Microsoft Azure, or also known as Windows Azure, has been around us for a while. Not many people know this cloud computing service was first released on February 2010, and Microsoft decided to change its name into Microsoft Azure on 2014. What is Microsoft Azure (Windows Azure)? As part of Microsoft big family, Azure is created to build, test, deploy, as well as manage applications through global network of Microsoft data center. Find more features about Azure below.
What Is Microsoft Azure (Windows Azure)? Here Are Top 5 Features
Being a cloud computing service from Microsoft, Azure is supported by several features. Let’s mention Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service. In addition, Azure also supports immense programming languages, frameworks, and tools either for Microsoft or third-party software. The followings are features and services that you need to know.
1. Compute
The first feature and service provided by Microsoft Azure (Windows Azure) is to compute. This feature allows you to launch and manage Microsoft Windows virtual machine for general purpose. Azure also supports containers and batch processing, and not to mention remote application access.
Being a platform that quips Platform as a Service, Azure brings ease for the developers to publish as well as manage the websites. Furthermore, developers can also build websites using PHP, ASP.NET, or Python, which then can be launched using Mercurial, FTP, or Git through the platform.
At least, this feature had been launched in 2012. Do you know WebJobs? This is an application which can be deployed to Application service environment that allows background processing. In case you want to communicate with WebApps, simply use Table Service, The Blob, and or Queue services.
2. Data storage
What is Microsoft Azure (Windows Azure)? How about the date storage? One among versatile features and services provided by Windows Azure is data storage. This offers scalable cloud storage either for structured (Table Service) or unstructured data (Blob Service).
In addition, it is also suitable for big data projects, archival storage, and also persistent storage. Thanks to REST and SDK APIs that allows you store and access data on the cloud platform.
3. Data management
Azure does not only provide data storage but also data management. For instance, REST and SDK APIs help you to search text or subset data of structured filters. Among other management services, there are some convenient features that you can enjoy such as recovery, backup, automation, compliance, or scheduling. This is helpful for administrator to manage the deployment.
4. Competitors
When it comes to public cloud platform providers, there are several big names to mention such as Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services, aside from Azure itself. Even though the competition seems strict, it is actually not. The lack of standardization between cloud services make the major platforms provide the same service.
What is Microsoft Azure (Windows Azure)? This question has been clearly answered. Microsoft Azure is a public cloud platform that offers several services and features to the users.