Tutorial / Cram Notes
It determines the physical location, size, and features of the web app. When preparing for the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator exam, understanding how to create and manage an App Service plan is crucial.
Understanding App Service Plans
App Service plans can range from Free to Premium tiers, allowing for a variety of scalability options for your applications. Each tier offers different features, such as custom domain names, SSL support, scaling options, and more.
Here’s a comparison of some of the service tiers:
| Tier | Compute Resources | Custom Domains | SSL Support | Autoscaling | Daily Backups | Traffic Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Shared | Not Available | Not Included | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Shared | Shared | Available | Included | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Basic | Dedicated | Available | Included | Manual | Not Available | Available |
| Standard | Dedicated | Available | Included | Automatic | Available | Available |
| Premium | Dedicated | Available | Included | Automatic | Available | Available |
| Isolated | Dedicated | Available | Included | Automatic | Available | Available |
Creating an App Service Plan
Here are the steps to create an App Service plan in Azure:
- Navigate to the Azure Portal:
- Open the Azure portal and sign in with your Azure account.
- Create a New App Service Plan:
- On the Azure portal homepage, select “Create a resource.”
- Search for and select “Web App”.
- Click the “Create” button to start configuring your App Service and App Service plan.
- Configure App Service Plan Settings:
- In the “Basic” tab, enter the details for your new Web App, including:
- Subscription: Choose the subscription under which you want to create the App Service plan.
- Resource Group: Create a new resource group or use an existing one.
- Name: Specify the name for your web app.
- Publish: Select either “Code” or “Docker Container” depending on your deployment.
- Once the Web App details are set, click “Next” to the “Hosting” tab to configure the App Service plan.
- In the “Basic” tab, enter the details for your new Web App, including:
- Select or Create New App Service Plan:
- Under “App Service plan”, choose “Create new”.
- Provide a name for your new App Service Plan.
- Select the “Region” for your plan, which should ideally be close to the majority of your users to decrease latency.
- Choose Pricing Tier:
- Click the “Pricing tier” setting and choose the tier that best fits your application’s needs and budget. You can see a full list of features by tier and select the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring and Additional Features:
- Optionally, you can configure monitoring and other features such as Application Insights.
- Review any advanced settings available to your chosen tier such as “Auto scale (App Service plan)” if you’re on a Standard, Premium, or Isolated plan.
- Review and Create:
- Review all the settings for your Web App and App Service Plan.
- Click “Review + create” to validate your settings.
- Once validation passes, click “Create” to deploy your new App Service plan.
Upon completion of the App Service plan creation process, you can manage it through the Azure portal. This includes scaling the service plan up or down, adjusting application settings, configuring custom domains, enabling SSL, and setting up deployment slots for staging and production environments.
When studying for the AZ-104 exam, it’s important to understand not only how to create an App Service plan but also how to operate and manage them efficiently. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the different service tiers, their capabilities, and how to monitor and make changes to a plan post-creation. Practice creating different service tiers and configuring them according to different web application scenarios you may encounter on the job as an Azure Administrator.
Practice Test with Explanation
An App Service plan defines a set of compute resources for a web app to run.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: An App Service plan defines the region (Datacenter) where your web apps, functions, and APIs run and specifies the amount of compute resources assigned to them.
App Service plans are tied to a specific region and cannot be changed after creation.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B
Explanation: While App Service plans do get created within a specific region, you can move an App Service plan to another region via a cloning process.
Which of the following scalability options are available for an App Service plan?
- (A) Scale up
- (B) Scale out
- (C) Scale in
- (D) Auto Scaling
- (E) Manual Scaling
- (F) Scale down
- (G) Vertical Scaling
- (H) Horizontal Scaling
- Choose all that apply.
Answer: A, B, D, E, F, G, H
Explanation: App Service plans allow you to scale up (vertical scaling), scale out (horizontal scaling), and scale down. Auto-scaling and manual scaling are methods to adjust the number of VM instances or the VM size.
You can share an App Service plan between different resource groups within the same subscription.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: While it is often tied to a single resource group, you can share an App Service plan across multiple resource groups within the same subscription.
Which of the following app types can be hosted within the same App Service plan?
- (A) Web Apps
- (B) Mobile Apps
- (C) API Apps
- (D) Azure Functions
- Choose all that apply.
