One of the best things about the cloud is how well you can shape it to your needs. Microsoft Azure offers Linux virtual machines (VMs) as well as Windows Server VMs; in fact, about half of Azure users are using Linux.

That means you’ve got your choice of operating systems to be the foundation of your cloud infrastructure. The numerous services available in Azure let you further tailor your environment to your specific cloud use cases. You can look for preconfigured virtual machine images in the marketplace or build your own with exactly what you need.

Containers and DevOps

For many businesses, using the cloud is about building an agile environment where they can not only scale rapidly, they can deploy rapidly as well. In Azure, you can use Docker or Kubernetes to create a containerized environment for running deployment packages.

Since agile deployment typically means building small, service-based components that can be upgraded and deployed individually, Azure provides the Azure Service Fabric for developing and managing microservices.

Of course, before you can deploy applications, you have to build them. Azure offers devops teams tools App Center, which provides Visual Studio support for writing applications for multiple platform. Then use Jenkins to manage the build process.

Analytics

Another primary driver to the cloud for many businesses is big data and analytics, as companies collect more data then they can effectively store or utilize on premises. Azure allows you to build a data warehouse or data lake, or just a big database, whatever suits your needs best. Once you’ve got the data stored, you’ve got a choice of tools for analytics, including Hadoop and real-time stream processing.

Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery is another of the main use cases that motivates businesses to investigate cloud. There are several ways you can use Azure for disaster recovery. Azure Site Recovery can be used to copy virtual machines to Azure. These VMs can then be used for disaster recovery. In addition, major backup vendors such as Veritas and Veeam can backup from premises to the cloud.

Building Your Customized Azure Infrastructure

To create your customized Azure infrastructure, start by understanding what you hope to achieve through leveraging the technology available in Azure. Evaluate how much the Azure solution will cost and assess whether your technology team has the capability to support it effectively.

Once you’ve selected your preferred technology in the cloud, do a trial before you commit your entire infrastructure to the new approach. Particularly if the environment you’re building in the cloud is using different technology than you’re using on premises, a trial will provide confidence that you’ve made good decisions as well as offer your team the chance to get familiar with the technology before the entire organization is dependent on it.

The number of technology choices available on Microsoft Azure can make it difficult to decide how to set up your environment. Prescient Solutions provides complete cloud services to businesses and organizations in the Chicago and Schaumburg area. As a Microsoft Partner, we have deep expertise in Azure and all Microsoft solutions. Contact us to start crafting your Microsoft Azure cloud.