Azure Architecture Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for designing Azure solutions using Azure Architecture. Covers reference architectures, solution ideas, design patterns, technology choices, architecture styles, best practices, anti-patterns, example workloads, and migration guides. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., L35-L120), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

• Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
• Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category	Lines	Description
Reference Architectures	L37-L87	End-to-end Azure solution blueprints: production-ready patterns for networking, AKS, data/ML, SAP, hybrid/Arc, security, DR, and mission-critical app architectures.
Solution Ideas	L88-L127	End-to-end solution patterns for AI, data, security, IoT, and migration on Azure—how to design, integrate, and operate real-world architectures using specific Azure services.
Design Patterns	L128-L177	Patterns for resilient, scalable, secure app design: messaging, transactions, caching, routing, identity, legacy migration, global distribution, and fault isolation in Azure architectures.
Technology Choices	L178-L212	Guides for choosing Azure/Fabric services (compute, storage, data, AI/ML, analytics, networking, containers, messaging, search) and matching them to specific workload and architecture needs.
Architecture Styles	L213-L224	Guidance on choosing and designing Azure app architectures (big compute, big data, event-driven, microservices, N-tier, web-queue-worker) with patterns, components, and best practices.
Best Practices	L225-L281	Best-practice patterns for Azure solutions: secure APIs/RAG/ML, AKS ops, networking/DNS, DR, multitenancy, caching/CDN, autoscaling, monitoring, CI/CD, and large-scale event/IoT workloads.
Anti-patterns	L282-L296	Diagnosing and fixing common Azure performance and scalability anti-patterns (busy DB/front end, chatty I/O, no caching, noisy neighbors, retry storms, sync I/O, monolithic persistence).
Example Workloads	L297-L384	End-to-end reference architectures and patterns for real-world Azure workloads: data/AI, AKS, networking, security, hybrid, mainframe, SAP, IoT/OPC UA, NetApp, Fabric, and app modernization.
Migration Guides	L385-L414	Guides for mapping AWS/GCP/Oracle/Kafka to Azure, comparing services (compute, storage, networking, identity, Kubernetes), and planning/migrating workloads and security to Azure.

Reference Architectures

Topic	URL
Automate video analysis with Azure ML and Vision	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/architecture/analyze-video-computer-vision-machine-learning
Deploy baseline enterprise chat with Microsoft Foundry	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/architecture/baseline-microsoft-foundry-chat
Implement baseline Foundry chat in an Azure landing zone	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/architecture/baseline-microsoft-foundry-landing-zone
Deploy MLOps v2 CI/CD and retraining architectures	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/guide/machine-learning-operations-v2
Implement DR-ready Azure enterprise data platform architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/data-guide/disaster-recovery/dr-for-azure-data-platform-architecture
Enterprise-hardened Azure Data Factory lakehouse architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/databases/architecture/azure-data-factory-enterprise-hardened
Mission-critical Azure Data Factory analytics architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/databases/architecture/azure-data-factory-mission-critical
Implement Azure Data Factory medallion lakehouse baseline	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/databases/architecture/azure-data-factory-on-azure-landing-zones-baseline
Deploy MongoDB Atlas securely on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/databases/architecture/mongodb-atlas-baseline
Move archive data from mainframes to Azure storage	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/example-scenario/mainframe/move-archive-data-mainframes
Deploy a hub-spoke AKS cluster with Azure Firewall	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/aks/aks-firewall
Architect mission-critical global content delivery on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/networking/global-web-applications/mission-critical-content-delivery
Implement mission-critical global HTTP ingress on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/networking/global-web-applications/mission-critical-global-http-ingress
Design global routing redundancy for mission-critical web apps	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/networking/global-web-applications/overview
Implement multiregion load balancing with Traffic Manager and Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/high-availability/traffic-manager-application-gateway
Manage hybrid Kubernetes clusters with Azure Arc	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/arc-hybrid-kubernetes
Administer hybrid SQL Server instances with Azure Arc	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-arc-sql-server
Implement enterprise cloud file shares with Azure Files	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-files-private
Design Azure Local baseline infrastructure architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-local-baseline
Implement Azure Local storage switchless architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-local-switchless
Design Azure Virtual Desktop on Azure Local	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-local-workload-virtual-desktop
Implement a hub-spoke network topology in Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/networking/architecture/hub-spoke
Deploy a hub-spoke network using Azure Virtual WAN	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/networking/architecture/hub-spoke-virtual-wan-architecture
Implement TIC 3.0-compliant internet access on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/networking/architecture/trusted-internet-connections
Rehost COBOL mainframe apps to Azure with Raincode	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/app-modernization/raincode-reference-architecture
Deploy Microsoft Entra security for AWS identities	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/aws/aws-azure-ad-security
Host GPU-based ML and HPC workloads on AKS	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/containers/aks-gpu/gpu-aks
Deploy microservices applications on Azure Kubernetes Service	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/containers/aks-microservices/aks-microservices
Implement advanced AKS microservices architecture with scaling and tracing	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/containers/aks-microservices/aks-microservices-advanced
Deploy multiregion AKS baseline clusters for high availability	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/containers/aks-multi-region/aks-multi-cluster
Deploy baseline Azure Kubernetes Service cluster infrastructure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/containers/aks/baseline-aks
Implement Azure Red Hat OpenShift landing zone for financial services	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/containers/aro/azure-redhat-openshift-financial-services-workloads
Deploy end-to-end stream processing pipeline with Databricks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/data/stream-processing-databricks
Implement stream processing with Azure Stream Analytics	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/data/stream-processing-stream-analytics
Implement secure hybrid DMZ network in Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/dmz/secure-vnet-dmz
Implement basic enterprise integration with Logic Apps and API Management	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/enterprise-integration/basic-enterprise-integration
Implement ExpressRoute private peering to Azure VNets	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/hybrid-networking/expressroute-private-peering-connectivity
Design ExpressRoute with VPN failover for resilience	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/hybrid-networking/expressroute-vpn-failover
Deploy site-to-site VPN Gateway for hybrid networks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/hybrid-networking/hybrid-vpn-connectivity
Replicate and sync mainframe data to Azure during migration	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/migration/sync-mainframe-data-with-azure
Run secure Linux virtual machines on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/n-tier/linux-vm
Deploy and secure Windows VMs with full Azure stack	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/n-tier/windows-vm
Run SAP BW/4HANA application tier on Azure Linux VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/sap/run-sap-bw4hana-with-linux-virtual-machines
Deploy SAP HANA scale-up systems on Azure Linux VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/sap/run-sap-hana-for-linux-virtual-machines
Deploy high-availability App Service Environment across zones	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/web-apps/app-service-environment/architectures/app-service-environment-high-availability-deployment
Enterprise App Service Environment v3 deployment architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/web-apps/app-service-environment/architectures/app-service-environment-standard-deployment
Baseline zone-redundant App Service web app architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/web-apps/app-service/architectures/baseline-zone-redundant

