Technology choices for Azure solutions

This article provides a list of resources that you can use to make informed decisions about the technologies that you choose for your Azure solutions. Explore comparison matrices, flowcharts, and decision trees to ensure that you find the best matches for your scenario.

Choose a compute service

The term compute refers to the hosting model for the computing resources that your application runs on. The following articles can help you choose the right technologies:

Article	Summary
Choose an Azure compute service	Decide which compute service best suits your application.
High availability and disaster recovery scenarios for IaaS apps	Learn about high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) options for multitier infrastructure as a service (IaaS) apps in Azure.
Choose an Azure compute option for microservices	Learn about two compute options for microservices: service orchestrator and serverless architecture.
Choose between traditional web apps and SPAs	Learn how to choose between traditional web apps and single-page applications (SPAs).
Choose an Azure multiparty computing service	Decide which multiparty computing services to use for your solution.

Choose a container option

There are many ways to build and deploy cloud-native and containerized applications in Azure. Review these articles to learn more:

Article	Summary
Compare Container Apps with other Azure container options	Understand when to use Azure Container Apps and how it compares to other container options, including Azure Container Instances, Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
Choose a Kubernetes at the edge compute option	Learn about the pros and cons of various options for extending compute at the edge.
Choose a bare-metal Kubernetes at the edge platform option	Find the best option, given a specific use case, for configuring Kubernetes clusters at the edge.

Choose a hybrid option

Many organizations need a hybrid approach to analytics, automation, and services because their data is hosted both on-premises and in the cloud. The following articles can help you choose the best technologies for your scenario:

Article	Summary
Azure hybrid options	Learn about Azure hybrid solutions, including alternatives to deploy and host hybrid services on-premises, at the edge, in Azure, and in other clouds.
Compare Azure Stack Hub to Azure	Learn the differences between Azure and Azure Stack Hub.
Compare Azure, Azure Stack Hub, and Azure Stack HCI	Learn the differences between Azure, Azure Stack Hub, and Azure Stack HCI.
Compare Azure Stack HCI to Azure Stack Hub	Determine whether Azure Stack HCI or Azure Stack Hub is right for your organization.
Compare Azure Stack HCI to Windows Server	Determine whether Azure Stack HCI or Windows Server is right for your organization.
Choose drives for Azure Stack HCI and Windows Server clusters	Learn how to choose drives for Azure Stack HCI and Windows Server clusters to meet performance and capacity requirements.

Choose an identity service

Identity solutions help you protect your data and resources. These articles can help you choose an Azure identity service:

Article	Summary
Active Directory services	Compare the identity services that are provided by Active Directory Domain Services, Microsoft Entra ID, and Microsoft Entra Domain Services.
Hybrid identity authentication methods	Choose an authentication method for a Microsoft Entra hybrid identity solution in a medium-sized to large organization.

Choose a storage service

The Azure Storage platform is the Microsoft cloud storage solution for modern data storage scenarios. Review these articles to determine the best solution for your use case:

Article	Summary
Review your storage options	Review the storage options for Azure workloads.
Azure managed disk types	Learn about the disk types that are available for Azure virtual machines, including Ultra disks, Premium SSDs v2 (preview), Premium SSDs, Standard SSDs, and Standard HDDs.
Choose an Azure solution for data transfer	Choose an Azure solution for data transfer, based on the amount of data and the available network bandwidth in your environment.

Choose a data store

The cloud is changing the way applications are designed, including how data is processed and stored. These articles can help you choose a data solution:

Article	Summary
Understand data store models	Learn about the high-level differences between the various data storage models in Azure data services.
Choose an Azure data store for your application	Use a flowchart to choose an Azure data store.
Criteria for choosing a data store	Review some general considerations for choosing a data store.
Choose a big data storage technology in Azure	Compare big data storage options in Azure. View key selection criteria and a capability matrix.
OLAP solutions	Learn about online analytical processing (OLAP) solutions for organizing large databases and supporting complex analysis without affecting transactional systems.
OLTP solutions	Learn about atomicity, consistency, and other features of online transaction processing (OLTP), which manages transactional data and supports querying.
Data lakes	Learn about data lake storage repositories, which can hold terabytes or petabytes of data in a native, raw format.
Non-relational data and NoSQL	Learn about non-relational databases that store data as key/value pairs, graphs, time series, objects, and other storage models.
Choose a data pipeline orchestration technology	Choose an Azure data pipeline orchestration technology to automate pipeline orchestration, control flow, and data movement workflows.
Choose a search data store	Learn about the capabilities of search data stores in Azure and the key criteria for choosing one that best matches your needs.
Transfer data to and from Azure	Learn about Azure data transfer options like Azure Import/Export, Azure Data Box, Azure Data Factory, and command-line and graphical interface tools.

Choose an analytics solution

With the exponential growth in data, organizations rely on the limitless compute, storage, and analytical power of Azure. Review these articles to learn about the available analytics solutions:

Article	Summary
Choose an analytical data store	Evaluate analytical data store options for big data in Azure.
Choose a data analytics and reporting technology	Evaluate big data analytics technology options for Azure.
Choose a batch processing technology	Compare technology choices for big data batch processing in Azure.
Choose a stream processing technology	Compare options for real-time message stream processing in Azure.

Choose an AI / machine learning service

AI is the capability of a computer to imitate intelligent human behavior. Through AI, machines can analyze images, comprehend speech, interact in natural ways, and make predictions based on data. Review these articles to learn about the AI and machine learning technology choices that are available in Azure:

Article	Summary
Choose an Azure Cognitive Services technology	Learn about cognitive services that you can use in AI applications and data flows.
Natural language processing technology	Choose a natural language processing service for sentiment analysis, topic and language detection, key phrase extraction, and document categorization.
Compare machine learning products and technologies	Compare options for building, deploying, and managing your machine learning models. Decide which products to use for your solution.
MLflow and Azure Machine Learning	Learn about how Azure Machine Learning uses MLflow to log metrics and artifacts from machine learning models and deploy your machine learning models to an endpoint.

Choose a networking service

These articles can help you explore the networking technologies that are available in Azure:

Article	Summary
Load balancing options	Learn about Azure load balancing services and how you can use them to distribute your workloads across multiple computing resources.
Choose between virtual network peering and VPN gateways	Review the differences between virtual network peering and VPN gateways, which are two ways to connect virtual networks in Azure.

Choose a messaging service

Learn about the services that Azure provides to help you deliver events or messages throughout your solution:

Article	Summary
Compare messaging services	Learn about the three Azure messaging services: Azure Event Grid, Azure Event Hubs, and Azure Service Bus. Choose the best service for your scenario.
Asynchronous messaging options	Learn about asynchronous messaging options in Azure, including the various types of messages and the entities that participate in a messaging infrastructure.

Choose an IoT option

IoT solutions use a combination of technologies to connect devices, events, and actions through cloud applications. Review these articles to learn more about the IoT technology choices that Azure provides:

Article	Summary
Choose an IoT solution	Use Azure IoT Central or individual Azure platform as a service (PaaS) components to build, deploy, and manage IoT solutions.
Compare IoT Hub and Event Hubs	Review a comparison between Azure IoT Hub and Event Hubs that highlights functional differences and use cases. The comparison includes supported protocols, device management, monitoring, and file uploads.

Choose a mobile development framework

Article	Summary
Choose a mobile development framework	Learn about the supported native and cross-platform languages for building client applications.

Choose a mixed reality engine

Article	Summary
Choose a mixed reality engine	Learn about the engine choices for mixed reality development for HoloLens and virtual reality.