🔷

Introduction to Azure

Microsoft's cloud platform — dominant in the enterprise, and a valuable second cloud to know.

⏱10 min read📚DevOps Fundamentals

Microsoft Azure is the second-largest cloud platform and the dominant choice in large enterprises — especially those already using Microsoft products like Windows Server, Active Directory, and Office 365. Knowing both AWS and Azure makes you far more employable as a DevOps engineer.

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will:

Understand what Azure is and where it’s used
Map Azure concepts to their AWS equivalents
Understand the Azure hierarchy
Install and log in with the Azure CLI

Azure vs AWS — Same Ideas, Different Names

The cloud concepts you learned for AWS transfer directly. Only the names change:

Concept	AWS	Azure
Virtual server	EC2	Virtual Machine (VM)
Object storage	S3	Blob Storage
Identity & access	IAM	Microsoft Entra ID + RBAC
Networking	VPC	Virtual Network (VNet)
Managed database	RDS	Azure SQL Database
Serverless functions	Lambda	Azure Functions

💡 You already know the concepts

If you understood the AWS section, you already understand 80% of Azure. Focus on learning the naming and the console — the underlying ideas (compute, storage, identity, networking) are the same.

The Azure Hierarchy

Azure organises everything in a clear hierarchy:

text

Management Group        (optional, groups subscriptions)
└── Subscription        (billing + access boundary)
  └── Resource Group  (a folder for related resources)
      ├── Virtual Machine
      ├── Storage Account
      └── Virtual Network

This structure — especially the Resource Group — is one of Azure’s nicest features, and it’s the focus of the next lesson.

Install & Log In with the Azure CLI

bash

# Install on Ubuntu / WSL:
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

az login          # opens a browser to authenticate
az account show   # confirm the active subscription

bash — 80×24

student@devops:~$az account show --output table

Name                CloudName    SubscriptionId       State    IsDefault
------------------  -----------  -------------------  -------  ---------
Free Trial          AzureCloud   00000000-0000-...    Enabled  True

🧪 Hands-on

📝

Get Started with Azure

Create a free Azure account (it includes free credits and always-free services).
Explore the Azure Portal — find Virtual Machines, Storage accounts, and Resource groups.
Install the Azure CLI and run az login.
Run az account show to confirm your subscription.

🧠 Knowledge Check

Knowledge Check

What is the Azure equivalent of an AWS EC2 instance?

Blob StorageVirtual Machine (VM)Resource GroupAzure Functions

Knowledge Check

Which Azure concept is a billing and access boundary that contains resource groups?

RegionSubscriptionBlobTenant

💼 Interview Preparation

Interview Q&A

Why might a company choose Azure over AWS?

Summary

You now understand what Azure is, how its concepts map to AWS, the subscription → resource group → resource hierarchy, and how to log in with the CLI. Next, we organise resources with Resource Groups.

Up Next

Azure Resource Groups

You've mastered this lesson. Continue your journey to becoming a DevOps Engineer.

Start Next Lesson→