Best Microsoft Azure Books to Build and Maintain Cloud-Based Applications

This is a step by step guide for software professionals who want to develop applications using the Microsoft Azure platform. It explains all the features available in Azure. It starts with the basics of Azure and how it can help you to grow your business idea. Then it'll show you what features you should use for your applications. Also, it'll explain how the services of Azure works and how to use them in practice. If you're a beginner and know a little about this platform, then you should read this book at first.

What you'll learn

• Basics of cloud computing and Azure
  
• Different cloud architecture in Azure including Platform as a Service(PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS)
• Execution model for Azure
• Data management and networking in Azure
• Using software development kit provided by Azure
• Creating a web app and virtual machine
• Creating a mobile service using Azure
• Building a batch service with Azure
• Creating Azure storage account
• Managing data to Azure storage
• Working with Azure CDN

This is a reference guide for web developers who want to become an expert in developing cloud-based web applications. It teaches you how to build active directory authentication solutions for cloud-based web applications in detail. It begins by explaining the initial concepts of authentication and Azure active directory. Then it dives deeper and provides complete solutions for every type of applications. It presents high-level scenarios and quick implementation steps. It'll help you to implement highly abstract architectural diagrams and protocols. With this guide, you can refine your solution to improve the performance and reliability of your applications.

What you'll learn

• Finding out address authentication challenges
• Protecting your apps using Azure AD and AD Federation Services
• Managing sign-in flows with OpenID Connect, Azure AD, and AD libraries
• Working with the Azure AD representation of apps and their relationships
• Using OpenID Connect’s middleware and supporting classes
• Managing app access control via roles, groups, and permissions
  
• Working with the Web APIs protected by Azure AD
• Address authentication challenges in the cloud or on-premises

Mastering Azure Analytics is a must-have reference guide for web developers who want to become an expert in developing cloud-based web applications. It teaches you how to build active directory authentication solutions for cloud-based web applications in detail. It begins by explaining the initial concepts of authentication and Azure active directory. Then it dives deeper and provides complete solutions for every type of applications. It presents high-level scenarios and quick implementation steps. It'll help you to implement highly abstract architectural diagrams and protocols. With this guide, you can refine your solution to improve the performance and reliability of your applications.

What you'll learn

• Understand the fundamental patterns of the data lake and lambda architecture
• Recognize the canonical steps in the analytics data pipeline and learn how to use Azure Data Factory to orchestrate them
• Implement data lakes and lambda architectures, using Azure Data Lake Store, Data Lake Analytics, HDInsight (including Spark), Stream Analytics, SQL Data Warehouse, and Event Hubs
• Understand where Azure Machine Learning fits into your analytics pipeline
• Gain experience using these services on real-world data that has real-world problems, with scenarios ranging from aviation to Internet of Things (IoT)

Mastering Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Services is an effective guide to understand the Azure infrastructure in a comprehensive way. It demonstrates all the process of creating and managing public cloud and virtual network with Microsoft Azure. It provides step-by-step instruction and explanation for using every service. You'll learn how to provide services through full virtualization. You'll get a clear understanding of Azure's infrastructure services including storage customization, connectivity, virtual networks, backing up, hybrid environments, and system center management. With this guide, you'll get all the basic knowledge and skills to understand, evaluate, deploy, and maintain environments that utilize Microsoft Azure.

What you'll learn

• Fundamentals of the cloud and Azure
• Understanding cost, options, and applications of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Enabling on-premises external connectivity
• Using virtual networks
• Setting up replication, backup, and disaster recovery
• Customizing Azure templates and PowerShell management
• Managing hybrid environments with system center

You must maintain your application's security when you're using Azure. To learn how to plan, deploy, and operate Microsoft Azure with outstanding levels of control, security, and compliance, you should read Microsoft Azure Security Infrastructure. It'll show you how to build secure systems with Microsoft’s integrated tools, pre-built templates, and managed services. You'll learn all the hacks to build systems that are safe, manageable and scalable. It provides best practices for security-aware deployment, operational management, threat mitigation, and continuous improvement. Completing this guide, you'll be able to protect all your data and stay in control of your cloud-based applications.