Answer: A, B, C, D
Explanation: App Service plans can host various app types, including Web Apps, Mobile Apps, API Apps, and Azure Functions.
An App Service Environment (ASE) is required to use an App Service plan.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B
Explanation: An App Service Environment (ASE) is an option for hosting apps in a fully isolated and dedicated environment, but it is not required to use an App Service plan.
Free and Shared pricing tiers allow custom domain names for web apps.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B
Explanation: Free and Shared (the two base tiers) do not support custom domain names. This feature is available from the Basic tier and above.
You are charged for an App Service plan even if it has no web apps deployed within it.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: You are charged for the App Service plan regardless of whether it has any active web apps deployed or not, as you reserve the underlying compute resources.
How can you minimize latency for your global user base using App Service plans?
- (A) Deploy multiple App Service plans in different regions
- (B) Use Azure Traffic Manager
- (C) Enable Application Insights
- (D) Create a Virtual Network
Answer: A, B
Explanation: Deploying multiple App Service plans across various regions and using Traffic Manager to route users to the closest web app can minimize latency for a global user base.
Which of the following are valid operating systems for an Azure App Service Plan?
- (A) Linux
- (B) Windows
- (C) macOS
- (D) Unix
Answer: A, B
Explanation: Azure App Service Plans support both Linux and Windows operating systems. macOS and Unix are not supported for App Service plans.
Isolated tiers of App Service plans don’t share any resources with other tiers.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: Isolated tiers, such as those within an App Service Environment, provide a dedicated hosting environment where computing resources are not shared with other customers.
Azure App Service plan’s pricing tier can be changed at any time without any downtime.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: A
Explanation: Azure permits changing the pricing tier of an App Service plan at any time, and the process is designed to avoid causing any downtime.
Interview Questions
What is an App Service plan?
An App Service plan is a collection of resources used to host one or more Azure web apps, mobile app backends, and RESTful APIs.
What resources are included in an App Service plan?
An App Service plan includes computing resources (such as CPU, memory, and storage) and network resources (such as ingress and egress data transfer).
Can you scale up or down an App Service plan?
Yes, you can scale up or down an App Service plan based on the demands of your application.
What is the purpose of an App Service plan?
The purpose of an App Service plan is to provide the necessary computing and network resources to host your web app, mobile app backend, or RESTful API on Azure.
How do you create an App Service plan in Azure?
You can create an App Service plan in Azure by following the steps outlined in the Azure portal.
What details do you need to provide when creating an App Service plan?
When creating an App Service plan, you need to provide details such as the subscription, resource group, name, operating system, and region.
What is the “Size and scale” tab in the App Service plan creation process?
The “Size and scale” tab allows you to select the appropriate plan size and scale for your app based on various pricing tiers.
Can you use multiple web apps in the same App Service plan?
Yes, you can use multiple web apps in the same App Service plan.
Can you move an App Service plan to a different region?
Yes, you can move an App Service plan to a different region by changing the region in the App Service plan settings.
What is the cost of an App Service plan?
The cost of an App Service plan depends on the pricing tier you choose and the resources you use.
What is the difference between Shared and Dedicated App Service plans?
Shared App Service plans share resources with other apps, while Dedicated App Service plans have dedicated resources for your app.
What is a Consumption plan?
A Consumption plan is a serverless hosting option for Azure Functions that automatically scales based on demand and only charges for the time your code is running.
Can you use multiple App Service plans for a single web app?
No, you can only use one App Service plan for a single web app.
What is the maximum number of App Service plans you can create per Azure subscription?
The maximum number of App Service plans you can create per Azure subscription depends on the pricing tier you choose.
What happens if you exceed the resource limits of your App Service plan?
If you exceed the resource limits of your App Service plan, your app may experience performance issues, and you may need to scale up your plan to meet the demands of your app.
Great article on creating an App Service plan for AZ-104 exam prep!
I’m confused about the difference between the App Service plan and the App Service. Can anyone clarify?
Thanks for clearing that up!
How do you determine the right App Service plan tier for your application?
This post was very helpful. Appreciate it!
Is it possible to change the App Service plan without any downtime?
A nice post, but I think it lacked depth in explaining scaling options.
Can someone explain the difference between scaling up and scaling out in an Azure App Service plan?