azure-services-cataloglisted

# Azure Services Catalog: Production Decision & Implementation Guide ## The Four Highest-Leverage Decision Clusters ### 1. Compute — the Four-Way Decision Microsoft's own Azure Architecture Center guidance establishes a clear preference order: 1. **Azure Container Apps (ACA)** — the modern default for container workloads. Built on Kubernetes + KEDA + Dapr but hides the control plane; scale-to-zero, event-driven scaling, no node-pool management. Key constraint: single top-level security boundary (the Container Apps environment) with unrestricted intra-environment communication and a shared Log Analytics workspace — if you need granular multi-workload isolation, use AKS or multiple ACA environments. 2. **AKS** — only when you need direct Kubernetes API access, custom service mesh, node-level control, or strict multi-workload isolation. 3. **Azure Functions (Flex Consumption)** — event-driven spiky workloads. Flex Consumption is now the recommended default (GA November 2024): scale from zero to 1,000 instances, no cold start with Always Ready, VNet integration, per-function scaling, configurable instance memory, Linux-only. 4. **App Service** — straightforward HTTP services and web apps. Deployment slots enable zero-downtime blue-green via slot swap. **Anti-pattern to avoid:** every additional service is operational surface area and on-call burden — resist the Swiss Army knife. #### Compute Details **Virtual Machines — series selection:** - B: burstable, dev/test - D: gen