Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Companion: Hands-on Preparation and Practice for Exam AZ-204 (Certification Study Companion Series)

Improve your odds of passing one of the most highly sought-after exams for developers working with Microsoft’s cloud platform: Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure . This book guides you through practical examples of each of the technologies covered by the exam while exposing you to the settings and interactions between platform solutions that you will need to be in command of to prepare for the exam and to use on your job in Azure development. Chapters in this book correspond directly to the exam skills outline and are delivered in a “from-the-ground-up” approach, allowing you to build your knowledge as you go. This approach serves to help even novice developers get up to speed quickly, while allowing more experienced developers to find the exact topics and scenarios they need to hone their skill sets as they both prepare for the exam and reference information for real-world solutions. As you work through each chapter, you will get an introduction to the topic of the chapter followed by a comprehensive discovery of the key elements of the Azure service(s) being covered. You’ll be guided through solutions by studying typical, real-world scenarios. Each chapter concludes with review questions to solidify your learning and includes links to the corresponding Microsoft Learn modules that are relevant to the concepts in the chapter and associated with each section of the AZ-204 exam. What You Will Learn Know the essential platform services of Azure Develop and deploy secure and robust web solutions Architect and create serverless solutions Manage containers in the Azure Containers ecosystem Choose the correct messaging and event-handling tools for your applications Master real-world examples and challenges that help prepare you for the AZ-204 exam Who This Book Is For Developers planning to take the AZ-204 exam, and developers who want to learn more about development on the most common Azure platform services Table of Contents About the Author About the Technical Reviewer Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Develop for Azure Chapter 1: Azure Storage Ecosystem: Overview and Development with Azure Blob Storage General Information about Azure Storage Types of Azure Storage Azure Container (Blob) Storage Block Blobs Append Blobs Page Blobs Azure Table Storage Designing Your Data Azure Queue Storage Azure File Storage Blob Storage Storage Account Performance Tiers Standard Tier Premium Tier Storage Account Redundancy Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS) Geo-Redundant Storage with Read Access (GRS-RA) Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage with Read Access (GZRS-RA) Read-Access Storage and Development of Your Applications Blob Storage Tiers Hot Storage Cool Storage Archive Storage Automation of Tier Placement Storage Access Public Access Private Access Shared Access Signature (SAS) Tokens Individual (Ad Hoc) Tokens Policy-issued Tokens Working with the Azure Storage SDK Working with Azure Storage from Code Using the .Net SDK Creating the Account Getting Connected to the Account Creating a Container Uploading a Blob Listing All the Blobs Downloading a Blob Modifying the Blob Metadata Deleting a Blob Deleting a Container Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Develop Solutions that Use Blob Storage Learning Path Chapter Summary Chapter 2: Develop Solutions That Use Cosmos DB Why Choose Azure Cosmos DB? Azure Cosmos DB Hierarchy Choosing the Correct API Cosmos DB for MongoDB Cosmos DB for Apache Cassandra Cosmos DB for Table Cosmos DB for Apache Gremlin (Graph) Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL Cosmos DB for NoSQL Capacity Mode Provisioned Throughput To Share or Not To Share; That Is the Question Serverless Autoscaling Global Distribution Consistency Levels Strong Consistency Bounded Staleness Session Consistency Consistent Prefix Eventual Networking Backup Policy Encryption Partitioning Logical Partitions Physical Partitions Partition Keys High Cardinality for Write-Heavy Workloads Utilizing Your Query Filter as the Partition Key for Read-Heavy Workloads Indexing in Cosmos DB Cosmos DB Change Feed Utilizing .NET with Azure Table Storage and Cosmos DB via the Cosmos DB SDK Azure Table Storage Compose the Client Create a Table Add an Item to Table Storage Get an Item from Storage Delete Items Azure Cosmos DB (Table API) Table Storage