Technology choices for Azure solutions

 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/

Azure application architecture fundamentals

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/technology-choices/technology-choices-overview

Technology choices for Azure solutions

When you design an Azure solution, you must select the right technologies for your workload across compute, data, networking, and other areas. The following resources include comparison matrices, flowcharts, and decision trees to help you evaluate your options and find the best match for your requirements.

Choose a compute service

The term compute refers to the hosting model for the computing resources that your application runs on. The following articles can help you choose the right technologies.

Article	Summary
Choose an Azure compute service	Decide which compute service best suits your application.
Choose an Azure compute option for microservices	Learn about two compute options for microservices: service orchestrator and serverless architecture.
Choose between traditional web apps and single-page applications (SPAs)	Learn how to choose between traditional web apps and SPAs.

Choose a container option

You can use multiple methods to build and deploy containerized applications in Azure. The following articles can help you evaluate container services.

Article	Summary
Choose an Azure container service	Evaluate which Azure container service best suits your specific workload scenarios and requirements.
Compare Azure Container Apps with other Azure container options	Learn when to use Container Apps and how it compares to other container options, including Azure Container Instances, Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
Choose a Kubernetes at the edge compute option	Learn about trade-offs and considerations for various Kubernetes options for extending compute at the edge.

Choose a hybrid option

Many organizations need a hybrid approach for analytics, automation, and services because they host data both on-premises and in the cloud. The following articles can help you choose the best technologies for your scenario.

Article	Summary
Explore Azure hybrid options	Learn about Azure hybrid solutions, including alternatives to deploy and host hybrid services on-premises, at the edge, in Azure, and in other clouds.
Compare Azure Stack Hub to Azure	Learn the differences between Azure and Azure Stack Hub.
Compare Azure Local to Windows Server	Choose between Azure Local and Windows Server for your organization.
Choose drives for Azure Local and Windows Server clusters	Learn how to choose drives for Azure Local and Windows Server clusters to meet performance and capacity requirements.

Choose an identity service

Identity solutions help you protect your data and resources. The following articles can help you choose an Azure identity service.

Article	Summary
Compare Microsoft Entra ID and Domain Services identity solutions	Compare the identity services of Active Directory Domain Services, Microsoft Entra ID, and Microsoft Entra Domain Services.
Choose a hybrid identity authentication method	Choose an authentication method for a Microsoft Entra hybrid identity solution in a medium-sized to large organization.

Choose a storage service

Azure provides multiple storage services for different access patterns, performance tiers, and data types. The following articles can help you determine the best fit for your workload.

Article	Summary
Review your storage options	Review the storage options for Azure workloads.
Learn about Azure managed disk types	Learn about the disk types for Azure virtual machines (VMs), including Azure Ultra Disk Storage, Azure Premium SSD v2, Premium SSD, and Azure Standard SSD.
Choose a data transfer technology	Learn about Azure data transfer options like the Azure Import/Export service, Azure Data Box, Azure Data Factory, and command-line and graphical interface tools.

Choose a data store

Choose the right data store based on your data model, access patterns, scale, and consistency requirements. The following articles can help you choose a data solution.

Article	Summary
Evaluate data models	Learn how to evaluate Azure data store models based on workload patterns, scale, consistency, and governance.
Prepare to choose a data store	Learn how to choose the right Azure data store for your workloads by evaluating functional, performance, cost, and security requirements.
Choose a big data storage technology	Compare big data storage options in Azure. View key selection criteria and a capability matrix.
OLAP solutions	Learn about online analytical processing (OLAP) solutions for organizing large databases and supporting complex analysis without affecting transactional systems.
Learn about online transaction processing (OLTP) solutions	Learn about atomicity, consistency, and other features of OLTP, which manages transactional data and supports querying.
Learn about data lakes	Learn about data lake storage repositories, which can hold terabytes (TBs) or petabytes (PBs) of data in a native, raw format.
Choose a data pipeline orchestration technology	Choose an Azure data pipeline orchestration technology to automate pipeline orchestration, control flow, and move data.
Choose a search data store	Learn about the capabilities of search data stores in Azure and the key criteria for choosing one that best matches your needs.

