PART 1: COMPUTE SERVICES

1.1 Azure Virtual Machines (VMs)

Overview

Azure VMs provide on-demand, scalable compute resources. You choose the OS (Windows/Linux), size, and configuration. You manage everything above the hypervisor; Azure manages the physical hardware.

VM Families

FamilyUse CaseExamples
B-seriesBurstable, low-cost dev/testB1s, B2s, B2ms
D-seriesGeneral purposeD2s_v5, D4s_v5
E-seriesMemory optimizedE2s_v5
F-seriesCompute optimizedF2s_v2
N-seriesGPU workloadsNC6s_v3

Storage Options

Availability

Key Concepts

Interview Q&A

Availability Set vs Zone: Zones provide higher SLA across datacenters.

Cost Optimization: Use Reserved, Spot, right-sizing.

1.2 Azure App Service

Overview

Fully managed PaaS for hosting web apps, APIs, and containers.

Types

TypePurpose
Web AppWeb applications
ContainersCustom containers
API AppREST APIs
Mobile AppMobile backend

Key Features

Interview Q&A

Scale Up vs Scale Out: Scale Up = bigger machine, Scale Out = more instances.

App Service vs AKS: Use App Service for simplicity, AKS for microservices.

1.3 Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Overview

Managed Kubernetes service.

Key Features

1.4 Azure Functions

Overview

Serverless compute platform.

Hosting Plans

Durable Functions

1.5 Azure Container Apps

Serverless containers with KEDA scaling and revisions.

1.6 Azure Container Instances (ACI)

Fast container execution without orchestration.

1.7 Azure Static Web Apps

Static frontend + serverless APIs with CI/CD.

1.8 Azure Spring Apps

Managed Spring Boot platform.