to Cosmos DB Azure Cosmos DB (SQL API) Connect to the Cosmos DB Account Create and Delete Databases Create and Delete Containers Insert and Update Items Query the Data via Code Using a Point Read Using the Query Item Iterator Using the LINQ Version of the Iteration for Query Syntax Delete Items from the Container Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Develop Solutions That Use Azure Cosmos DB Chapter Summary Part II: Develop Azure Compute Solutions Chapter 3: Implement Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Solutions Virtual Machines Azure Physical Architecture Fault Domains Update Domains Availability Zones Azure Regions Azure Sovereign Regions Deploying an Azure Virtual Machine Creating a Virtual Machine: The Basics Availability Options Security, Image, and Architecture Virtual Machine Size Port Rules Hybrid Licensing Disks Networking Management Monitoring Advanced Final Checks Restricting and Allowing Network Access to a Virtual Machine Effective Security Rules Implementing Desired State Configuration on an Azure Virtual Machine Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates and Bicep for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Template Structure VS Code for Templates ARM Templates Resources Validating ARM Templates Deploying ARM Templates Parameters Variables Outputs Functions Bicep Templates A Quick Bicep Example Final Thoughts about Template Deployments Incremental Deployments Complete Deployments Review Your Learning Optional Training: Complete the Original First Two AZ-204: Implement Infrastructure as a Service Solutions Modules (no longer a the learning path for AZ-204 as of April 2023) Chapter Summary Chapter 4: Create Azure App Service Web Apps Before Getting Started Creating an Azure App Service App Service Plans Pricing Tier Operating System Redundancy App Services Name Your Application Publish Type Code Docker Container Static Web Application Runtime Stack App Service Plan Deployment Automated Deployments Manual Deployments Networking Monitoring After Provisioning Deployment Slots Create a Deployment Slot Swap Slots Simple Traffic Load-Balancing/Routing Automated Deployment Using the Deployment Slot’s Publish Profile Additional Services Deploy an Azure SQL Instance Configuration Application Settings and Connection Strings Connection Strings Application Settings General Settings Default Documents Path Mappings Scaling Autoscaling Manual Scaling Additional Settings and Configurations Networking Inbound IP Address Outbound IP Addresses Certificates and TLS/SSL A Few Things Not Covered in this Chapter Review Your Learning Complete the Azure App Service Web Apps Learn Modules Chapter Summary Chapter 5: Azure Container Ecosystem: Azure Container Registry, Azure Container Instances, and Azure Container Apps Four Important Things to Know About Containers Containers Are for Everyone Containers Are Not Microservices or Cloud-Native Applications Containerized Applications Are Agnostic to Their Hosting Platform Containers and the Container Ecosystem Have a Steep Learning Curve Hosting Containers in Azure Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Docker Images Containers Azure Container Registry Service Tiers Basic Standard Premium Additional Information Image Storage Deploy an Azure Container Registry Push an Image to the Container Registry Log in to Your Registry from Your Local Machine Tag Your Image with Your Registry Name and a Version Number Push Your Tagged Image to the Registry Automated Build Tasks Azure Container Instances Deploy from the Container Registry Deploying with the AZ CLI Deploying from the Portal Networking Restart Policy and Environment Variables Container Groups Group Deployment via a YAML File Group Deployment via Docker Compose Persistent File Shares Containers in Azure App Services Additional Services Azure Kubernetes Service Azure Container Apps Review Your Learning Complete the Three AZ-204: Implement Containerized Solutions Modules Chapter Summary Chapter 6: Implement Azure Functions A Quick History of Azure Functions Creating an Azure Function Name the Function App Publish Runtime Stack Operating System (OS) Hosting Plans Backing Storage Networking Monitoring Deployment Options Slots Creating the Application Code Create the Function App Function Apps and Functions Triggers HTTP Triggers Timer Triggers Azure Service-Based (or Third-Party) Triggers Authorization Levels Anonymous Function Admin System User The Default HTTP Trigger Function .NET 7 Changes GetTopMovies Function Deploy the