1. Introduction to Azure Storage and Compute
Welcome! In this video, we’ll explore Azure's two core pillars: Storage and Compute. These services are the foundation for nearly everything built in the cloud, and understanding their basics will help you create efficient, scalable solutions.
2. Cipher Coffee
Cipher Coffee needs a reliable way to store and process the data collected from its growing network of coffee shops. For example, they must securely store customer orders, manage inventory data, and analyze sales trends. Azure’s storage and compute services provide the perfect foundation to meet these needs.
3. Storage - Digital backpack
Imagine a digital backpack with limitless storage, accessible anytime, anywhere, which is also ultra-secure and can hold your documents, photos, videos, databases, and backups. That’s Azure Storage in a nutshell! It’s Microsoft’s cloud storage solution that lets you store, access, and manage data in the cloud.
4. Rewards system
Cipher Coffee wants to reward its loyal customers, so it has added a QR-based rewards system. Each time a customer scans a QR code at checkout, their visit is logged, and Azure Blob Storage securely stores their rewards data—such as points earned, redeemed offers, and visit history.
5. Storage
When customers want to check their balance or redeem a free drink, the app fetches their reward data from Azure storage, ensuring a fast and seamless experience for their customers, even during peak hours!
6. Introduction to Compute
Next, let’s talk about compute. Compute services provide the processing power to run applications and workloads in the cloud.
Cipher Coffee has deployed its inventory management application on Virtual Machines (VMs).
7. What are Virtual machines
Imagine using a computer at home—you install software, run programs, and complete tasks. Instead of owning the hardware, you can rent a virtual computer from Microsoft that runs in the cloud. That’s what an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) is.
8. VM capabilities
A VM lets you run applications, host websites, or test software without needing your own physical machine. Instead of investing in expensive hardware, you only pay for the computing power you use, making it a flexible and cost-effective option for various tasks.
9. Working together
Storage and compute services typically go hand in hand. For example, remember Cipher Coffee’s QR-based rewards program? It relies on both storage and compute services to keep things running smoothly.
10. Working together
Azure Blob Storage holds customer data—such as scanned QR codes, earned points, and redeemed rewards—while Virtual Machines (VMs) handle the processing behind the scenes.
11. Working together
For example, when a customer scans their QR code, the VM retrieves their data from Blob Storage, updates their reward balance, and logs the transaction.
Cipher Coffee keeps its loyalty program efficient, scalable, and always available by combining storage for secure data retention and compute power for real-time processing.
12. Let's practice!
Let's dive in and explore compute and storage options!