What you'll learn

• Understanding cloud security challenges and responsibilities
• Risk management for your applications
• Maintaining operational security
• Integrating your applications with Azure's security architecture
• Working with  Azure network security patterns and best practices
• Secure your data with encryption, storage redundancy, rights management, database security, and storage security
• Protecting virtual machines with Microsoft Antimalware for Azure Cloud Services
• Securing your cryptographic keys and other confidential information with Microsoft Azure Key Vault service
• Maintaining protection for IoT systems
• Using Azure security tools for operations, incident response, and forensic investigation 

This is a hands-on practical book for anyone who wants to learn the Microsoft Azure SQL Database in an easy way. It provides numerous coding examples and step-by-step instructions for working with Microsoft SQL databases. It starts with teaching you the basic building blocks of SQL database. Then it goes deeper and demonstrates core and advanced techniques of maintaining Microsoft Azure SQL databases. With this guide, you'll master all the core and advanced concepts and techniques for maintaining databases.

What you'll learn

• Setting up Azure SQL database on your device
• Understanding design and security issues
• Migrating your database and data on Azure
• Managing backups and data synchronization
• Keeping scalability and high performance
• Building web and mobile applications with Azure SQL database
• Building cloud-based solutions for your service

If you're preparing for Microsoft exam 70-487, then you should read this book. This is a great book that covers all the exam objectives including accessing data, querying and manipulating data using the Entity Framework, designing and implementing WCF services and much more. It'll help you to explain your mastery of developing Azure and web services. It focuses on the critical thinking and decision making aspects needed for success at the Microsoft Specialist level. Following this guide, you can advance your status and become a Microsoft certified developer.

What you'll learn

• Techniques for accessing data
• Querying and manipulating data by using the Entity Framework
• Designing and implementing WCF Services
• Creating and consuming Web API-based services
• Deploying web applications and services

This is a valuable book for developers because it provides effective tips and techniques for automating your cloud deployments with Azure Powershell cmdlets. You'll learn how to provision Azure services at any time. It explains various techniques to automate different management tasks. It also provides solutions to create and configure virtual machines with ease. Completing this guide, you'll be able to build complete virtual networks.

What you'll learn

• Installing and configuring cmdlets to set up your environment
• Creating virtual machines with PowerShell
• Managing network endpoints, access control lists, and IP addresses
• Using cmdlets to manage and configure virtual machine storage
• Automating Azure virtual networks with hybrid technologies such as site-to-site, point-to-site, and ExpressRoute
• Techniques for advanced virtual machine provisioning capabilities and management
• Deleting or moving virtual machines within (or out of) your subscription

Azure for Architects is a great book to learn how to implement different cloud architectures for your cloud services. It'll walk you through all the important and tough decision-making aspects of building a public cloud for your organization on Azure. It starts with a complete overview of all the categories of design available in Azure. Then it moves on to teach you how to build your cloud structure and maintain high availability. You'll be informed of different types of services provided by Azure including  Azure functions and Azure Analytics. Completing this guide, you'll become a skilled developer of the Azure cloud.

What you'll learn

• Fundamentals components of the Azure Cloud platform
• Understanding the cloud design patterns
• Using enterprise security guidelines for your Azure deployment
• Working with the deployment pipeline
• Designing IoT solutions with Azure
• Designing and implementing data solutions
• Cost management for Azure solutions

Azure Serverless Computing Cookbook offers a comprehensive tutorial on building scalable systems and deploying serverless applications with Azure function. If you're a cloud administrator, architect or developer, then you should read this book to learn Azure function. This recipe based guide will teach you to deploy and manage cost-effective serverless applications. It starts with intermediate recipes on serverless computing. Then it gradually goes deeper and presents more key benefits of Azure function for processing data, integrating systems, and building simple APIs and microservices. You'll learn how to manage Azure functions. It also shows how to provide enterprise-level security and compliance to your serverless code architecture.

What you'll learn

• Developing different event-based handlers with Azure
• Integrating Azure Functions with different Azure Services
• Building Enterprise-level applications with Azure
• Organizing and refactoring the code within the Azure functions
  
• Test, troubleshoot, and monitor the Azure functions
• Delivering high-quality, reliable, and robust cloud-centric applications
• Automating tasks at various levels right from development to deployment and maintenance
• Automating self-healing jobs using DurableFunctions

If your team is investigating ways to design applications for the cloud, this concise book introduces 11 architecture patterns that can help you take advantage of cloud-platform services. You’ll learn how each of these platform-agnostic patterns works when they might be useful in the cloud, and what impact they’ll have on your application architecture. You’ll also see an example of each pattern applied to an application built with Microsoft Azure.

