Microsoft Azure IaaS: A Guide to Cloud Infrastructure Services

What is IaaS?

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing model that encourages online functionality and services without the limitations of the physical presence of the hardware and management. The IaaS is a type of service, among other counterparts, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and serverless. It is a cost-effective approach that allows real-time insights and non-stop continuity of work proceedings.

IaaS is a pay-as-you-go model that can be rented and charged based on the number of users. Microsoft Azure provides a cloud computing service with infrastructure like virtual machines, storage and networking resources for software and application purchase, configuration, installation and management.

Join the Azure Cloud Architect Master’s Program to master the powerful Azure infrastructure. Learn the ins and outs of Azure and start your journey as a cloud architect!

Advantages of IaaS

Infrastructure as a Service offers numerous advantages to businesses. They include:

• Allows global expansion of the services provided by the company and hence eases meeting the demand
• Removes the hassle, avoidable expenditures and poor productivity by eliminating the need for an IT team to ensure proper maintenance, syrup and configuration of the infrastructure and other aspects (applicable in a scenario of appropriate agreement with the service provider)  
• Serves as an effective and reliable source for business continuity by providing backup in situations of disaster
• Offers updated and state-of-the-art security features 
• Paces up the tasks with quick and easy access to the infrastructure within hours or minutes 

Key Components of Microsoft Azure IaaS

Let us elaborate on the components of Microsoft Azure IaaS as discussed previously: 

Virtual Machines

Virtual Machines are the platform for deploying and managing Linux and Windows operating systems in the cloud. The product can be molded according to the organization's CPU, storage, and memory needs. There are different types of virtual machines, such as IaaS services in Azure, such as A, Bs, D, E, F, G, H, Ls, M, Mv2, and N series. 

Storage

Microsoft IaaS offers different types of storage, such as: 

• Fully managed file storage and sharing facility through the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. The storage also includes file leasing and snapshots.
• Blob storage stores unstructured data, including backups, documents, and media files. It is highly scalable and easily accessible to petabytes of data.
• Table storage is suitable for storing volumes of structured data such as large-scale datasets, user data for web applications, and IoT telemetry data.
• Disk storage offers virtual hard disks of different types, such as Ultra Disk, Standard SSD, and Premium SSD, as per the requirements. It is one of the high-performance block storage systems.
• Queue storage offers communication between the application's various components. Its common usage encompasses job scheduling, workload management, and message processing jobs.

Networking

The networking from Microsoft IaaS allows connectivity and resource management. There are multiple networking scenarios, such as: 

• Networking foundation for core connectivity among different Azure resources.
• Hybrid connectivity between the resources in Azure - VPN Gateway, Virtual WAN, ExpressRoute, and Peering Service.
• Load balancing and content delivery are the options for distributing, optimizing and managing applications and workloads.
• Networking security protects IaaS services in Azure and web applications from Firewall and DDoS attacks.

Security and Identity

Apart from networking security, Microsoft Azure IaaS services and features for security and identity for protection are as follows:

• Azure Key Vault: This protects sensitive information such as keys, passwords, and certificates.
• Entra Suite: For safe access across private and public networks.
• Azure Active Directory: To protect the user identities and unauthorized access to resources.
• Privileged Identity Management (PIM): This manages access to a few operations and resources in Azure.
• Azure Firewall: Offers protection by acting as a barrier between the internet and Azure virtual network.

Masters in Azure Cloud Architect

Build and Deploy Azure Applications Like a Pro!Enroll Now

Benefits of Microsoft Azure IaaS

With IaaS being depicted as a profitable and worthy solution for business, one can expect high-quality benefits when Microsoft provides the service. The advantages include:

Better Scalability and Flexibility 

These needs are non-negotiable for any business, especially enterprise, and the requirement includes quick service. Microsoft Azure IaaS services include easily scaling up or down as needed within a few minutes. Businesses can change the received services according to workloads on different days without compromising performance and quality of deliveries.

