What's changed: Deepened AZ-104 Chapter 3 to Associate depth (tables, scenarios, FAQ, traps; localized figures)
3.3Compute Beyond VMs (App Service, Containers, Functions)
Understand compute options with less management overhead than VMs: App Service (managed web hosting), containers (ACI/AKS), and Azure Functions (serverless).
Letting Azure manage the OS greatly reduces operations. Beyond VMs, there are more managed options: App Service, containers, and Functions.
3.3.1Options beyond VMs
For containers, choose serverless Azure Container Apps (scale to zero, no Kubernetes ops) or lightweight single-container Azure Container Instances; store and pull images from Azure Container Registry. Also use Azure Advisor, which recommends improvements for cost, security, reliability, and performance.
- App Service: managed hosting for web apps/APIs; deploy without minding OS or patches (PaaS).
- Containers: package app + dependencies portably. ACI (simple, single) / AKS (Kubernetes orchestration).
- Azure Functions: serverless; runs on events, billed per execution count/time.
Common on AZ-104: easy web app hosting = App Service, Kubernetes = AKS, short event-driven work with no servers = Azure Functions. More managed = less operational burden.
Choose compute by "how much you manage yourself" (shared responsibility). App Service is PaaS for web apps/APIs—no OS/patch management, with App Service plans (capacity and price), deployment slots (staging → production swap), built-in autoscale, and managed identity. Containers make app + dependencies portable: ACI (Container Instances) for simple/single workloads, AKS (Kubernetes) for full orchestration, Container Apps for serverless container apps, with ACR as the registry. Azure Functions is serverless, event-driven, with Consumption (pay-per-use, scale to zero)/Premium/Dedicated plans and triggers/bindings to integrate services. More managed means less control but less ops (VM > App Service/containers > Functions). The axes: "easy web = App Service," "Kubernetes = AKS," "single container = ACI," "short event work, no servers = Functions," "need OS control = VM."
| Requirement | Best service |
|---|---|
| Easily host web apps/APIs | App Service (PaaS) |
| Kubernetes orchestration | AKS |
| Simple/single container | ACI |
| Short event-driven tasks | Azure Functions (serverless) |
Scenario: publish an internal web app with minimal ops and zero-downtime releases. Deploy to App Service and use deployment slots to validate in staging then swap to production (no downtime). Run short backend event tasks (e.g., image processing) on Azure Functions (Consumption). For full microservice operations use AKS, and for one-off batch containers use ACI. Keep only OS-control-dependent legacy apps on a VM.
Q. Easy web hosting? App Service (slots for zero-downtime). Q. Kubernetes? AKS. Q. Single container? ACI. Q. Short event work, no servers? Functions (Consumption). Q. OS-level control? VM. Q. Container registry? ACR.
Watch the mix-ups: (1) App Service ≠ AKS—simple web uses App Service; container orchestration needs AKS (more ops). (2) Functions Consumption scales to zero but has cold starts (use Premium for strict low latency). (3) Even managed, the app layer is your responsibility (shared model). (4) Deployment slots are an App Service feature—distinct from VM zero-downtime methods.
Control is highest with VMs and decreases toward App Service/containers and Functions—but so does operational effort. Choose the abstraction that matches your needs.
3.3.2Section summary
- App Service (web) / containers (ACI, AKS) / Functions (serverless)
- More managed = less control, less ops
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Quick check
(just a quick review)Q1. Which Azure service easily hosts web apps without minding OS or patch management?
Q2. Which Azure service provides Kubernetes container orchestration?
Q3. You want event-driven short tasks with no servers, billed per execution. What fits?