What is Azure?
Author: Domeny.ForSale editorial team Published
In brief: Microsoft Azure is a cloud platform that lets you access servers, databases, file storage and services for building applications and AI solutions over the internet. Instead of buying and maintaining your own hardware, you deploy the resources you need on Microsoft’s infrastructure and pay according to the terms of your chosen service. Azure works well for many business and software development projects, but for a simple company website, ordinary hosting will often be easier to manage.
How does Microsoft Azure work?
Cloud computing means providing IT resources over a network. In Azure, physical servers are located in Microsoft’s data centres, and users choose the services, their specifications and — where available — the region, meaning the geographical area in which the resources operate.
Services can be managed through a web portal, command-line tools or code that automates configuration. Resources are assigned to a subscription, which acts as a boundary for billing and management, among other things. However, an Azure subscription does not mean a single subscription fee that provides unlimited access to the entire platform.
Azure is not a single program or another name for Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 offers ready-to-use tools for work, such as email and office applications. Azure is primarily used to run, build and connect IT systems.
What can Azure be used for?
The platform includes many services, from which you select the components needed for a particular task. You do not need to use the entire ecosystem to run one application or store files.
The most common uses include:
- Running websites and applications — for example, through Azure App Service, which lets you deploy an application without administering its underlying server yourself.
- Virtual servers — Azure Virtual Machines provides machines with an operating system on which you can install your own software.
- Databases — one example is Azure SQL Database, a managed relational database service that stores information in related tables.
- File storage — Azure Blob Storage can store photos, documents, archives and other object data.
- Data analysis and AI — services that help process data and build solutions using artificial intelligence models.
- Backups and system recovery — tools that support data protection and restore operations after a failure.
For example, a company that takes bookings could run its application in App Service, save booking dates and times in a database, and store attachments in Blob Storage. Each component has its own configuration and billing rules. This separation allows parts of the system to be developed independently, but requires you to keep track of their combined cost.
How much technical maintenance remains your responsibility?
Your responsibilities depend on the type of service you choose. Simply moving a program to the cloud does not mean that Microsoft will take over every administrator task.
IaaS, or infrastructure as a service, provides access to basic resources such as virtual machines and networking. Microsoft maintains the hardware, while the user is responsible for tasks including operating system configuration, updates and installed applications.
PaaS, or platform as a service, shifts more responsibilities to the provider. With a managed application platform, you focus mainly on code, data and application settings. However, you still need to take care of permissions, code security and proper configuration.
A separate way of running code is serverless: the platform manages the infrastructure needed to perform a task, such as a function triggered by a file upload. The name does not mean there are no servers. Billing, scaling and limits depend on the service plan you choose.
How are Azure costs calculated?
Azure does not have a single price for “the cloud”. Your bill may depend on how long resources run, their performance, the amount of data stored, the number of operations and network data transfer. Separate charges may also cover licences, backups or log collection, meaning records of events in the system.
No traffic in an application does not necessarily mean no costs. A running resource may incur charges even when nobody is using it. Stopping a virtual machine does not always eliminate all charges: disks and other associated resources left in place may continue to generate costs.
Before deployment, prepare an estimate using the official Azure calculator. Check the current pricing for the specific service, the region, the currency, the terms of the free offer and how data transfer is billed. Then set a budget and cost alerts — an alert alone is not a hard limit that automatically stops spending.
When should you choose Azure, and when is simpler hosting better?
Azure is a reasonable choice when you need a custom application, integration with other systems, flexible resource scaling or control over the architecture. However, the benefits depend on the project and the team’s skills; using the cloud alone does not guarantee lower costs or resilience to failures.
For a basic business website or a small blog, shared hosting or managed WordPress hosting may be more practical. It usually provides a simpler control panel and a more predictable subscription fee. In Azure, a similar task may require several services to be configured separately.
Cloud security is a shared responsibility. Users must still control access, protect accounts, choose network settings and establish policies for creating and testing backups. If you process personal data, check the service documentation, data processing terms and your organisation’s requirements; choosing a European region does not, by itself, establish legal compliance.
Start with a small test of one application using non-sensitive data. Before launching it, decide how you will measure costs, who will maintain the solution and how you will delete all resources once the trial is over.
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