Function App Right-Click and Publish from Your Local Environment Deploying with CI/CD Test the Function App Bindings Create a Function with an Input Binding to Blob Storage Modify the Function to Parse and Push Data to Cosmos DB with an Output Binding The function.json File WebJobs vs. Functions Durable Functions Task Hubs Storage Resources Durable Orchestrations Durable Function Types Orchestrator Functions Activity Functions Entity Functions Client Functions Patterns Function Chaining Fan-out/Fan-In Async HTTP APIs Monitor Human Interaction Aggregator Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Implement Azure Functions Chapter Summary Part III: Implement Azure Security Chapter 7: Implement User Authentication and Authorization Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Conditional Sign-in/Risky Sign-in Detection Authentication and Authorization Primary Authorization Roles in Azure The Reader Role The Contributor Role The User Access Administrator Role The Owner Role Requiring Authentication Identity Providers Integrated Providers Creating a New App Registration Supported Account Types Authentication Settings Permissions Delegated Permissions Application Permissions Required Sign-In Consent on Behalf of Your Organization Leverage the Microsoft Identity in Your Application Create an Additional App Registration Add a Redirect URI to the App Registration Add a Client Secret to the App Registration Add a NuGet Package Add the Authentication Code to the Application Add Configuration Values to App Service and Slot Register the Users Service Principals Leverage a Service Principal in GitHub Actions Add Federated Credentials Managed Identities Authorization Flows Authorization Code Client Credentials Device Code Implicit Integrated Windows Interactive and Non-Interactive On-Behalf-Of Username/Password Shared Access Signatures Identity and Authorization in Applications Create the App Registration Working with the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) Build the Application Set the Scopes Get Your Access Token Print the Token Run and Grant Permissions Working with the Microsoft Graph SDK Build the Application Set the Scopes Create Device Code Credential Create the Graph Service Client Get the Me Object Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Implement User Authentication and Authorization Chapter Summary Chapter 8: Implement Secure Cloud Solutions Managed Identities System-Assigned Identities User-Assigned Identities Azure Key Vault Centralized Storage Azure Key Vault Tiers Standard Key Vault Premium Key Vault Data Retention Access Policy Network Access Data Encryption Keys, Secrets, and Certificates Keys Secrets Certificates Access Policies Create an Access Policy Connect to Azure Key Vault From Azure App Service Configure the Application to Read From Key Vault Azure Application Configuration Centralized Configuration Azure Managed Service Creating a New Azure App Configuration Networking Data Encryption Create a System-Managed Identity Customer-Managed Key Keys and Values Labels Feature Flag Management Create a Feature Flag Feature Flag Configuration Connecting an App Service Web Application to an Azure Application Configuration Configure the Security Settings Add a New Role Assignment Update the Azure App Service Configuration Update the Application Code to Connect to Azure App Configuration Review the Application Connect to Azure Key Vault Through Azure Application Configuration Make the Code Change Update Azure App Configuration Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Implement Secure Cloud Solutions Chapter Summary Part IV: Monitor, Troubleshoot, and Optimize Azure Solutions Chapter 9: Implement Caching for Solutions Benefits of Caching Data Stored in Local Memory Retrieve and Mutate Data Quickly Server Offload, High Throughput Benefits of Delivering Static Content via the CDN Higher Throughput Resiliency Server Offload Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) CDN Profiles Limitations Azure Front Door CDN Creating a Microsoft Standard CDN Profile Product Offerings Create an Endpoint Caching Rules Global Caching Rules Custom Caching Rules Query String Caching Ignore Query Strings Bypass Query String Caching Cache Unique Query Strings Time to Live (TTL) Purging Content Point of Presence (PoP) Order of Operations Pre-Loading Content Geo-Filtering Content Interact with the Azure CDN via .NET Code Caching for Optimization Redis Cache Azure Cache for Redis Cache Types Open Source Redis Basic Cache Standard Cache