The Azure portal is a public web-based application that can be used to manage all your Azure resources. It is located at portal.azure.com. When you sign into the Azure portal, you’re greeted with a dashboard that provides access to all Azure services and resources.
The portal allows you to craft custom dashboards that best suit your work style and role. You can resize, reposition, or remove tiles to make the information you care about most accessible. You can also mark services that you use frequently as ‘favorites’ for easy accessibility. This feature is quite useful especially when you’re preparing for the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam which covers a vast array of topics and requires you to have practical knowledge on managing Azure services.
Navigation in Azure Portal
Azure portal uses a navigation pane located on the left-hand side to navigate through all available services. The portal shows services organized by categories- General, Compute, Networking, Storage, Web, Databases, AI + Machine Learning, Analytics, IoT, and many more. ‘Create a resource’ option is situated at the top of the navigation pane, allowing the user to quickly create and deploy Azure resources.
Azure Resource Groups
Resources in Azure are often grouped by ‘resource groups’. A resource group is a container that holds related resources for an Azure solution. Grouping resources makes them easier to monitor and manage. You can create, update, or delete a batch of resources within a resource group in a single, coordinated operation.
Creating and Managing Resources
Consider you want to create a virtual machine (VM) – this is how you would do using Azure portal:
First, you select ‘Create a resource’ option from the navigation pane on the left, then you select ‘Compute’, then ‘Virtual Machine’, and lastly, you fill out the requested information.
To manage the VM, select ‘Virtual machines’ from the ‘Favorite’ section in the navigation bar. From there, you can start, stop, restart or delete your VM.
Azure Marketplace
You can browse the Azure Marketplace directly from the Azure Portal. The Azure Marketplace can be thought of as an online store that sells services or applications that integrate or work with Azure. Therefore, if you are looking to create a WordPress Website or implement a VPN, Azure marketplace has those resources ready for easy deployment.
Cloud Shell
A browser-accessible shell for managing Azure resources, the Azure Cloud Shell provides the flexibility of choosing the shell experience that best suits your way of working. It can be PowerShell or Bash (a UNIX shell and command language). You can perform all the operations in Azure directly from this Cloud Shell that you could from the command line.
Monitoring and Diagnostics
The Azure portal provides built-in monitoring and diagnostics. From the Azure Monitor service, you can view metrics, query logs, set alerts, and analyze the performance and health of your resources.
Azure Portal provides you with a complete and integrated console for managing your Azure resources. Therefore, comprehensive understanding and experience in managing Azure services and resources through Azure Portal is fundamental when preparing for the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam.
Remember, the more you interact with the Azure portal, especially while you’re studying, the more familiar you will become, and the exam will surely seem less daunting.
Conclusion
The Azure portal provides a holistic view of your resources for maximum control, convenience, and customization. The ability to create custom dashboards, search for services, and access Cloud Shell directly makes managing Azure resources a convenient and adaptive experience, equipping users with a substantial cloud environment understanding, a necessity especially for the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam.
Practice Test
True or False: The Azure portal allows you to view and manage all of your applications in one unified hub.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: The Azure portal is a hub for all your applications. It allows you to build, manage, and monitor everything from simple web apps to complex cloud deployments.
True or False: You can use the Azure portal to create virtual machines.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Azure portal allows you to create, configure and manage a wide range of Azure services including virtual machines.
In the Azure portal, which of the following resources can you manage? (Multiple Select)
- A. Databases
- B. Virtual machines
- C. Networks
- D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above
Explanation: The Azure portal allows management of all your Azure resources, including databases, virtual machines, and networks.
True or False: Azure portal supports real-time monitoring of your applications.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Real-time analytics and monitoring are in-built into the Azure portal, to track the performance and health of your applications.
What language is the Azure portal’s Cloud Shell feature built-in?
- A. Python
- B. Perl
- C. Bourne shell
- D. Bash shell
Answer: D. Bash shell
Explanation: The Azure portal has a built-in Cloud Shell feature that offers a Bash shell interface for managing Azure resources.
True or False: Azure portal can only be accessed from a desktop browser.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Azure portal can be accessed via a desktop browser or through the Azure mobile app.
True or False: Azure portal does not support role-based access control.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Role-based access control (RBAC) is supported in Azure portal, allowing you to define who has access to Azure resources and what they can do with those resources.
What does the “All services” blade in Azure portal show?
- A. Only the services you have subscribed to
- B. Only the services accessible to your role
- C. All the Azure services you can create resources under
- D. None of the above
Answer: C. All the Azure services you can create resources under
Explanation: The “All services” blade in the Azure portal shows a list of all Azure services that you can create resources under.
True or False: You can use Azure portal to configure Azure services and security, manage your resources, and manage your subscriptions and billing.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: The Azure portal provides a single place to manage all these aspects of your Azure usage.
Which of the following programming languages can you use in Azure portal’s shell?
- A. PowerShell
- B. Bash
- C. Both A and B
- D. Neither A nor B
Answer: C. Both A and B
Explanation: The Azure portal’s shell supports both PowerShell and Bash languages.
Interview Questions
What is the Azure portal?
The Azure portal is a web-based, unified console that provides an alternative to command-line tools. With the Azure portal, you can manage your Azure subscription using a graphical user interface.
What are some of the common tasks that can be performed through the Azure portal?
Some of the common tasks that can be performed through the Azure portal include creating and managing resources, configuring access to resources, monitoring the performance and activity of your resources, and setting up automated tasks.
Is the Azure portal accessible on both desktop and mobile platforms?
Yes, the Azure portal is accessible via the web on both desktop and mobile browsers that meet Azure’s requirements.
What is the Azure dashboard within the Azure portal?
The Azure dashboard is a customizable place within the Azure portal where you can pin and arrange graphical representations of your resources, and other useful data, for easy monitoring and quick access.
Can the Azure portal be used to deploy complex multi-component applications?
Yes, the Azure portal’s marketplace allows for the deployment of complex multi-component applications. It provides wizards for common tasks and allows quick access to complex settings.
Can you set up automated tasks in the Azure portal?
Yes, you can set up automated tasks in the Azure portal. This is part of Azure Automation, which allows you to automate and orchestrate tasks across Azure and third-party systems.
Is it possible to create custom roles in the Azure portal?
Yes, with Azure’s Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), you can create custom roles in the Azure portal.
What is the Azure Advisor?
Azure Advisor is a suite of tools in the Azure portal that provides personalized recommendations to optimize your Azure deployments for high availability, security, performance, and cost.
What role does the Azure Marketplace have within the Azure portal?
The Azure Marketplace, within the Azure portal, is the platform where users can find, try, purchase, and provision applications and services from top Microsoft partners.
What is Azure Monitor within the Azure portal?
Azure Monitor is a service within the Azure portal that provides full-stack observability across applications and infrastructure. It helps collect, analyze, and act on telemetry data.
Can Azure resources be managed via the command line through the Azure portal?
Yes, the Azure portal includes an integrated console which provides access to the Azure command-line (CLI) for managing resources.
How is user access controlled in the Azure portal?
User access in the Azure portal is controlled through Azure Active Directory. Access to resources can be further controlled by implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
What is the function of Azure Resource Manager in the Azure portal?
Azure Resource Manager in the Azure portal allows users to manage and organize their resources. It is a deployment and management service that provides a consistent management layer to create, update, and delete resources in your Azure account.
Can I access documentation and tutorials directly from the Azure portal?
Yes, the Azure portal provides direct access to documentation, quick-starts, tutorials, and other learning resources to help users start building and managing applications on Azure.
What language options are available in the Azure portal?
The Azure portal is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese, among others.
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