Comprehensive Azure Well-Architected Framework knowledge covering the five pillars: Reliability, Security, Cost Optimization, Operational Excellence, and Performance Efficiency. Provides design principles, best practices, and implementation guidance for building robust Azure solutions.
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The Azure Well-Architected Framework is a set of guiding tenets for building high-quality cloud solutions. It consists of five pillars of architectural excellence.
Purpose: Help architects and engineers build secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient infrastructure for applications.
The Five Pillars:
Definition: The ability of a system to recover from failures and continue to function.
Key Principles:
Best Practices:
Availability Zones:
# Deploy VM across availability zones
az vm create \
--resource-group MyRG \
--name MyVM \
--zone 1 \
--image Ubuntu2204 \
--size Standard_D2s_v3
# Availability SLAs:
# - Single VM (Premium SSD): 99.9%
# - Availability Set: 99.95%
# - Availability Zones: 99.99%
Backup and Disaster Recovery:
# Enable Azure Backup
az backup protection enable-for-vm \
--resource-group MyRG \
--vault-name MyVault \
--vm MyVM \
--policy-name DefaultPolicy
# Recovery Point Objective (RPO): How much data loss is acceptable
# Recovery Time Objective (RTO): How long can system be down
Health Probes:
Definition: Protecting applications and data from threats.
Key Principles:
Best Practices:
Identity and Access:
# Use managed identities (no credentials in code)
az vm identity assign \
--resource-group MyRG \
--name MyVM
# RBAC assignment
az role assignment create \
--assignee <principal-id> \
--role "Contributor" \
--scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/resourceGroups/MyRG
Network Security:
Data Protection:
# Enable encryption at rest (automatic for most services)
# Enable TLS 1.2+ for data in transit
# Azure Storage encryption
az storage account update \
--name mystorageaccount \
--resource-group MyRG \
--min-tls-version TLS1_2 \
--https-only true
Security Monitoring:
# Enable Microsoft Defender for Cloud
az security pricing create \
--name VirtualMachines \
--tier Standard
# Enable Azure Sentinel
az sentinel onboard \
--resource-group MyRG \
--workspace-name MyWorkspace
Definition: Managing costs to maximize the value delivered.
Key Principles:
Best Practices:
Right-Sizing:
# Use Azure Advisor recommendations
az advisor recommendation list \
--category Cost \
--output table
# Common optimizations:
# 1. Shutdown dev/test VMs when not in use
# 2. Use Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows/SQL
# 3. Purchase reservations for consistent workloads
# 4. Use autoscaling to match demand
Reserved Instances:
Azure Hybrid Benefit:
# Apply Windows license to VM
az vm update \
--resource-group MyRG \
--name MyVM \
--license-type Windows_Server
# SQL Server Hybrid Benefit
az sql vm create \
--resource-group MyRG \
--name MySQLVM \
--license-type AHUB
Cost Management:
# Create budget
az consumption budget create \
--budget-name MyBudget \
--category cost \
--amount 1000 \
--time-grain monthly \
--start-date 2025-01-01 \
--end-date 2025-12-31
# Set up alerts at 80%, 100%, 120% of budget
Definition: Operations processes that keep a system running in production.
Key Principles:
Best Practices:
Infrastructure as Code:
# Use ARM, Bicep, or Terraform
# Version control all infrastructure
# Implement CI/CD for infrastructure
# Example: Bicep deployment
az deployment group create \
--resource-group MyRG \
--template-file main.bicep \
--parameters @parameters.json
Monitoring and Alerting:
# Application Insights for apps
az monitor app-insights component create \
--app MyApp \
--location eastus \
--resource-group MyRG
# Log Analytics for infrastructure
az monitor log-analytics workspace create \
--resource-group MyRG \
--workspace-name MyWorkspace
# Create alerts
az monitor metrics alert create \
--name HighCPU \
--resource-group MyRG \
--scopes <vm-id> \
--condition "avg Percentage CPU > 80" \
--description "CPU usage is above 80%"
DevOps Practices:
Definition: The ability of a system to adapt to changes in load.
Key Principles:
Best Practices:
Scaling:
# Horizontal scaling (preferred)
# VM Scale Sets
az vmss create \
--resource-group MyRG \
--name MyVMSS \
--image Ubuntu2204 \
--instance-count 3 \
--vm-sku Standard_D2s_v3
# Autoscaling
az monitor autoscale create \
--resource-group MyRG \
--resource MyVMSS \
--resource-type Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets \
--name MyAutoscale \
--min-count 2 \
--max-count 10
Caching:
Data Access:
Networking:
# Use Azure Front Door for global apps
az afd profile create \
--profile-name MyFrontDoor \
--resource-group MyRG \
--sku Premium_AzureFrontDoor
# Features:
# - Global load balancing
# - CDN capabilities
# - Web Application Firewall
# - SSL offloading
# - Caching
Azure Well-Architected Review:
# Self-assessment tool in Azure Portal
# Generates recommendations per pillar
# Provides actionable guidance
Azure Advisor:
# Get recommendations
az advisor recommendation list --output table
# Categories:
# - Reliability (High Availability)
# - Security
# - Performance
# - Cost
# - Operational Excellence
Reliability:
Security:
Cost Optimization:
Operational Excellence:
Performance Efficiency:
Highly Available Web Application:
Mission-Critical Application:
Cost-Optimized Dev/Test:
The Well-Architected Framework provides a consistent approach to evaluating architectures and implementing designs that scale over time.
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