Web App Services On Microsoft Azure Portal And Their Best

Practices
Web link/URL to the web application: https://universityofwalestrinitysd.azurewebsites.net/

Step 1

1.0 Creating Resource Group for Web App in Microsoft Azure Portal Cloud

To able to create a service resource group Microsoft azure platform, the following steps are

supposed to be followed in their order: the first step will be to sing in to the azure platform (must

have an active account). After successful signing in, selecting the resource groups menu from the

dashboard should be done and once it is selected, the user moves on to click on the create button

after which they will be required to enter values such as, the type of service, the region and then

the service subscription plan. Before moving on to the next step, the user should check and

review the information they have filled in these fields and if all the values are correct, they have

to click on create button. The service resource group will then be created instantly. At this point,

the recent created resource group will not appear on the main page of the azure portal. They will

have to click on the refresh button shown at the top of the menu after which the resource group

shows up ready for opening and managing it. Below is a screenshot showing the interface for

creating the resource group on Microsoft azure platform.

Adding Tags on Resource Group Before Creating
For easy management of the resource groups on the azure platform, tags can be used to quickly

identify specific resource groups easily and to add a tag on a resource group during the creation

stage, the following procedure should be followed. The user will have to first look for existing

tags available in the in the overview of the resource platform. To add a tag, they will have to

select on the option that says, click here to add tags where they provide the name of the tag and

the value. Depending on the number of resource groups available, they can continue adding tags

by repeating the same procedure. All the tags added will be shown in the overview column and if

they want to delete a tag, they will click on the change option that will enable them to delete or

add a tag on the resource group. The below screenshot shows how this is done.
Reviewing Resource Group Before Creating
It is always advisable before finalizing the resource group creation process, the user has to

review all the values that they entered in the various filled to be sure that these values are the

specified ones in the requirements. After verification of all the values, it when the final step of

creating the resource group is done by clicking on the create button. To view the created resource

group is done by either clicking on the refresh button or checking the notifications area. The

resource group will be shown there prompting for the user to be directed to the resource group

created for modifications and configurations as required. Below is a screenshot showing how to

locate the newly created resource group in the notification area.

Benefits and Limitations of Azure Service Resource Group
Microsoft azure resource groups are simply logical collection of virtual machines, storage

accounts, virtual networks, web apps, virtual databases and servers hosted on a cloud (ie

Microsoft azure platform) and provided as a service to users at a fee. These resource groups offer

benefits to the users for one; they enable the user to deploy, mange and monitor all the services

for their solutions as a group in an effective way as compared to handling these services

independently which is more complex and tiresome. Secondly, the azure resource manager

enables the user to define access control policies on the resources as a group effectively as

compared to dealing with individual resources separately. Thirdly, azure resource group manager

is capable of handling automated scalability of applications and services which plays a key role

in automatically regulating the scaling up or down of apps and services depending on the

available workload and demand in compute requirements of the services at any given time. Their

scalability property also helps the users of the service to cut on their overall spending on

maintaining their services on azure cloud as they are only required to pay for the services used,

instead of paying for the whole service as a whole – helps the user save some money to be

allocated for other things. Another benefit offered by the azure resource groups is maintenance

and installation costs are mainly done by the azure service providers implying that they will be

no need to purchase, install and manage these machines and servers physically and that is very

economical.

Just like any other computing technology, there has to be some limitations attached to Microsoft

azure resource group manager. The common one being the security issue as no technology or

system can guarantee 100% security of its services or operations it handles. That means, at some

point, security issues like data loss or data breaches may happen and is therefore important for

the users to have an effective security risks mitigation plan and policies put in place. Another
possible limitation of azure resource group service is when the user expands their scope of

operations with regard to a growing demand, it turns out to be costly if not well managed.

Step 2

Creating Web App Service Plan for the Web Application

App Service plans are managed sets of web apps. Normally when you select pricing, the price

charged is applied to the App Service plan rather than to the individual apps. In an ASE you pay

for the compute instances allocated to the ASE rather than what you have listed with your ASP.

