting to manage the resources. On running the PowerShell script in the Azure Cloud Shell on a new tab and running commands such as Azure CLA command on the Azure Cloud Shell, the user will be authenticated after which the user must list their account.

To see what subscriptions are available in the particular command, the command is AZ account list. It will list out the subscriptions. If one desires to have Azure CLA in their local machines, there is a clearly listed process to procure the same on the Microsoft Azure website. There are instructions regarding the installation process of Azure on Windows, MAC or Linux operating systems.

HOW TO CHECK THE CLA VERSION

The first step is to open the PowerShell.

Azure CLA commands begin with AZ.

We can see from the image below that the CLA version is up to date on this system.

Once logging into Azure, it will redirect the user to the Azure portal and requires the validation of the user’s credentials. Once the security check has been duly satisfied, it will redirect the user to the Azure PowerShell.

If new to the Azure CLA command, there is an option to avail help and support that enables the user to check the list of commands to be used that is provided in the Azure CLA. AZ help should be used to list the various different commands that are provided in the Azure CLA. There is an also another option called the VM and in order to delve further into this particular option, AZ help along with VM should be used, which lists out the options to create a VM and to start a VM.

The options available for the creation of VM is done through the command as depicted in the picture below. It will list out the various options such as creating a default Windows server with a private IP address.

Video Tutorial