Efficient and Instant Disaster Recovery 

With no business willing to face loss due to uncontrollable situations, Microsoft Azure offers a happy escape through it. Developed by great minds, Azure allows minimal downtime and instant business continuity through functions like:

• Azure Site Recovery offers workload access to both primary and secondary locations to allow business continuity.
• The recovery plans are customizable to the business needs. The appropriate one can be chosen and evaluated without impacting services.
• Azure Backup allows flexible long-term storage. The backup function is automatically deployed with easy availability of scalability.

Advanced Analytics 

With the AI and ML integrated tools and Microsoft Azure IaaS services, users can rely on them to gain insights into data analytics. The Azure Synapse Analytics allows users to perform complex analysis on large data sets. The real-time dashboards offer updated insights for timely decision-making.

Best Use Cases for Microsoft Azure IaaS

The Microsoft Azure IaaS provides solutions in various situations for organizations. Few among the multiple use cases include:

To Host Complex Websites

Microsoft Azure IaaS is optimal for simple and complex websites with varying traffic, often witnessed at enterprise levels. It provides an efficient cloud platform that reduces cost by eliminating the need for complex and multi-location physical servers. It also encourages easy scalability as per the demands. Applications like Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise Resource Planning and others can be run on Azure.

Big Data Analysis 

Data has become the backbone of almost every business, making data collection, storage, organization, and management costly and time-consuming issues. Microsoft IaaS presents itself as the solution owing to its capacity to integrate with business intelligence tools and handle volumes of data. Easy communications and network security further make it a perfect option for the task.

Disaster Recovery 

It is the most important benefit for any organization. The availability of cloud service removes dependence on hardware and disaster-proof locations. Flexible storage offers ample storage to meet needs. The pay-as-you-go model allows effortless utilization of services as per the project's needs and according to business goals. Further, the global presence makes setup and management easier worldwide.

The cloud awaits! Join the fastest-growing industry and become an Azure Cloud Architect with our Azure Cloud Architect Master’s Program!

Keep Your Data Secure With IaaS

IaaS offers multiple measures to safeguard the data. However, there are additional best practices that contribute to better protection. Here are those:

• Use access control and secure the privileged access
• Go for Microsoft Antimalware and integrate it with Defender for Cloud for regular monitoring of the protection level 
• Keep the virtual machines, windows, operating system and security updated
• Choose the recommended security settings in the operating system 
• Encrypt the virtual machines and apply additional security by using a Key Encryption Key (KEK)
• Ensure the location of virtual machines and key vault is the same
• Restrict management ports like SSH and RDP

Navigating the Transition to Azure IaaS: A Smooth Journey

Transition to Azure IaaS isn’t a complex method. Rather, it is a stepwise approach that must be followed carefully to complete the process quickly. Here are the involved steps:

• Analyze each organization's IT assets, workloads and requirements. Accordingly, prioritize migration based on interdependencies, urgent usage, and other factors.
• Choose the right Azure Migration tools for your needs. The options include Azure Data Box, Azure Migrate and Azure Database Migration Service.
• Select between stage-based migration (Phased migration) or migration in one go (Big Bang migration) according to suitability.
• Before heading to migration, set up the subscription and deploy the essential Azure resources.
• Plan for each Azure migration step.
• Test the components of Azure to identify any issues or problems and solve them quickly.

Conclusion

Cloud computing is becoming a norm due to numerous beneficial features. Learning the concepts and basics of advanced solutions is an effective way to enhance your career. However, diving into the insights can be challenging due to insufficient resources for hands-on experience and guidance.

Offering the same through a well-developed program from experts, Simplilearn offers the Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate AZ-204 Training Course. The course is equipped with essential elements to prepare for the exam and assists in developing the skills necessary to land a job.

FAQs

1. Which Azure resource is an example of IaaS?

Azure Virtual Machine is an example of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

2. What are the three services of Azure?

Azure's three services include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

3. What are the three pillars of Azure?

The pillars of Azure are reliability, performance efficiency and security.

4. What is a platform as a service (PaaS)?

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud environment that offers developers a platform to function on. They get a scalable and flexible cloud platform that allows app development, deployment, running and management.

5. What is the key feature of IaaS?

The key features of IaaS are its dynamic scalability, flexibility, pay-as-you-go model, security, disaster recovery and quick deployment.