Microsoft Azure is a cloud platform built by Microsoft for Enterprise businesses. Azure offers services for creating, deploying and handling apps and services through a network of Microsoft datacenters located worldwide. It provides both platform-as-a-service (PAAS) and Infrastructure-as a-Service (IAAS), and has compatibility with a host of programming languages, developer tools and frameworks, including both Microsoft and open source utilities.
The cloud platform uses Microsoft Azure as the operating system to run its fabric overlay— a cluster hosted on Microsoft data centers to handle computing and storage resources of the devices, and provides resources to the apps running on the platform. The Azure Fabric Controller manages the scalability and reliability to ensure that the system doesn’t crash even if one of the servers within the data center faces downtime. The App Fabric Controller also provisions for managing the user’s web application in terms of memory consumption and load balancing.
Microsoft Azure: open-source compatibility
Azure is compatible with a wide range of operating systems, programming languages, software frameworks, developer tools, databases and platforms. For instance, Azure enables one to run Linux containers with Docker; develop applications with JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, and more; and create backend for Apple OS and Android including Windows Phone.
How Azure helps to extend your existing IT
Azure doesn’t constrain you to pick between your datacenter and the cloud, but offers you the option to keep both by seamlessly integrating with your existing IT setup through a network of secure private connections backed with encrypted hybrid database and storage solutions. Which means you’re your assets stay right where you require them to be.
Azure Stack is another key module of Microsoft Azure, which enables you to bring the Azure model of app development and deployment to your datacenter. Its hybrid cloud offers the optimal mix of both worlds viz. greater number of IT options, lesser complexity and costs.
Azure’s pay-as-you-go billing model
Azure pay-as-you-go services enable to quickly ramp up or down the service levels to meet the demand, which means subscribers need to pay exactly per the usage. ‘Per-unit billing’ and a assurance to match competitor prices for mainstream infrastructure services including computing power, storage space and bandwidth ensure that you are always getting the most competent pricing for given performance.
Make informed decisions with Azure’s predictive analytics
Microsoft Azure packs a host of predictive analytics features such as Machine Learning, Cortana Analytics and Stream Analytics, which are at the forefront of redefining BI. Going with Azure services could be a smart move towards making informed decisions, improving customer service and unravel newer business opportunities underlying your organized, unorganized IoT data.
Amid the host of unique features extended by Azure as a cloud services platform, ‘data protection and privacy’ constitutes the core of Microsoft’s commitment towards safeguarding data privacy and security. As a factual basis to its claim, Microsoft was the first cloud service provider accepted by the EU data protection authorities for commitment to the EU privacy laws. The software giant is also the first major cloud provider to adopt the new international cloud privacy standard, ISO 27018.
Microsoft Azure Blog 