You know what's hot? Microsoft Azure services and Amazon Web Services are some of the hottest ways to plan to migrate your applications, APIs, and services to the cloud and make a difference for your company. No, Microsoft and Amazon didn't create a magic wand that auto-magically places your application, API, or website in a PaaS and IaaS environment, but compared to many years ago, it sure feels like it.
Should you be in the Cloud?
This is the first decision most leaders of technology must decide. The honest answer is, it depends. But the even more honest answer is, yes. There will be a fit for some of your technology stack to make its way to the cloud. But before you can pull the trigger on making the move to a PaaS or IaaS on the cloud, you need to learn the types of technology available to you. You also need to separate your previous understanding of on premise data centers and understand how to think in the cloud. This blog will at least try to familiarize you with the tools you should know starting out.
Technologies on the cloud
It makes sense for anyone leading engineering to study what AWS and Azure are offering to support you. Let's break down the most common cloud offerings, what they are called on AWS and Azure, and how they are used. For this comparison, I will be referencing a stellar report put out on April 08, 2020, AWS to Azure services comparison.
I also recommend that you watch the free PluralSight's State of the Cloud AWS vs. Azure on-demand webinar. It is worth listening to Tim Warner and Don Jones offer strategic looks and advice for these major cloud platforms.
The Marketplaces
First of all both companies offer a market place. Think of your marketplace as a destination for all your software needs. It is a place for you to research and find solutions from open virtual machines, databases, hosting services, and more. You also use it to provision your solutions quickly. Also, both platforms have a free tier where you can explore and try out the services free of charge up to specified limits.
Virtual Machines
One of the first moves you can make to the cloud is to look at migrating your app servers and database servers to virtual machines on the cloud. On a virtual machine, you can deploy, manage, and maintain operating systems and server software. These instances provide CPU/RAM in various combinations. You pay for what you use with the flexibility to change. This is a natural first step for IT professionals who already manage the company servers. However, there is a shift in mind-set when moving from on premise to IaaS and you should become familiar with the differences.
Databases
Next you may want to look at migrating your data to platforms to the cloud. Both AWS and Azure providers have Relational Database an NoSQL services available to purchase and use with minimal setup.
Object Storage
You will find that keeping your file storage or other object storage on local storage or in the database is not ideal. Take advantage virtual object storage. This storage is cheap and easy to keep secure and available. I have also found it very useful when transferring large files like database backups to customers securely. Azure make upload and downloading files easy using the Azure Storage Explorer.
Web Applications
Managed hosting platforms have become very simple to stand up and use. They provide services for deploying and scaling web applications and services. There are services for turnkey API management and content delivery networks as well, but I recommend starting with the hosting service and build up from there.
Serverless Computing
Now that you have your monolithic app, database, and storage in the cloud as a platform, it may be time to consider reorganizing you application into a SOA or Microservice architecture. When you are considering service architectures, you may want to look at a serverless platform for functions. Serverless computing provides backend services on an as-used basis. You can also deploy code without the concern for the underlying infrastructure. This can bring lower costs, simplified scalability, and faster turnaround to market. Of course, this isn't magic, you must do research into how this type of compute will work for your specific situation. But it is amazing that you can have this feature without much hassle.
Summary
There are many more technologies that are being offered by AWS and Azure that can greatly simplify and expand your ability to delivery high performing, scalable software without a high maintenance burden. I recommend that you use these links to the AWS and Azure sites to understand the services provided, learn the costs involved, and do your comparisons between the two platform providers. Keep in mind that you can mix and match these providers and use the best tools from each.
I hope this was useful to at least get you familiar with similar products that AWS and Azure provide and how to start taking advantage of these modern PaaS and IaaS tools.
Take care and go do something amazing today!
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