Updated June 2026

Designing Azure Infrastructure Essentials

Class Duration

35 hours of live training delivered over 5 days.

Student Prerequisites

Basic Azure services familiarity
Understanding of cloud computing concepts
Software development experience
Basic networking knowledge
Experience with command-line interfaces

Target Audience

This course is designed for software engineers, solution architects, and technical leads who need to design robust, scalable, and cost-effective Azure infrastructure solutions. Ideal for professionals transitioning from development to infrastructure design roles or seeking to enhance their cloud architecture skills with Azure-specific design patterns and best practices. Engineers new to the platform should first complete Microsoft Azure Fundamentals.

Description

This comprehensive course provides software engineers with the essential knowledge and practical skills needed to design enterprise-grade Azure infrastructure solutions. Participants master the Azure Well-Architected Framework's five pillars while learning to apply proven design patterns for compute, storage, networking, and security architectures. The course emphasizes real-world scenarios, covering everything from fundamental design principles to advanced topics like AI workloads and infrastructure as code. Students gain expertise in Azure governance, landing zone concepts, container orchestration, and modern DevOps practices for infrastructure deployment. By course completion, participants will confidently design scalable, secure, and cost-optimized Azure solutions that align with business requirements, industry best practices, and the demands of professional environments.

Learning Outcomes

Apply Azure Well-Architected Framework principles to design reliable, secure, and cost-effective solutions.
Design and implement Azure governance structures using Management Groups, subscriptions, and Azure Policy.
Architect compute solutions including VMs, App Services, serverless functions, and container orchestration.
Select appropriate storage and database platforms based on workload requirements and performance needs.
Design network topologies including hub-and-spoke architectures and hybrid connectivity patterns.
Implement zero-trust security architectures using Azure security services and identity management.
Plan business continuity and disaster recovery strategies with Azure native services, and design monitoring and observability solutions using Azure Monitor and Application Insights.
Apply cost optimization and FinOps practices to manage Azure spending, and implement infrastructure as code using Bicep integrated with CI/CD pipelines.

Training Materials

Comprehensive courseware is distributed online at the start of class. All students receive a downloadable MP4 recording of the training.

Software Requirements

Microsoft Azure subscription (provided)
Azure CLI and PowerShell
Visual Studio Code with Azure extensions
Bicep CLI tools
Git for version control
Web browser for Azure portal access

Training Topics

Azure Foundation & Design Principles

Azure Well-Architected Framework overview
Five pillars: reliability, security, cost optimization, operational excellence, performance efficiency
Design methodology and assessment tools
Architecture decision frameworks

Governance & Organization Design

Management Groups hierarchy design
Subscription strategy and organization
Resource group naming and organization
Azure Policy implementation patterns
Template Specs and Deployment Stacks for repeatable deployments
Landing zone concepts and design

Compute Architecture Design

VM sizing methodologies and selection criteria
Availability strategies with zones and sets
App Service architecture patterns
Deployment slots and scaling strategies
Serverless design with Azure Functions
Logic Apps for workflow orchestration

Container & Orchestration Design

Event-driven container design patterns
Azure Container Apps with KEDA autoscaling
Dapr integration for service communication
AKS cluster design and networking
Container security and governance

Data & Storage Architecture

Storage type selection (Blob, Files, Disks, Queues, Tables)
Data redundancy strategies (LRS, ZRS, GRS, GZRS, RA-GRS, RA-GZRS)
Database platform comparison and selection
Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, MySQL design patterns
Data integration with Azure Data Factory

Caching & Performance Design

Azure Cache for Redis implementation
CDN and caching strategies
Performance optimization patterns
Data tier optimization techniques

Network Architecture Design

Hub-and-spoke topology design
Mesh network patterns
Hybrid connectivity with VPN Gateway
ExpressRoute planning and design
Private endpoints and service endpoints

Security Architecture

Zero-trust design principles
Azure Firewall and WAF implementation
Microsoft Entra ID integration patterns
Identity and access management design
Security monitoring and compliance

Global Load Balancing

Azure Front Door configuration
Traffic Manager routing methods
Global distribution strategies
Multi-region failover design

Business Continuity Design

Disaster recovery planning methodology
Azure Site Recovery implementation
Backup strategies and retention policies
RTO and RPO planning

Monitoring & Observability

Azure Monitor architecture design
Application Insights implementation
Custom dashboards and workbooks
Alerting and notification strategies

Cost Optimization & FinOps

Cost management strategies
Resource rightsizing techniques
Reserved instances and savings plans
FinOps practices and governance

Infrastructure as Code

Bicep fundamentals and best practices
Template organization and modularity
Terraform overview for multi-cloud
CI/CD integration patterns
GitOps workflows for infrastructure

AI Workload Design

Microsoft Foundry architecture patterns
Azure OpenAI Service integration
AI infrastructure requirements
Cost and performance considerations