Azure

Microsoft Azure

Pronunciation: AZH-er

Updated October 3, 20262 min read

In short

Microsoft Azure is Microsoft's cloud computing platform, offering hundreds of on-demand services such as virtual machines, databases and AI models worldwide.

What is Microsoft Azure?

Azure launched in 2010 as Windows Azure and was renamed Microsoft Azure in 2014, reflecting that it runs Linux as well as Windows. It is one of the three largest public clouds, together with AWS and Google Cloud, and is especially strong with companies that already use Microsoft products such as Windows Server, SQL Server, Active Directory and Microsoft 365.

Its services cover every layer. Virtual Machines and virtual networks provide infrastructure; App Service, Azure Functions and Container Apps run code without managing servers; AKS runs Kubernetes; Azure SQL Database and Cosmos DB store data; Blob Storage holds files; and Azure OpenAI and AI Foundry provide access to large language models.

Resources are organized into subscriptions and resource groups and managed through the Azure portal, the az command line, or infrastructure-as-code tools such as Bicep and Terraform. Microsoft Entra ID, formerly Azure Active Directory, handles identity and sign-in for both Azure and Microsoft 365, which is a big reason enterprises pick Azure.

A common misconception is that Azure is only for .NET and Windows. Many of its virtual machines run Linux, and it supports Java, Python, Node.js, Go and containers just as well. Like every cloud, its costs depend on configuration, so budgets, alerts and tagging resources by project matter from the start.

Key takeaways

Azure is Microsoft's public cloud platform, launched in 2010.
It is one of the three largest clouds, with AWS and Google Cloud.
Services range from VMs and Kubernetes to databases, functions and AI models.
Entra ID links Azure with Microsoft 365 identity for enterprises.
It runs Linux and every major language, not only Windows and .NET.

Example

Deploying a web app with the Azure CLIbash

# Sign in and create a resource group
az login
az group create --name shop-rg --location westeurope

# Create and deploy a web app from the current folder (App Service)
az webapp up --name shop-demo --resource-group shop-rg --runtime "NODE:22-lts"

# See what is running in the group
az resource list --resource-group shop-rg --output table

Readers ask

What is the difference between Azure and AWS?

Both offer a similar range of cloud services. AWS is the largest and oldest provider with the broadest catalog; Azure integrates most closely with Microsoft tools, identity and enterprise agreements. The choice often follows a company's existing technology and contracts.

What is an Azure resource group?

A container that holds related resources, such as a web app, its database and storage, so they can be managed, secured, billed and deleted together.

Does Azure have a free tier?

Yes. New accounts get credit for the first month, and many services include an always-free monthly amount, such as a small number of function executions or a basic database tier.

Often compared

AWS vs AzureAWS is Amazon's cloud, the oldest and largest with the most services, while Azure is Microsoft's, strongest where companies already use Microsoft products.