Application Hosting Options in Microsoft Azure: Curriculum Overview

This curriculum provides a structured path to understanding the diverse compute and hosting options available within Microsoft Azure. It focuses on the spectrum between Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), helping learners determine the best hosting model based on control, management overhead, and scalability requirements.

Prerequisites

Before starting this module, learners should have a foundational understanding of the following concepts from Unit 1: Cloud Concepts:

Cloud Computing Basics: Familiarity with the definition of cloud services and consumption-based pricing models.
Shared Responsibility Model: Understanding how responsibility for security and maintenance shifts between the customer and Microsoft depending on the service type.
Service Categories: A working knowledge of the differences between IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service).

Module Breakdown

Level	Module Title	Primary Focus	Service Examples
100	Virtual Machines (IaaS)	Maximum control, lift-and-shift, OS management.	Azure VMs, Scale Sets
200	Azure App Service (PaaS)	Managed web hosting, developer productivity, Spring Cloud.	Web Apps, API Apps
300	Container Solutions	Portability, isolation, and orchestration.	ACI, AKS
400	Selection & Architecture	Decision matrices and cost/responsibility trade-offs.	Solution Design

Learning Objectives per Module

Module 1: Virtual Machines (VMs)

Define the Hypervisor Model: Describe the relationship between the physical host and guest virtual machines.
Identify Infrastructure Requirements: List required resources for a VM, including Management Groups, Subscriptions, Resource Groups, and Virtual Networking.
Assess Responsibility: Explain why VMs represent the highest level of user responsibility for security, patching, and configuration.

Module 2: Azure App Service

Describe PaaS Benefits: Explain how Azure App Service offloads infrastructure management (OS patching, hardware maintenance) to Microsoft.
Explore Specialized Hosting: Describe Azure Spring Cloud as a specialized service for Java developers to run Spring Boot applications without managing infrastructure.
Configuration Constraints: Understand the limitations regarding DNS name labels and image persistence once an instance is created.

Module 3: Container Instances & Kubernetes

Compare ACI and AKS: Identify when to use Azure Container Instances (ACI) for simple, fast tasks versus Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for complex, scalable workloads.
Understand Container Portability: Describe how containers package applications with their dependencies to run consistently across environments.

Visual Anchors

Abstraction Levels

This TikZ diagram illustrates the "Abstraction Gap." As you move from VMs to App Services, the platform manages more of the underlying stack.

\begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1.5cm, every node/.style={rectangle, draw, minimum width=4cm, minimum height=0.8cm, align=center}] \node (os) [fill=blue!10] {Operating System}; \node (runtime) [above of=os, fill=blue!20] {Runtime / Middleware}; \node (app) [above of=runtime, fill=blue!30] {Application Code};

code

\draw [thick, <->] (-2.5, -0.5) -- (-2.5, 3.5) node[midway, rotate=90, above] {User Responsibility};
\draw [thick, <->] (2.5, -0.5) -- (2.5, 3.5) node[midway, rotate=270, above] {Cloud Management};

\draw[dashed, red, thick] (-3, 0.4) -- (3, 0.4) node[right] {\small PaaS Boundary};
\draw[dashed, orange, thick] (-3, -0.6) -- (3, -0.6) node[right] {\small IaaS Boundary};

\end{tikzpicture}

Hosting Decision Tree

Use this logic to determine which hosting option fits a specific scenario:

Loading Diagram...

Success Metrics

To demonstrate mastery of this curriculum, learners must be able to:

Scenario Matching: Correctly identify the hosting option for a given business requirement (e.g., "We need to run a legacy app that requires a specific version of Windows" $\rightarrow$ VM).
Responsibility Analysis: Differentiate which tasks (e.g., OS updates vs. App scaling) are managed by the user in an App Service environment.
Cost Comparison: Explain why a VM incurs costs even when idle, whereas some PaaS options offer more granular consumption models.

Real-World Application

Understanding these hosting options is critical for cloud architects and developers:

Lift and Shift: Companies moving existing data centers to the cloud often start with Virtual Machines to minimize changes to the application code.
Rapid Development: Startups use Azure App Service to deploy web applications quickly, allowing them to focus on feature development rather than server maintenance.
Microservices: Organizations building modern, decoupled applications use AKS to manage thousands of small containerized services that need to scale independently.

[!IMPORTANT] Remember the "Exam Tip": A Virtual Machine always requires a management group, a subscription, and a resource group. These are the mandatory administrative containers for any VM deployment.