Premium Cache Enterprise Redis Enterprise Cache Enterprise Flash Cache Caching Patterns Data Cache (Cache-Aside) Content Cache Session Store Messaging Transactions Networking Clustering Redis Commands Working with Redis Cache via .NET Redis Connection String Information Create the Connection Multiplexer and Connect Create the Database Object Run the Commands PING/PONG StringSet StringGet Store Serialized JSON List All Clients Additional Commands Not Shown Cache-Aside in an ASP.Net MVC Application Utilize User Secrets Inject Redis Cache into the Application Review the Controller Code Run the Code Additional Resources Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Integrate Caching and Content Delivery Within Solutions Chapter Summary Chapter 10: Troubleshoot Solutions by Using Metrics and Log Data Azure Monitor Metrics Logs Traces Changes Different Components of Azure Monitor Insights Visualizations Tools for Analysis Ability to Respond Integrations Utilizing Application Insights Implementing Application Insights in .NET Ensuring Application Insights Telemetry Is Injected Reviewing Live Metrics Requests Dependencies Exceptions Page Views/Server Performance User/Session Counts Live Tracking of Trace, Event, and Exceptions Client-Side JavaScript and AJAX Requests Performing Availability Tests URL Tests (Classic Test) Standard Test Custom Testing with TrackAvailability() Application Map Kusto Queries Log-Based Metrics Pre-Aggregated Time-Series Creating an Alert Based on a Query Signals Action Groups Notification Methods Create the Query Set the Alert Condition Create the Actions Set the Basics Set the Notifications Configure the Actions Details Visualization Tools Power BI Third-Party Solutions/Grafana Workbook Azure Dashboard Create a Dashboard Based on a Query Complete the AZ-204: Instrument Solutions to Support Monitoring and Logging Review Your Learning Chapter Summary Part V: Connect to and Consume Azure Services and Third-Party Services Chapter 11: Implement API Management Overview Prerequisites Resource Group Log Analytics Workspace Application Insights Creating an APIM Instance APIM Basics Tab APIM SKUs (Tiers/Offerings) Consumption (99.95 Percent SLA) Developer (no SLA) Basic (99.95 Percent SLA) Standard (99.95 Percent SLA) Premium (99.95 or 99.99 Percent SLA) APIM Monitoring Tab APIM Scale Tab APIM Managed Identity APIM Virtual Network Tab APIM Protocol Settings The API Gateway Entry Point for All Requests Gateway Routing Benefits of a Centralized Gateway Route Aggregation Decouple Backend Services from Clients SSL Termination (SSL Offload) Reduced Attack Surface Logging and Monitoring Response Caching Validation of Tokens and/or Certificates Administering APIs in the Azure Portal APIs Create an API Products Create a Product Subscriptions Create Two Subscriptions Send a Request Developer Portal Public API Documentation Groups Expose APIs via Products to Groups Register Developers Default Groups Administrators Developers Guests Custom Groups Utilizing Policies Inject/Decorate Information in Request/Response Rate Limit Conditional Policies IP Address Restrictions Validate Certificates Issuer (Certificate Authority) Thumbprint Subject Validate Against Uploaded Certificates Validate by JWT Which Is Better (JWT or Certificates)? Mock Responses for Testing Authenticate to the Backend Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Implement API Management Learn Module Chapter Summary Chapter 12: Develop Event-Based Solutions Event Hub vs Event Grid Azure Event Hubs Event-Driven Architecture Producer Receiver Partition Consumer Consumer Group Checkpointing Client Creating an Event Hub Namespace in Azure Throughput Units (TU) Processing Units (PU) Capacity Units Offerings (SKUs/Tiers) Basic Standard Premium Dedicated Advanced Settings Networking Creating a Data Lake Storage Account and Container Creating an Event Hub in Azure Event Hub Capture Time Window (Minutes) Size Window (MB) Emit Empty Files Capture Provider Azure Storage Container File Name Formats Review and Create the Event Hub Working Against an Event Hub with .NET .NET Client for Sending Events to the Hub Shared Access Signatures Data Roles Owner Sender Listener .NET Event Producer Set the ConnectionString and Name in Secrets.json Code to Produce Events .NET Event Consumer Create Another Container Update User Secrets for the Client Application Consume Events Azure Event Grid Producers Consumers Concepts Events Sources Topics Subscriptions Handlers Event Schema ID Topic System Topics Custom Topics Subject