Preface

Cloud computing is one of the cornerstones of today’s IT infrastructure. With platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, you’re able to build complex computer systems with ease and without any cumbersome management of hardware installation and supplies. Managing cloud platforms, though, is not the same as managing on-premises installations. It is a challenge, which this book intends to help you with.

In this book, you’ll learn about the topics and tasks required by Azure administrators in their day-to-day activities. You can also think about it as a good introduction to the skills required to obtain Azure certifications as the book provides detailed explanations of Azure services and features, knowledge of which is necessary to become a certified Azure specialist.

During the process of writing this book, Microsoft decided to rename Azure Active Directory to Microsoft Entra ID. However, this change doesn’t affect the value of the information contained within the book, so you’ll be able to leverage the concepts described in exactly the same way as you’d have been able to before the rebranding process.

Who this book is for

This book is intended for everyone wanting to understand topics related to managing and configuring infrastructure in Microsoft Azure. As it focuses more on the operational aspects of cloud infrastructure, the main audience is people with experience in infrastructure management (IT administrators, SysOps, and infrastructure support engineers), though it’ll be beneficial to everyone responsible for infrastructure provisioning in Microsoft Azure.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Azure Fundamentals, offers an introduction to basic Microsoft Azure concepts including core Azure services such as Microsoft Entra ID and Azure Resource Manager.

Chapter 2, Basics of Infrastructure as Code, discusses automated deployments of infrastructure in Azure using ARM templates, Azure Bicep, and Terraform.

Chapter 3, Understanding Azure Virtual Networks, introduces networking in Microsoft Azure, starting with general virtual network concepts, best practices, and configuration options.

Chapter 4, Exploring Azure Load Balancer, sees us implement load balancing in Microsoft Azure using Azure Load Balancer in connection with Azure Virtual Machines.

Chapter 5, Provisioning Azure Virtual Machines, discusses the fundamentals of virtual machines in Microsoft Azure, including concepts such as provisioning, automation, and storage.

Chapter 6, Configuring Virtual Machine Extensions, examines how to configure extensions for virtual machines in Azure to allow you to enhance the configuration and service provisioning process.

Chapter 7, Configuring Backups, shows you how to configure backups for virtual machines using Azure Backup.

Chapter 8, Configuring and Managing Disks, discusses working with managed disks in Microsoft Azure, including different disk types, performance options, and cost optimizations.

Chapter 9, Configuring Blob Storage, examines how to store files in Azure Storage using Blob Storage for future integrations and services.

Chapter 10, Azure Files and Azure File Sync, looks at working with file shares in Microsoft Azure as an alternative to file shares configured on-premises.

Chapter 11, Azure Storage Security and Additional Tooling, uncovers some advanced topics related to storage in Microsoft Azure including replication, security, and automation.

Chapter 12, Using Azure Policy, looks at how to set up automated governance of infrastructure in Microsoft Azure using both built-in and native policies.

Chapter 13, Azure Monitor and Alerts, introduces monitoring in Microsoft Azure with Azure Monitor, including configuring alerts.

Chapter 14, Log Analytics, examines how to aggregate logs in Microsoft Azure with Kusto queries run within a Log Analytics workspace.

Chapter 15, Exploring Network Watcher, shows how to validate and debug network flows in Microsoft Azure using Network Watcher and its capabilities.

To get the most out of this book

To get started with the book, make sure you have access to a Microsoft Azure subscription, and that you are the owner of that subscription. If you don’t have such a subscription, take a look at a free account for Microsoft Azure at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free.

Software/hardware covered in the book	Operating system requirements
Azure PowerShell	Windows, macOS, or Linux
Azure CLI	Windows, macOS, or Linux
cURL	Windows, macOS, or Linux
PuTTY	Windows, macOS, or Linux
AzCopy	Windows, macOS, or Linux

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself.

Code in Action

The Code in Action videos for this book can be viewed at https://packt.link/GTX9F.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “Look at one of the returned fields called primaryEndpoints:”

A block of code is set as follows:

  {
    "creationTime": "2023-07-29T20:44:48.299346+00:00",
    "keyName": "key1",
    "permissions": "FULL",
    "value": "K4gPP5UuDwl2/…+AStZ6ODSw=="
  },

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

az policy definition list --query "[].{Name:name, DisplayName:displayName}" -o table

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “To simplify things for now, we’ll use the basic configuration by clicking on the Create storage button.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch

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