My first project on Azure: Unveiling Challenges and Learning
Introduction
In the ever-evolving landscape of cloud computing, Microsoft Azure stands as a prominent platform that offers many services, tools, and opportunities for individuals and businesses alike. As I embarked on my journey into the world of Azure, I found myself immersed in a realm of innovation, scalability, and boundless potential. In this blog post, I’ll share my experiences, insights, and lessons learned from my first Azure project and learning adventure.
Objective
Understanding Azure’s extensive range of services and features can be overwhelming, especially for beginners.
Ensuring data security, compliance, and access control in the cloud environment can be a major concern. Organizations need to understand Azure’s security offerings and implement them effectively.
Cloud costs can quickly spiral out of control if not managed properly. In my project, there are costing-related concerns. With a pay-as-you-go model, it’s essential to monitor and optimize resource usage to avoid unexpected bills. Monitoring and managing resources in Azure, ensuring uptime, performance optimization, and detecting issues in real time can be demanding. We will discuss the things I implemented to keep a check on the above concerns.
Approach
Start with the basics. Take advantage of Azure’s official documentation, online courses, and tutorials. Started with a simple project and gradually expanded my knowledge. Focus on learning one service at a time and build from there.
I prefer to perform some POC to learn any new service as this first AZURE project is already set up, So I did a POC on Azure Container Instance (ACI) to understand the basic architecture and flow of ACI.
Steps-by-Step Procedure To Understand Azure Project
● Getting Started: Navigating the Azure Portal: The Azure Portal serves as the gateway to a universe of cloud-based services. My journey began with creating an Azure account and familiarizing myself with the user interface. The Azure Portal’s intuitive design made it easy to navigate through the various services, resource groups, and dashboards. The comprehensive documentation and tutorials provided by Microsoft were instrumental in demystifying the initial setup process.
● Defining the Project: Clear Objectives and Goals: Prior to immersing myself in the technical intricacies, I dedicated time to precisely delineate the boundaries and objectives of my initial Azure project. Whether entailing the deployment of a Drupal service, configuration of an Azure Container Instance (ACI), or immersion into the realm of data analytics, the establishment of a well-defined project objective stands as a fundamental imperative. This phase of goal establishment facilitated the harmonization of my educational pursuits with concrete achievements, thereby warranting a purposive drive in my endeavors. As my project is already set up I tried to take an overview of each and every aspect and learn the basic flow of the project.
● Learning by Doing: Hands-On Experience: Theory can only take you so far, and the true essence of learning Azure lies in hands-on experience. Setting up my first Azure Container Instance (ACI) involved creating a resource group, configuring the DATABASE, connecting it to a version control system, and deploying my application. The sense of accomplishment that came from witnessing my app go live was unparalleled.
● Challenges and Solutions: A Stepping Stone to Growth: As with any learning journey, challenges are inevitable. I encountered issues related to configuration, permissions, and debugging. These roadblocks, though frustrating at times, which taught me the invaluable skill of troubleshooting. Azure’s robust documentation, online forums, and community support were my go-to resources for finding solutions and expanding my troubleshooting toolkit.
● Scaling and Cost Management: Prudent Planning: As my project gained traction, I delved into the concept of scalability and cost management. Azure’s autoscaling capabilities and resource optimization tools provide insight into ensuring that my application remained performant while staying within budget constraints. This aspect of the project underscored the importance of planning for growth and managing resources effectively.
● Continuous Learning: A Journey, Not a Destination: My first Azure project was not just a project; it was a gateway to continuous learning. The technology landscape evolves rapidly, and Azure is no exception. Regularly updating my knowledge through online courses, and webinars and exploring new Azure services became an integral part of my routine.
Debugging
Facing issues with Azure Container Instances (ACI), Azure DevOps pipelines, and Azure CDN can be frustrating, but each challenge can be resolved with proper troubleshooting and understanding. Let’s address each area separately:
● Azure Container Instances (ACI): Deployment Issues: If you’re encountering problems with deploying containers to ACI, ensure that your container image is properly configured and compatible with ACI’s limitations. Check if the image is available in the specified repository and tagged correctly.
● Networking and Connectivity: If your container instances are not accessible or not communicating as expected, review the networking configurations, including ports, virtual networks, and firewall rules. Ensure the ACI instance is properly connected to other Azure resources.
Azure DevOps Pipeline
● Pipeline Configuration: If your DevOps pipeline is failing, review your pipeline configuration, including build steps, tasks, and variables. Check for syntax errors, incorrect paths, or missing dependencies.
● Authentication and Access: Ensure that your pipeline has the necessary permissions to access Azure resources, repositories, and services. Validate your service connections, tokens, and access rights.
Azure CDN
● Configuration Issues: If your CDN is not delivering content as expected, double-check your CDN endpoint configuration, including origins, caching rules, and content delivery settings. Verify that the correct content is being cached and distributed.
● Custom Domain Setup: If you’re facing issues with custom domain setup, verify that your DNS records are correctly configured to point to the CDN endpoint. Ensure that your SSL certificates are properly configured and up-to-date.
Debugging Steps
● Logs and Monitoring: Utilize Azure’s monitoring and logging tools to gain insights into the issues. Check ACI logs, DevOps pipeline logs, and CDN logs to identify any errors or patterns.
● Documentation and Community: Refer to Azure’s official documentation for each service. Often, you’ll find troubleshooting guides and solutions for common issues. Additionally, check community forums and Stack Overflow for answers from experienced users.
● Azure Support: If the issues persist, consider contacting Azure support. They can provide personalized assistance and guidance based on your specific scenario.
● Incremental Changes: When troubleshooting, make incremental changes and test after each change. This helps identify the exact cause of the issue and prevents the introduction of new problems.
● Collaboration: If you’re working as part of a team, collaborate with your team members. Sometimes, a fresh perspective can help identify solutions you might have missed.
Azure Finding
● Azure CDN will not allow cookies in response: Azure CDN, like many content delivery networks, doesn’t cache responses that include cookies. This is a standard behavior because cookies are often used for personalized or dynamic content, and caching such content could lead to incorrect or unexpected behavior for users. Caching content that contains cookies could also pose security and privacy risks.
When a response from your origin server includes cookies, Azure CDN will typically bypass caching for that response. Instead, the CDN will forward the request to your origin server each time to ensure that the appropriate cookies are applied, and the correct personalized content is served.
● Basic and Standard subscription difference on Server level (Cache didn’t clear after purge for more than 20 min): In our project, we have opted for the fundamental edition of Azure services in our non-production environments to control costs. However, we have encountered challenges concerning content delivery and latency following content updates in the background. After consulting with Azure’s support team, we have learned that employing the basic version of any service results in hosting on less advanced servers. Consequently, this leads to slower request processing and introduces latency. The recommended solution is to utilize the standard or premium service versions to address this issue.
Conclusion
Embarking on my first Azure project was an exhilarating experience that introduced me to the world of cloud computing in a practical and impactful manner. From the initial setup to deploying my application and managing resources, each step enriched my understanding of Azure’s capabilities and potential. Azure’s blend of innovation and accessibility has empowered me to explore new horizons, experiment with cutting-edge technologies, and contribute to the ever-growing cloud computing ecosystem. As I continue my journey, I am excited to see how Azure will continue to shape how we innovate, create, and transform our digital landscape.