Type Time Data Versions (Data/Metadata) Subscribing to Topics Filtering Data Filter by Subject Filter by Type Filter by Conditions Event Delivery Retry Policies Error Codes that Immediately Cancel Retry Maximum Number of Attempts Maximum TTL Dead-Letter Responding to an Event with a Logic App Leverage the Storage Account Add a Subscription Modify the Subscription Modify the Logic App Test the Logic App Event Handler Review the Logic App Data Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Develop Event-Based Solutions Chapter Summary Chapter 13: Develop Message-Based Solutions Overview First In/First Out (FIFO) Load Leveling Loose Coupling Working with Azure Storage Queue When to Use Azure Storage Queue Azure Storage Queue Features Access via HTTP/HTTPS Message Size (64 KB) Massive Amounts of Messages (>80 GB) Storage Queue URL Operations Lease the Queue Message Renew the Lease Delete the Message At-Most-Once Message Retention Working with Storage Queue in .NET Create an Azure Storage Queue NuGet Packages Get the Connection String Compose the Client Send Messages to the Queue Peek at the Messages Update a Message in the Queue Receive but Leave the Messages Extend the Lease Delete Messages from Storage Queue Delete the Queue Working with Azure Service Bus Tiers Basic Standard Premium Advanced Tab Networking When to Use Azure Service Bus Features Message Size (Up to 256 KB or 100 MB) Sessions (Long-Polling and Guaranteed FIFO) Duplicate Detection Transactions Opaque Binary Payload Auto-Forwarding Dead-Lettering Batching Auto-Delete on Idle At-Most-Once Delivery At-Least-Once Delivery Filtering Queues and Topics Queues Receive Mode Receive and Delete Peek Lock Working with Service Bus Queue in .NET Configure a Queue Shared Access Policies Update User Secrets Publish Messages to the Queue Service Bus Explorer Receive Messages from the Queue with a Consumer Process Messages The Code to Process Messages Complete the Processing Topics Pub/Sub Filtering Working with Service Bus Topics in .NET Get Started with the Administration Project Root-Level Administrator Token Set Secrets for the Administrator Project Commands from the Admin Program Execute the Administration Program Publish Messages Producer and Consumer Tokens Send Messages Run the Program Consume Messages Update the Secrets Compose the Hierarchy Receive All Messages Run the Program for All Movies Repeat the Run for Each Subscription Review Your Learning Complete the AZ-204: Develop Message-Based Solutions Learn Module Chapter Summary Book Wrap-Up Appendix A: Answers to the “Review Your Learning” Questions and Additional Links Chapter 1: Azure Storage Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Develop Solutions That Use Blob Storage Learning Path Chapter 2: Cosmos DB and Table Storage Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Develop Solutions That Use Azure Cosmos DB Chapter 3: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Solutions Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Implement Infrastructure as a Service Solutions (Modules 1 and 2) Chapter 4: Azure App Service Web Apps Review Your Learning Learn Modules Complete the Azure App Service Web Apps Learn Modules Chapter 5: Azure Container Ecosystem (Container Registry and Container Instances) Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Implement Infrastructure as a Service Solutions Modules (Modules 3 and 4) Learn Modules for Optional/Additional Learning Chapter 6: Implement Azure Functions Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Implement Azure Functions Chapter 7: Implement User Authentication and Authorization Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Implement User Authentication and Authorization Chapter 8: Implement Secure Cloud Solutions Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Implement Secure Cloud Solutions Chapter 9: Implement Caching for Solutions Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Integrate Caching and Content Delivery Within Solutions Chapter 10: Troubleshoot Solutions by Using Metrics and Log Data Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Instrument Solutions to Support Monitoring and Logging Chapter 11: Implement API Management Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Implement API Management Chapter 12: Develop Event-Based Solutions Review Your Learning Learn Module AZ-204: Develop Event-Based Solutions Chapter 13: Develop Message-Based Solutions Review Your Learning Learn Modules AZ-204: Develop Message-Based Solutions Conclusion Index