How does Microsoft Azure work?

Microsoft Azure is a public and private cloud platform. It offers various services that developers and IT professionals use to build, deploy and manage applications.

How does the Microsoft Azure platform actually work?

Azure uses a technology called virtualization. Virtualization separates the physical layer between computer resources such as the CPU, Memory and operating system, using a virtual layer called a hypervisor! A hypervisor emulates all the functions of these computer resources to create a virtual machine. A hypervisor can run multiple virtual machines at the same time, and each virtual machine can run any operating system, whether it be Windows or Linux!

Read more… we compare on-premise and cloud servers so you can choose the best option for your business.

Over 40 Microsoft Datacenters Worldwide

Azure takes this virtualization technology and repeats it on a colossal scale across Microsoft’s data centers around the world. As of April 2019, Azure is available in over 140 countries, with over 40 high-security datacenters worldwide. Each data center has 1000’s of racks, filled with servers. Each server runs a hypervisor, which hosts several virtual machines. Network infrastructure such as switches, provide the connectivity layer to the physical and virtual machines.

A Closer Look at the Microsoft Tech

As shown in my diagram, one server in each rack is dedicated to running Microsoft’s bespoke software called a fabric controller. Each fabric controller is connected to another piece of software called the orchestrator. The orchestrator’s job is to manage everything that happens in Azure, which includes responding to users’ requests. Users can make requests via the orchestrator’s web API. The web API can be called in many ways, including the traditional user interface of the Azure portal, or by PowerShell.

When a user requests to create a virtual machine, the orchestrator packages everything in the request that is required. It then selects the most suited server rack and sends the package and request to the fabric controller. The fabric controller then creates the virtual machine, and then the user can connect to it.

Azure provides a secure and agile environment for developers and IT professionals to deploy and manage their applications and services.

Give us a call on 01625 443 110 to speak to an engineer like me about how Azure can work for you.

Still looking for more? Read my colleague’s post on what Sharepoint is and how it works.