This course provides an introductory tour of Azure Storage Solutions such as its SQL offerings (SQL DB and third-party offerings of MySQL), managed NoSQL databases (DocumentDB and MongoDB), managed Redis Cache service, Azure Backup (backup-as-a-service), Site Recovery (for handling disaster recovery) and StorSimple (a hybrid cloud storage solution).
Learning Objectives
- Understand what SQL DB is and how to get started using it
- Learn the options offered by Azure for managed MySQL
- Understand what DocumentDB and MongoDB are and how to get started using them
- Learn what Redis Cache is and some cases of when you would use it
- Get an understanding of what Azure Search provides
- Learn how Azure Backup can solve common backup needs
- Understand what role Site Recovery can play in disaster recovery
- Learn how StorSimple can extend your on-premise storage capacity
Intended Audience
- This course is for developers or IT professionals looking for an introduction to Azure’s Storage Solutions
Prerequisites
- Some familiarity with the Azure platform is helpful, but not required
Outline
- Course Introduction
- Overview
- Azure SQL Database
- What is Azure SQL Database?
- Understanding the service tiers
- Create a SQL Database
- What is a Data Throughput Unit (DTU)?
- Scaling Azure SQL
- MySQL
- Options for Using MySQL in Azure
- Azure CosmosDB DocumentDB API
- What is DocumentDB?
- Azure CosmosDB MongoDB API
- Options for Using MongoDB in Azure
- How does DocumentDB compare to MongoDB?
- Azure Redis Cache
- What is Azure Redis Cache?
- Common scenarios for using Redis Cache
- Understanding the service tiers
- How does Redis work?
- Create and manage a Redis Cache
- Scaling Azure Redis Cache
- Azure Search
- What is Azure Search?
- Indexes and Search Features
- How do you use the Search Service?
- Create a Search Service and Index
- Azure Backup
- What is Azure Backup?
- Backup Scenarios
- Import/Export Service
- What is the Import/Export Service?
- Why would you use Import/Export?
- Site Recovery
- What is Site Recovery?
- Workload recovery scenarios
- StorSimple
- What is StorSimple?
- How does StorSimple work?
- Course Summary
- Conclusion and Wrap-Up
Welcome to the “Introduction to Azure Storage Solutions” course.
My name is Jason Haley and I'm a software developer and Microsoft Azure MVP. I've been using Azure since 2010 when there were only a handful of services.
Back then there were mainly two categories of products: compute and storage. These laid the foundation for all the products and services that are now in Azure. In this course, we are going to cover Storage Solutions which are built on top of those products.
Since I started using Azure, I've seen its number of products and features multiply exponentially.
Products are being added so fast that it is really hard for me to keep track of what is out there and if it is relevant for my needs.
In this course, we are going to focus on a few of the products in the Data and Storage & Backup categories.
We're not going to cover all of the products in these categories - just the ones I've highlighted here: SQL Database, DocumentDB, Redis Cache, Search, Backup, Import/Export, Site Recovery and StorSimple - and just in case you are using either MySQL or MongoDB we'll talk about running them in Azure as well.
Now, I've listed some prerequisites for this course, but basically it is designed for developers and IT professionals who have some experience with cloud technologies and an understanding of modern development practices.
By "modern development practices", I mean the products used like databases (either relational or NoSQL), web or mobile applications and practices that are around agility and compliance like DevOps and disaster recovery.
Also, some experience with the Azure portal is helpful, but is not necessary.
Since we have so many products to cover, we won't have time to do a deep dive.
Instead, I've structured the sections to provide information that I think will give you a good introductory level of understanding, then I finish up each section with a few references so you can dive in and learn more on your own.
As I created the content, I tried to address the following questions for each product: What is it?, How does it work? What are the main features? How does it scale? Why would I use it? And How is it managed?
Now if you're ready, let's get start with the first product.
Jason Haley is an independent consultant who focuses on Azure and Angular. He has over 20+ years’ experience architecting, designing, developing and delivering software solutions using mostly Microsoft technologies. Jason recently achieved his MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure certification in May 2017 (by passing all of the 70-532, 70-533 and 70-534 exams). He is also a Microsoft Azure MVP and leads the North Boston Azure User Group. He frequently speaks at community events on topics relating to Azure.