Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive cloud computing platform offering infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions across 70+ global regions. Azure enables organizations to build, deploy, and manage applications using Microsoft-managed data centers while providing pay-as-you-go pricing and automated scaling. A key mental model: Azure organizes resources hierarchically through management groups → subscriptions → resource groups → resources, with each level inheriting policies and access controls from above—understanding this hierarchy is essential for effective governance and cost management.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This topic spans 20 focused tables and 124 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.
Table 1: Core Compute Services
Compute is where your code actually runs, and Azure spreads it across a spectrum — from full-control virtual machines down to event-driven functions where you never touch a server. The right pick comes down to how much of the stack you want to own versus hand off: VMs and Scale Sets keep you close to the OS, App Service and Container Apps trade that control for a managed platform, and Functions or Container Instances let you spin up just the work and pay only while it runs.
| Service | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
az vm create --resource-group myRG --name myVM --image Ubuntu2204 | • On-demand Windows or Linux VMs with full OS control • supports multiple series (D, E, F) optimized for different workloads | |
az webapp create --resource-group myRG --plan myPlan --name myApp --runtime "NODE|18-lts" | • Fully managed PaaS for hosting web apps, REST APIs, and mobile backends • supports .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, PHP | |
func init myFunctionApp --worker-runtime pythonfunc new --name HttpTrigger --template "HTTP trigger" | • Event-driven serverless compute with automatic scaling • pay only for execution time • supports multiple triggers | |
az aks create --resource-group myRG --name myAKS --node-count 3 | • Managed Kubernetes for container orchestration • handles control plane, automated upgrades, and scaling | |
az containerapp create --name myapp --resource-group myRG --environment myenv --image myacr.io/myapp:v1 | • Serverless containers with built-in load balancing, auto-scaling, and managed Kubernetes • no cluster management required |