Choose an analytics solution

Azure provides several services for analytics workloads, from data warehousing to real-time stream processing. The following articles can help you evaluate your options.

Article	Summary
Choose an analytical data store	Evaluate analytical data store options for big data in Azure.
Choose an analytical data store in Microsoft Fabric	Evaluate analytical data store options in Fabric based on data volumes and types, compute engine, ingestion, transformation, and query patterns.
Choose a data analytics and reporting technology	Evaluate big data analytics technology options for Azure.
Choose a batch processing technology	Compare technology choices for big data batch processing in Azure.
Choose a stream processing technology	Compare options for real-time message stream processing in Azure.

Choose an AI and machine learning service

Azure provides AI services, machine learning platforms, and model hosting options for many workloads. The following articles can help you select the right AI and machine learning technologies for your solution.

Article	Summary
Choose the right AI model for your workload	Learn strategies to help you select the best model for your AI workload, including key criteria and practical considerations for decision-making.
Choose an AI services technology	Learn about services that you can use in AI applications and data flows. Choose the right service for your use case.
Choose an Azure service for vector search	Learn how to decide which Azure service for vector search best suits your application.
Choose a natural language processing technology	Choose a natural language processing service for sentiment analysis, topic and language detection, key phrase extraction, and document categorization.
Compare Microsoft machine learning products and technologies	Compare options for building, deploying, and managing your machine learning models. Decide which Microsoft products to use for your solution.

Choose a networking service

Azure provides several networking services for traffic routing, load distribution, and virtual network connectivity. The following articles can help you evaluate your options.

Article	Summary
Compare load balancing options	Compare Azure load balancing services and select one to distribute traffic across multiple computing resources.
Compare virtual network connectivity options and spoke-to-spoke communication	Compare virtual network peering and VPN gateways for connecting Azure virtual networks. Learn implementation patterns for spoke-to-spoke communication in hub-and-spoke architectures.

Choose an integration and automation service

Azure provides several services for integrating systems and automating workflows, from code-first to designer-first approaches. The following article can help you evaluate your options.

Article	Summary
Compare Azure Functions, Azure Logic Apps, Power Automate, and WebJobs	Compare integration and automation services in Azure. Learn the differences between code-first and designer-first approaches for building workflows and orchestrations.

Choose a messaging service

Learn about the services that Azure provides to help you deliver events or messages throughout your solution.

Article	Summary
Compare messaging services	Learn about Azure Event Grid, Azure Event Hubs, and Azure Service Bus. Choose the best service for your scenario.
Learn about asynchronous messaging options	Learn about asynchronous messaging options in Azure, including the various types of messages and the entities that participate in a messaging infrastructure.

Choose an IoT option

Internet of Things (IoT) solutions use a combination of technologies to connect devices, events, and actions through cloud applications. The following articles describe IoT technology choices from Azure.

Article	Summary
Learn about Azure IoT services and technologies	Learn about Azure IoT services and technologies, including Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT Operations, Azure IoT Edge, and Azure IoT Central. Choose between cloud-based and edge-based solution types.
Compare IoT Hub and Event Hubs	Review a comparison between Azure IoT Hub and Event Hubs that highlights functional differences and use cases. The comparison includes supported protocols, device management, monitoring, and file uploads.

Map services from other cloud providers to Azure

If you're migrating from another cloud provider or designing a multicloud solution, these articles map Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud services to functionally similar Azure services.

Article	Summary
Azure for AWS professionals	Map AWS services to their Azure equivalents across category-specific articles that cover compute, storage, databases, networking, and more.
Azure for Google Cloud professionals	Look up Azure equivalents for Google Cloud services organized by technology category.