Microsoft Azure for .NET Developers
What it is & where it is used
Microsoft Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform (launched as Windows Azure in 2010, renamed in 2014) with 200+ services across compute, data, integration, AI, security and DevOps, in 60+ regions worldwide (including Central India, South India, West India and others).
Cloud service models:
| Model | You manage | Azure manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, app, data | Hardware, virtualisation | Virtual Machines, VM Scale Sets |
| PaaS | App and data | OS, patching, runtime, scaling | App Service, Azure SQL, Functions, Container Apps |
| SaaS | Just use it | Everything | Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 |
| Serverless | Code/functions | Infrastructure, scaling to zero | Functions, Logic Apps, Container Apps |
Deployment models: public, private, hybrid (Azure Arc, Azure Stack), multi-cloud.
AZ-204 (Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure) is the developer certification that maps closely to this course; AZ-900 covers fundamentals; AZ-305 covers architecture.
Versions & history
Azure is continuously updated rather than versioned. Key milestones:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2008 | "Project Red Dog" announced at PDC |
| 2010 | Windows Azure GA (Cloud Services, Storage, SQL Azure) |
| 2012 | IaaS VMs, Websites (later App Service) |
| 2014 | Renamed Microsoft Azure; Azure Resource Manager (ARM) preview |
| 2016 | Azure Functions GA; ARM becomes the standard model |
| 2017 | Cosmos DB (from DocumentDB); AKS preview (GA 2018) |
| 2019 | Azure Arc |
| 2020 | Bicep project starts (v0.3 production-ready 2021) |
| 2021 | Azure Container Apps preview (GA 2022) |
| 2023 | Azure OpenAI Service GA; Microsoft Fabric GA; Entra ID rename |
| 2024–2025 | Azure AI Foundry, Flex Consumption plan for Functions, .NET Aspire integration, Azure Developer CLI updates |
Cloud Services (classic) were retired in August 2024; the classic deployment model and Azure AD Graph were retired too — always use ARM-based resources.
Lifecycle
Azure resource hierarchy: Microsoft Entra tenant → Management groups → Subscriptions (billing and access boundary) → Resource groups (lifecycle container — deploy, manage and delete together) → Resources.
Resource lifecycle: plan (region, SKU, naming, tags) → provision via ARM (portal, CLI, PowerShell, Bicep/Terraform) → configure (identity, networking, scaling) → deploy app → monitor (Azure Monitor, alerts) → scale/optimise → update/patch (PaaS: automatic) → decommission (delete resource group).
Request flow for a typical web app: user → Azure Front Door (global CDN, WAF) → App Service / Container Apps (behind private networking) → app reads secrets from Key Vault with a managed identity → Azure SQL / Cosmos DB through private endpoints → events to Service Bus → background processing by Functions → telemetry to Application Insights.
Azure Well-Architected Framework pillars: Reliability, Security, Cost Optimization, Operational Excellence, Performance Efficiency.
Tools used to develop
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
| Azure portal | Web UI |
Azure CLI (az) / Azure PowerShell (Az module) | Scripting |
Azure Developer CLI (azd) | Templates, provision + deploy (azd up) |
| Bicep / ARM templates / Terraform | Infrastructure as code |
| Visual Studio / VS Code Azure extensions | Publish, debug, Azure Functions Core Tools |
Azure SDK for .NET (Azure.* packages), Azure.Identity (DefaultAzureCredential) | Code access to services |
| Azurite | Local Storage emulator |
| Cosmos DB emulator, Service Bus emulator | Local development |
| Azure Storage Explorer | Browse blobs, queues, tables |
| Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics (KQL) | Observability |
| Azure Advisor, Cost Management, Azure Pricing Calculator | Optimisation and cost |
| Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy | Security posture and governance |
| .NET Aspire (Aspire) | Local orchestration + Azure deployment for .NET apps |