Setting up an Azure environment

Before we start creating any databases or web app services, we need to create a subscription, followed by a resource group. But what exactly are these things and why do we need them?

 

Understanding Azure subscriptions and resources

The first thing we need to create, and as such understand, is a subscription. Every Azure user must have at least one subscription, as every resource we create must be associated with a single parent subscription. This is all very well and good, but what actually is a resource within the context of Azure? The answer is essentially any manageable item or service that we can provision. Examples include databases, web apps, virtual machines, and storage accounts. 

So, we now know that subscriptions are containers for Azure resources, but they also have two other main purposes: they allow us to control user access to the groups of resources that they own, and they allow us to pay for those resources via a single monthly invoice due to...