Azure
Beginner 13 min read Azure

The Azure Service Catalog

Find any Azure service by its family

Azure groups compute, storage, networking, databases and AI into families. Learn the map — VM, AKS, Functions, Blob, VNet, SQL DB, Entra ID — before learning individual services.

AzureVMAKSBlobVNetFunctionsservice catalog
Prerequisites: What is Cloud Computing?
Before we start

What you will learn

  • Group Azure services into core families
  • Map a web app to concrete Azure services
  • Navigate the Azure portal, CLI and docs efficiently
In 60 seconds

Azure organizes into compute, storage, database, networking, identity, integration and AI families. Each family has a flagship service you should learn first, then variants.

Introduction

What is this?

Microsoft Azure is a hyperscale cloud with services anchored in families: compute (Virtual Machines, Azure Kubernetes Service, Functions, App Service), storage (Blob, Files, Disk, Queue, Table), database (Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL/MySQL flexible), networking (VNet, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Azure DNS), identity (Microsoft Entra ID), integration (Service Bus, Event Grid), and AI/ML (Azure OpenAI, ML Studio). It runs inside Microsoft data centers, integrates deeply with Windows/Active Directory world, and is governed by Azure Policy and management groups.

Motivation

Why do you need it?

  • Azure's portfolio maps to the Windows/AD enterprise stack, so migration lengths shorten for those estates.
  • The portal, CLI and ARM/Bicep give several ways to express the same infrastructure.
  • Entra ID is the directory most corporate users already sign in to — identity becomes a managed story.
  • Knowing the families means new services become 'the X of the compute family' instead of four more things to memorize.
Think about it

Mental model

Imagine

A department store with floors for each department

Think of

The Azure service catalog

Need storage? Upstairs — Blob for objects, Files for shared drives, Disk for VM volumes. Each floor has specialist counters; you just need the floor.

Mechanics

How it works

  • Compute: VMs (IaaS with control), AKS (managed Kubernetes), App Service (managed web apps), Functions (serverless).
  • Storage: Blob (limits objects), Disk (VM disks), Files (SMB shares), Queue/Table (messaging/schemaless).
  • Database: Azure SQL (SQL Server managed), Cosmos DB (multi-model NoSQL), flexible MariaDB/MySQL/Postgres.
  • Networking: VNet (isolated network), Load Balancer (L4), Application Gateway (L7 + WAF), Azure DNS.
  • Identity & governance: Entra ID (identity), Azure RBAC (roles), Policy (guardrails), management groups (hierarchy).

Azure families and their flagship services.

Compute
Storage
Database
Networking
Identity & governance
Real world

In production

  • A typical enterprise web app: VNet with App Service (or AKS), Azure SQL DB, Blob for uploads, App Gateway in front, Entra ID for sign-in and Azure Policy for guardrails.
  • A serverless pipeline: Blob trigger → Function → Queue → worker Function → Cosmos DB.
  • A SaaS uses Azure DNS + Front Door for global entry and App Gateway WAF for edge security.
Guidelines

Best practices

  • Learn the flagship of each family before variants (VM, AKS, Blob, Azure SQL, VNet, Entra ID, Functions).
  • Prefer ARM/Bicep or Terraform over manual portal clicks for anything repeatable.
  • Use management groups + Azure Policy early; retrofitting governance is expensive.
  • Run `az` commands against a test subscription; the portal hides what the CLI shows clearly.
Watch out

Common mistakes

  • Reaching for VMs for everything when App Service or Functions would be cheaper and simpler.
  • Confusing Blob (object) with Disk (block) or Files (SMB).
  • Skipping RBAC design, then giving 'Contributor' to everything.
  • Ignoring region choice — egress and latency are region decisions.
Root cause analysis

Common issues

Error
Can't RDP/SSH into a VM
Root cause

NSG rule, public IP missing, or network security setting blocks it

Fix

Check the VM's NSG inbound rule, public IP association and boot diagnostics.

Error
Function times out
Root cause

Consumption-plan timeout or VNet-integrated function without egress

Fix

Check timeout config and VNet integration routing.

Error
Blob 'not found' but it exists
Root cause

SAS token scoped wrong or container access level

Fix

Rebuild the SAS with the right resource scope and expiry.

When things break

Debugging tips

  • Start at the family: storage timeouts? check the SAS/ACL and network rules first.
  • Azure Monitor metrics + activity log replace 'what changed' guesswork.
  • For integration failures, check Service Bus dead-letter and Event Grid delivery status.
  • Read the exact error code: AuthorizationFailure, QuotaExceeded and NotFound have different fixes.
Interviews

Interview checkpoint

Test yourself

Quick quiz

0/2
1

Which Azure service is the managed object storage service?

2

Azure VMs automatically live on the public internet with no VNet.

Go deeper

Official documentation

Azure — What is Microsoft Azure
docs
Azure — Compute docs hub
docs