Question

Difficulty: Very hardAzure Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Azure App Service

An organization is designing a cloud architecture on Azure for a new retail platform. The architecture requires three distinct host environments:
1. A containerized backend service that runs continuously, requires complex orchestration, service discovery, and fine-grained control over pod scheduling.
2. A temporary, event-driven containerized task that executes on demand for less than 10 minutes to process images, requiring rapid startup and no orchestration overhead.
3. A customer-facing web portal that requires automatic OS-level patching, SSL certificate management, and minimal infrastructure management.

To minimize cost and administrative effort while meeting these exact technical requirements, which combination of Azure compute services should the organization choose?

  1. A
    Azure Container Instances (ACI) for the backend service, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for the image processing task, and Azure App Service for the web portal.
  2. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for the backend service, Azure Container Instances (ACI) for the image processing task, and Azure App Service for the web portal.Answer
  3. C
    Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for the backend service, Azure Container Instances (ACI) for the image processing task, and Azure Virtual Machines for the web portal.
  4. D
    Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for the backend service, Azure Container Instances (ACI) for the image processing task, and Microsoft 365 for the web portal.

Answer

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for the backend service, Azure Container Instances (ACI) for the image processing task, and Azure App Service for the web portal.
The combination of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for the backend service, Azure Container Instances (ACI) for the image processing task, and Azure App Service for the web portal is correct because it matches each requirement to the appropriate service level. AKS handles orchestration and scheduling for the complex backend; ACI provides low-overhead, serverless execution for the short-running task; and Azure App Service automates patching and SSL management as a PaaS platform.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the requirements for the backend service.
The backend service runs continuously, requires complex orchestration, service discovery, and fine-grained scheduling. This matches Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) capabilities.
Azure Container Instances (ACI) and App Service do not offer complete Kubernetes orchestration features like custom scheduling and service discovery.
2
Analyze the requirements for the image processing task.
The task is event-driven, short-lived (less than 10 minutes), and requires no orchestration overhead. This matches Azure Container Instances (ACI) capabilities.
ACI is ideal for quick, isolated container tasks without provisioning full virtual machines or managing orchestrators.
3
Analyze the requirements for the customer-facing web portal.
The portal needs a PaaS environment where Microsoft manages OS patching and SSL certificates. This matches Azure App Service capabilities.
Azure App Service is a PaaS solution that handles OS maintenance automatically, unlike IaaS offerings (Virtual Machines) where the customer must manage patching.
4
Synthesize the findings to select the correct combination.
AKS is chosen for the backend, ACI for the image task, and App Service for the web portal.
This combination aligns perfectly with the cloud architecture requirements while minimizing administrative effort and cost.

Key Concept

Azure Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Azure App Service
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