Domain 2 of 3 · Chapter 2 of 4

Compute & Networking

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Included in this chapter:

  • Choosing a compute type: VMs, containers, and functions
  • VM availability and scale: sets, zones, scale sets, and Virtual Desktop
  • What a virtual machine requires, and where apps are hosted
  • Virtual networking: VNets, subnets, peering, DNS, VPN Gateway, and ExpressRoute
  • Public vs private endpoints, and how exam questions are framed

Azure compute options compared

AspectVirtual MachinesContainersAzure Functions
AbstractionIaaS: full OSOS-level virtualizationServerless: code only
You manageOS, runtime, app, scalingContainer image and orchestrationJust the function code
ScalingManual or via Scale SetsOrchestrated (AKS) or automatic (Container Apps)Automatic, event-driven
BillingWhile VM is runningPer running container/nodePer execution (consumption)
Best use caseLift-and-shift, OS controlPortable, microservicesShort event-driven tasks

Decision tree

Need full OS-level control? Yes Azure Virtual Machines No Short, event-driven code, pay per run? Yes Azure Functions No Orchestrate many containers? Yes Azure Kubernetes Service No Managed web app, no server management? Yes Azure App Service No Azure Container Instances Control decreases and managed scaling increases as you move VMs → containers → functions.
Cheat sheet

Cheat sheet

  • VMs, containers, and functions are the three compute types
  • Azure Virtual Machines give full OS control (IaaS)
  • Containers share the host kernel and are lightweight
  • ACI runs a single container serverlessly
  • AKS orchestrates many containers (managed Kubernetes)
  • Azure Container Apps is serverless containers with autoscale
  • Azure Functions is serverless, event-driven, pay-per-execution
  • Availability sets use fault and update domains
  • Availability zones survive a whole-datacenter outage
  • Availability set vs zone differ by blast radius
  • Scale Sets = identical, load-balanced, autoscaling VMs
  • Azure Virtual Desktop delivers cloud VDI
  • A VM needs disks, a NIC, a VNet/subnet, and an NSG
  • Azure App Service is PaaS for web apps and APIs
  • Apps can run on VMs, containers, or App Service
  • A VNet is your private isolated network in Azure
  • Subnets segment a VNet for organization and security
  • VNet peering connects VNets over the Microsoft backbone
  • Azure DNS hosts and resolves domain names
  • VPN Gateway encrypts traffic over the public internet
  • ExpressRoute is a private link that bypasses the internet
  • VPN Gateway vs ExpressRoute: internet vs private
  • Public endpoint is internet-reachable; private endpoint is not
  • Private endpoint keeps PaaS traffic on the Microsoft backbone
  • Azure manages the AKS control plane (free tier, or paid Standard for an SLA)
  • VM size families match workload shape
  • Availability sets give 99.95%, zones give 99.99%
  • Apps in one App Service plan share the same VM instances
  • Deployment slots enable zero-downtime swaps at no extra cost
  • NSGs filter traffic at the subnet or NIC level
  • Azure Firewall is a managed, stateful firewall with FQDN and threat-intel filtering
  • Azure DDoS Protection guards layers 3 and 4
  • VPN Gateway offers site-to-site and point-to-site connections over IPsec/IKE
  • A site-to-site VPN can back up ExpressRoute

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References

  1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/overview
  2. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-overview
  3. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/what-is-aks
  4. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-apps/overview
  5. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/functions-overview
  6. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/availability-set-overview
  7. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/reliability/availability-zones-overview
  8. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/overview
  9. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/overview
  10. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/overview
  11. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-networks-overview
  12. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-network-peering-overview
  13. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/dns/dns-overview
  14. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/vpn-gateway/vpn-gateway-about-vpngateways
  15. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/expressroute/expressroute-introduction
  16. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/private-link/private-endpoint-overview
  17. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/private-link/private-link-overview