What you'll learn

• Discover the advantages of horizontal scaling. Patterns covered include Horizontally Scaling Compute, Queue-Centric Workflow, and Auto-Scaling.
• Learn how to handle large amounts of data across a distributed system. Eventual consistency is explained, along with the MapReduce and Database Sharding patterns.
• Understand how multitenant cloud services and commodity hardware influence your applications. Patterns covered include Busy Signal and Node Failure.
• Learn how to overcome delays due to network latency when building applications for a geographically distributed user base. Patterns covered include Colocation, Valet Key, CDN, and Multi-Site Deployment.

Pro Windows Azure Platform is a down-to-earth, code-centric book that shows precisely how all the components of Windows Azure are employed and demonstrates the techniques and best practices you'll need to put them to work.

What is much less well understood, and the primary focus of this book is how the Windows Azure technology can be applied in real-world scenarios and made to work for you. This book answers those questions, demonstrating how all the features of Windows Azure—both old and new—can be put to work.

What you'll learn

• Building high-quality end-to-end Windows Azure services of your own
• Windows Azure, SQL Azure, and Windows Azure AppFabric
• Hybrid architectures that fit in alongside your business' existing systems

This book is a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to obtain the necessary toolset to create and run Silverlight Enterprise Applications on Azure. The book also covers techniques, practical tips, hints, and tricks for Silverlight interactions with Azure. Each topic is written in an easy-to-read style, with a detailed explanation given and then practical step-by-step exercises with a strong emphasis on real-world relevance. If you are an application developer who wants to build and run Silverlight Enterprise applications using Azure storage, WCF Services, and ASP providers, then this book is for you. You should have a working knowledge of Silverlight and Expression Blend. However, knowledge of Azure is not required since the book covers how to integrate the two technologies in detail.

What you'll learn

• Fundamentals of  Azure
• Hosting Silverlight applications in Azure
• Using Azure queues with Silverlight
• Accessing Azure blob storage from Silverlight
• Storing data in Azure table storage
• Relational data SQL Azure and Entity framework
• Application authentication

This is a step-by-step guide to create easy solutions to build your business using Windows Azure services. Explore the different features of Windows Azure and its unique concepts. Get to know the Windows Azure platform by code snippets and samples by a single start-up scenario throughout the whole book. A clean example scenario demonstrates the different Windows Azure features.

What you'll learn

• Understand all the concepts and features of Windows Azure
• Prepare your Visual Studio environment for building Windows Azure services
• Learn to use Windows Azure storage like Blobs, Tables, and Queues
• Integrate your services with popular identity providers like Facebook
• Leverage the power of Service Bus technology into your own service
• Implement common scenarios such as supporting existing user stores, user sign up, and supporting AJAX requests
• Learn the billing principles behind the different features of Windows Azure and how to keep track of the bill
• Understand SQL Database and bring the power of a relational database to the cloud

Realize the full potential of Windows Azure with this superb Cookbook that has over 80 recipes for building advanced, scalable cloud-based services. Simply pick the solutions you need to answer your requirements immediately. Overview Packed with practical, hands-on cookbook recipes for building advanced, scalable cloud-based services on the Windows Azure platform explained in detail to maximize your learning.  It shows you how to improve these services and how to solve particular problems/scenarios when developing them on the Windows Azure platform. The solutions are presented in a clear step-by-step manner and explained in great 

What you'll learn

• How to use advanced features of Windows Azure blobs, tables and queues
• Understand the remote management of Azure services using the Windows Azure Service Management REST API
• Develop highly scalable services for Windows Azure
• Handle authentication and authorization in the Windows Azure platform
• Use advanced features of the Windows Azure Storage Services: blobs, tables, and queues
• Attach Azure Drives to a role instance Diagnose problems using Windows Azure Diagnostics
• Perform remote management of Azure services with the Windows Azure Service Management REST API
• Expose services through the Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus Implement claims-based authentication with the Access Control Service
• Use cloud-based databases with SQL Azure Improve service performance with the Windows Azure AppFabric Caching Service
• Understand the latest features - including VM roles, Windows Azure Connect, and startup tasks

This guide is the third edition of the first volume in a series about Windows Azure. It demonstrates how you can adopt an existing on-premises ASP.NET application to one that operates in the cloud by introducing a fictitious company named Adatum that modifies its expense tracking and reimbursement system, aExpense so that it can be deployed to Windows Azure. To illustrate the wide range of options and features in Windows Azure, this guide and the code examples available for it show a step-by-step migration process that includes using Windows Azure Web Sites, Virtual Machines, Cloud Services, and SQL Database. Together with useful information on developing, deploying, managing, and costing cloud-hosted applications, this guide provides you with a comprehensive resource for moving your applications to Window Azure.