Having a resource group in place, well set up and configured, it therefore time to move to the

next stage of establishing the right environment in the resource group created previously to

enable the application be deployed easily. That will be through creating the web app service for

the required web application. To create a web app service, the steps to follow will be as follows;

first is to access the azure platform by logging in as done previously, then select the existing

resource group (created in step 1), then scroll and also select the subscription plan (already

created in step 1). After choosing the subscription plan, select the create an app service plan

followed by inputting the name for the required web app that will act as a link to the web app,

also choose the preferred type of operating system platform on which the app will reside and

then choose the preferred server region for the app and finally click create. To identify the web

app service created, check at the location noted under the plan name of the service. Below is a

screenshot showing the app service UI.

Adding Tags to Azure Web Service
A service tag represents a group of IP address prefixes from a given azure service. They are

usually used to define network access controls on network security groups or the azure firewall.

They are supposed to be used in places of specific IP addresses while creating security rules. For

instance, by specifying the service tag name like ApiManagement in the right source or

destination field of a rule, you can grant or deny traffic for the corresponding service. They will

also be used to achieve network isolation and protecting the resources hosted on azure cloud

from the general internet during access of azure services that have public endpoints. Also, they

will be used to create inbound/outbound network security group rules to deny traffic to/from

internet and allow traffic to/from azure cloud or other available service tags of specific azure

services.
Reviewing Web Service Details Before Creation.
After correctly inputting the required values during the web service creation process and adding

the appropriate service tags for security purposes, the user will then have to go through the entire

process by checking if everything is as per the requirements and correctly put. The final step will

be to click the create web app service button. The below screenshot shows the entire UI window

to be reviewed.

App Service Deployment On Azure Cloud

Depending on the development platform of the web app (for instance, ASP.NET, ASP.NET

Core, Node.js, and .NET Core) web apps can either be published/deployed to Azure App Service

or Azure App Service Linux (using containers) either automatically – if the deployment is

continuous with the help of azure DevOps with azure pipelines or manually – for one-time app

deployment with the help of Visual Studio. In this case, the following method is recommended

for convenience purposes.

Publish to Azure App Service on Windows
In Solution Explorer, right-click the project node and choose Publish (or use the Build > Publish

menu item). In the Publish window, select Azure then select Azure App Service (Windows) and

next sign in with your Azure account, if necessary. Select Create a new Azure App Service...

In the Create Azure App Service (Windows) dialog, the App Name, Resource Group, and App

Service Plan entry fields are populated. You can keep these names or change them. When ready,

select Create. In the Publish dialog, the newly created instance has been automatically selected.

When ready, select Finish. Select Publish. Visual Studio deploys the app to your Azure App

Service, and the web app loads in your browser. The project properties Publish pane shows the

site URL and other details as shown in the screenshot below.

Deployed App Service
After successful deployment of the app service, you can click on the service and view all the

details of the service as shown in the screenshot below. When the service is no longer needed, it

can be deleted by deleting the resource group always listed on the left side of the window.
 Step 3
Web App Screenshots
Home Page
The homepage of the app will display the name of the university and visual images of its serene

environment together with various quick links that lead to different pages like the student

admission page and student service page among others. The page serves as the parent/root page

off which other pages are linked from (summary of all services). The page provides a clear

insight of the whole website contents and university services available to users like students. It

also has social media platform links such as Facebook, Instagram and twitter for exchange and

sharing of information across the entire network.

Student Admission Page
At this page, students will be able to know when admissions are open, the instructions before

interested students start the application process, steps to be followed during the application

process, the programs offered and a provision to download the admission forms. These

provisions made available to all students regardless of their location, will seamlessly help to

improve service delivery smooth workflow during the admission process.

Student Service Portal
The page will provide students with important information such as on upcoming events, notice

board for internal memos, open forums and discussion platforms and quick links to various

resources like the online library and provisional merit list for graduating group. These services

are automated and available to students which makes their learning and school experience worth.
Library and Marketing
The page is mainly meant to provide students at the university a platform where they will have

access to the learning resources available at the library through the internet. Its is also where

advertisements and marketing of various services that the university offers or open vacancies at

the school.