Cloud — AWS & Azure

Cloud computing delivers compute, storage, networking, and managed services over the internet. Key benefits: lower cost (pay as you go, no upfront hardware), scalability (scale up/down on demand), reduced latency (deploy closer to users globally), redundancy (distributed globally).

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AWS (Amazon Web Services)

A collection of cloud computing services that can work together or independently.

Access methods: Web Console, CLI, SDKs (Python/boto3, Node.js, .NET, etc.)

Core services

Service	Category	Purpose
EC2 (Elastic Cloud Compute)	Compute	Virtual machines
S3 (Simple Storage Service)	Storage	Object/file storage
RDS (Relational Database Service)	Database	Managed SQL databases
Route 53	DNS	Domain and routing management
Lambda	Serverless	Event-driven functions (no server management)
DynamoDB	Database	Managed NoSQL (key-value)
Elastic Beanstalk	PaaS	Deploy web apps without managing infrastructure
VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)	Networking	Isolated private network in AWS
CloudFront	CDN	Global content delivery
CloudWatch	Monitoring	Logs, metrics, alarms

EC2 setup steps

1. Choose an AMI (Amazon Machine Image) — OS + software
2. Select instance type — CPU, memory, network performance (small/medium/large families)
3. Configure instance — auto scaling, subnet, IAM role
4. Add storage (EBS volume)
5. Add tags
6. Configure security group (firewall rules)
7. Create or assign key pair for SSH access

Why deploy globally?

• Reduced latency — servers closer to users
• Increased redundancy — multiple availability zones survive outages

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Azure (Microsoft Cloud)

Microsoft’s cloud platform. Organised into service categories: Compute, Data Storage, Management, Integration, Identity, Networking.

Azure Compute

Option	Description
Virtual Machines	Linux/Windows VMs, scale sets, availability sets, managed disks
App Services	Managed web app hosting — framework choice, autoscale, deployment slots, health monitoring
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)	Managed Kubernetes cluster
Azure Container Instances	Run containers without managing servers
Azure Functions	Serverless — event-driven C# / Python / JS functions
Logic Apps	Low-code workflow automation
Event Grid	Event-based messaging between services
Service Fabric	Manages distributed microservices infrastructure

Azure Data Storage

Service	Type
Azure SQL	Managed SQL Server
PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDB	Managed open-source relational
Table Storage	Key-value NoSQL
Blob Storage	Object storage (files, images, backups)
Queues	Message queue
Redis Cache	In-memory key-value cache
Cosmos DB	Multi-model globally distributed NoSQL

Azure Functions

Build a pipeline of small C# functions triggered by events (HTTP, timer, queue message, blob change).

[FunctionName("ProcessOrder")]
public static async Task<IActionResult> Run(
    [HttpTrigger(AuthorizationLevel.Function, "post")] HttpRequest req,
    [Queue("orders")] IAsyncCollector<string> queue,
    ILogger log)
{
    string body = await new StreamReader(req.Body).ReadToEndAsync();
    await queue.AddAsync(body);
    return new OkObjectResult("Queued");
}

Develop in Visual Studio or CLI. Deploy and monitor via Azure Portal.

Azure Identity Management

Identity Provider — Azure Active Directory (Azure AD / Entra ID). Centralised identity for users, apps, and services.

Four pillars of identity:

1. Authentication — prove who you are
2. Authorization — what are you allowed to do
3. Administration — manage identities and policies
4. Auditing — track who did what

Role assignment: Assign roles via groups, not directly to users (easier to manage at scale).

JIT / JEA (Just-In-Time / Just-Enough-Access):

• No standing privileges — access is granted on demand and expires
• Reduces attack surface from compromised accounts
• Key principle: grant minimum access for minimum time

RBAC (Role-Based Access Control): Permissions assigned to roles, users assigned to roles.

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AWS vs Azure quick comparison

Feature	AWS	Azure
Virtual machines	EC2	Virtual Machines
Serverless functions	Lambda	Azure Functions
Object storage	S3	Blob Storage
Managed Kubernetes	EKS	AKS
Managed SQL	RDS	Azure SQL
NoSQL	DynamoDB	Cosmos DB
CDN	CloudFront	Azure CDN
DNS	Route 53	Azure DNS
Identity	IAM	Azure AD / Entra ID
Monitoring	CloudWatch	Azure Monitor

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See also

• Kubernetes / Docker — to be ingested (see sync list)
• Databases-SQL — RDS / Azure SQL
• Databases-NoSQL — DynamoDB / Cosmos DB
• Authentication-Security — IAM / Azure AD