What you'll learn

• Using Windows Azure Web Sites
• Working with Virtual Machines
• Understanding cloud services
• Working with SQL database

Pro SQL Database for Windows Azure shows how to create enterprise-level database deployments without the usual investment in datacenter and other infrastructure. Take advantage instead of Microsoft’s worldwide backbone for cloud computing that delivers all the power of SQL Server in the form of the cloud-based SQL Database for Windows Azure. You can create and deploy a database in mere minutes that is accessible worldwide and takes advantage of SQL Database's high-availability features to protect your data while ensuring 99.9% uptime.

What you'll learn

• Shows how to use SQL Azure from classic Windows applications, ASP.NET and Windows Communication Foundation
• Covers management, performance, scalability, and troubleshooting
• Addresses the all-important issue of securing your data
• Helps you properly design for high-performance in a cloud environment
• Helps you adopt the new Federations feature in SQL Azure

Windows Azure Web Sites provides you with a practical advice in building high-quality websites. It is based on my years of experience in building 100+ solutions on Windows Azure. Windows Azure Web Sites helps you build secure, scalable, and high-performing websites at a rapid pace like no other platform. This book dives deep into these core capabilities that today's web apps must have. Windows Azure Web Sites is built from the ground-up in the cloud, and this book takes a 360 degrees view of its capabilities not only from a developer's but also from an entrepreneur's point of view. The Web Site Capability Model discussed in this book will help you visualize the capabilities and migration risks of your websites. The Storage Object Distribution pattern will open-up your creative mind in thinking differently when designing cloud applications at scale.

What you'll learn

• Architecture Overview
• Web Sites Quick Start
• Continuous Deployment Operation
• Migrating dynamicdeploy.com 
• Migrating ASP.NET MVC Music Store
• Integrating with ElasticSearch
• Adding Custom Analytics
• Web Sites Lightening Round
• Building Node.JS Apps

SQL Azure represents Microsoft’s cloud-based delivery of its enterprise-caliber, SQL Server database management system (formerly under the code name "Oslo"). Pro SQL Azure introduces you to this new platform, showing you how to program and administer it in a variety of cloud computing scenarios. You’ll learn to program SQL Azure from Silverlight, ASP.NET, WinForms, and from SQL Reporting Services. You’ll also understand how to manage the platform by planning for scalability, troubleshooting performance issues, and implementing strong security.

What you'll learn

• Create and manage SQL Azure databases
• Access SQL Azure from Silverlight, WinForms, ASP.NET, Reporting Services, and more
• Optimize your distributed database design for scalability and performance
• Partition your databases and write multithreaded queries for parallel execution
• Understand how to take advantage of Microsoft’s S+S strategy to save money and increase agility with hybrid cloud computing
• Use ADO.NET and LINQ in .NET 4 with Visual Studio 2010
• Pinpoint where SQL Azure makes things simpler than running on-premise databases
• Understand when to apply new technologies to optimize performance when running your database in the cloud
• Pinpoint where SQL Azure makes things simpler than running on-premise databases
• Understand when to apply new technologies to optimize performance when running your database in the cloud

Windows Azure Hybrid Cloud helps you gain a better understanding of the hybrid IT environments, why those clouds should be implemented, and how they impact business. Serving as a critical resource for anyone responsible for strategizing, architecting, implementing or managing a cloud infrastructure, this book helps you understand what is hybrid IT and how it's applicable (and inevitable) in today's world of emerging cloud. The team of authors focus on the Microsoft concept of a private/public cloud, deploying a private cloud fabric, deploying services, and building a private cloud, as well as integrating it with Microsoft's public cloud to create a cross-premises or public cloud.

What you'll learn

• Looks at why hybrid IT is important to a business and what benefits a business can expect by adopting hybrid cloud
• Examines a cloud management platform and discusses why it is necessary
• Walks you through the different kinds of solutions for IT problems that may arise
• Places a focus on considerations for ensuring resiliency, availability, and scalability when designing hybrid solutions to prevent system failure and data loss
• Covers optimizing the performance of the hybrid cloud as well as using tools that help you monitor and manage the performance of the hybrid cloud