Microsoft Azure Tutorial: Beginner to Intermediate Guide

Microsoft Azure can feel huge. If you’re new (or coming back after a break), this Microsoft Azure tutorial walks you through what matters: the services you’ll actually use, a step-by-step starter project, cost-aware tips, and next steps for growth. I’ve taught teams and shipped cloud projects—so expect practical notes, a few gotchas, and simple guidance you can act on today.

What is Microsoft Azure?

Azure is Microsoft’s cloud platform for building, deploying, and managing apps and services. Think virtual machines and databases, but also serverless tools and CI/CD pipelines. For a compact history and overview, see the Microsoft Azure Wikipedia page.

Why learn Azure now?

Cloud skills are in demand. Organizations want to move faster and reduce ops load. From what I’ve seen, Azure is particularly common in enterprises that already use Microsoft tools (Windows Server, Active Directory, Office 365).

Recent industry reporting highlights cloud adoption trends—useful context if you need to justify learning time to your manager: Forbes on Microsoft Azure.

Core Azure services beginners should know

• Azure VM — full control, lift-and-shift scenarios.
• Azure Functions — serverless compute for event-driven code.
• Azure App Service — managed web apps and APIs.
• Azure Storage — blobs, files, queues.
• Azure SQL Database — managed relational DBs.
• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) — container orchestration.
• Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions — CI/CD and pipelines.

Top trending keywords you’ll see often

Azure, Azure tutorial, cloud computing, Azure VM, Azure Functions, Azure DevOps, Azure pricing — you’ll encounter these across docs, job posts, and tutorials.

Azure VM vs Azure Functions: When to use each

Short answer: choose VMs for full control and Functions for event-driven, cost-efficient workloads.

Step-by-step Azure tutorial: your first project (VM + Storage)

We’ll create a resource group, a Linux VM, and attach a storage account. I prefer the CLI for repeatability.

1. Install Azure CLI and log in: az login
2. Create a resource group:
   az group create –name tutorial-rg –location eastus
3. Create a storage account:
   az storage account create –name tutstorage123 –resource-group tutorial-rg –location eastus –sku Standard_LRS
4. Create a VM:
   az vm create –resource-group tutorial-rg –name tutorialVM –image UbuntuLTS –admin-username azureuser –generate-ssh-keys
5. Test SSH and attach storage if needed. If you get stuck, the official docs are clear: Microsoft Learn: Azure documentation.

Real-world tip

Start small. I once deployed a test VM, forgot to shut it down, and watched costs creep up. Use tags and budgets early to avoid surprises (Azure pricing matters).

Quick patterns for common tasks

• CI/CD: Use Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions to automate builds and deployments.
• Serverless APIs: Combine Azure Functions with API Management for production APIs.
• Data pipelines: Use Azure Data Factory for ETL and Azure SQL or Cosmos DB for storage.

Security, cost, and governance—short checklist

• Enable RBAC and use least privilege.
• Turn on Azure Monitor and logs.
• Set budgets and alerts to control Azure pricing.
• Use resource tagging and naming conventions.

Resources and learning path

Beginner path I recommend:

1. Follow a hands-on tutorial to deploy a VM and web app.
2. Build a serverless function and connect to storage.
3. Automate deployments with Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.

Official learning is excellent and free: Microsoft Learn: Azure documentation. For background reading, the platform history on Wikipedia helps frame evolution and service scope. And if you need market context when arguing for cloud investment, see this industry write-up on Forbes.

Wrapping up

If you take one next step: create a tiny project (VM or Function), automate its deployment, and apply a budget alert. From there, expand toward Azure DevOps or AKS as needed. Learning Azure is progressive—small wins build real confidence.