AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions Exam

Evaluate Azure Compute Offerings

When you need to design compute solutions on Azure, it's essential to evaluate Azure compute service options based on your workload requirements. This involves comparing various offerings and understanding which services align with your performance, scalability, and cost objectives.

Azure Virtual Machines

Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) offer flexibility with different VM families and sizes. These VMs can handle varying workloads ranging from general-purpose to specialized high-performance tasks. Key VM categories include:

• General Purpose: Suitable for balanced CPU-to-memory ratio, like the Dv2-Dsv2 series.
• Compute Optimized: Focus on high CPU-to-memory ratio for intensive applications, such as the FSv2 series.
• GPU: Ideal for tasks that require enhanced graphic processing, including NC, NCv2, NCv3 series.

VM Scale Sets

VM Scale Sets allow automatic scaling of VMs based on your application demands. They ensure high availability and increase efficiency by distributing workloads across multiple VMs. This feature is valuable for applications requiring rapid scaling during peak times.

Azure Container Instances

Azure Container Instances (ACI) are perfect for quickly deploying containers without managing VMs or orchestrators. ACI provides a lightweight solution for simple tasks and microservices, offering rapid provisioning and efficient scaling down.

Serverless Computing with Azure Functions

Azure Functions represents a serverless compute option where the infrastructure management is handled by Azure. This enables you to focus solely on the code. Benefits include:

• Cost Efficiency: Pay only for execution time, making it suitable for intermittent workloads.
• Scalability: Automatically scales to handle real-time fluctuations in traffic.

Compute Isolation

For workloads requiring high isolation due to compliance or regulatory needs, Azure offers isolated VM sizes. These VMs ensure your workloads run on dedicated hardware, away from other tenants' workloads.

Conclusion

In conclusion, evaluating Azure compute offerings involves mapping your workload requirements to available services while considering performance SLAs, scalability demands, and budget constraints. Whether you need flexible VMs, scalable container instances, or serverless options, Azure ensures that there's a service tailored for every need.