Solution Ideas

Topic	URL
Run real-time AI inferencing with Silk virtual SAN on Azure IaaS	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/architecture/ai-inferencing-on-azure-iaas
Generate AI-assisted documents from enterprise data	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/generate-documents-from-your-data
Design image classification apps using Azure services	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/intelligent-apps-image-processing
Implement a many-models machine learning architecture on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/many-models-machine-learning-azure-machine-learning
Process multimodal content with Azure AI services	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/multi-modal-content-processing
Implement multi-agent workflow automation on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/multiple-agent-workflow-automation
Forecast customer orders with Azure AI	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/next-order-forecasting
Orchestrate MLOps pipelines with Azure Databricks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/orchestrate-machine-learning-azure-databricks
Design conversation analytics with Foundry Tools	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/idea/unlock-insights-from-conversational-data
Analyze call center conversations using Foundry and Azure AI	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/ai-ml/openai/architecture/call-center-openai-analytics
Design polyglot persistence with Cosmos DB and SQL	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/databases/idea/combine-relational-nosql
Use Cosmos DB change feed for minimal storage replication	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/databases/idea/minimal-storage-change-feed-replicate-data
Plan migration of IBM z/OS OLTP workloads to Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/example-scenario/mainframe/ibm-zos-online-transaction-processing-azure
Integrate IBM message queues with Azure data platform	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/example-scenario/mainframe/integrate-ibm-message-queues-azure
Simulate IoT device behavior with Azure Load Testing and custom plugins	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/testing/load-testing/load-testing-with-custom-plugins
Design portable adaptive applications across diverse environments	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/adaptive-apps
Design dynamic multi-agent AI systems at scale	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/ai-agents-at-scale
Design AI Search skillsets for image and text enrichment	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/ai-search-skillsets
Build real-time analytics using Azure Service Bus and Microsoft Fabric	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/analytics-service-bus
Create modern analytics architecture using Azure Databricks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/azure-databricks-modern-analytics-architecture
Design first-layer defense with Azure security services	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/azure-security-build-first-layer-defense
Process real-time data streams with AKS and Kafka	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/data-streaming-scenario
Design a GitHub-based DevSecOps IaC pipeline on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/devsecops-infrastructure-as-code
Design a highly available SharePoint farm on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/highly-available-sharepoint-farm
Design ETL pipelines with Azure Databricks and Delta Lake	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/ingest-etl-stream-with-adb
Design IoT analytics with Azure Data Explorer and IoT Hub	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/iot-azure-data-explorer
Replicate and sync mainframe files to Azure storage	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/mainframe-azure-file-replication
Map organizational threats using Azure security tools	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/map-threats-it-environment
Integrate Azure and Microsoft Defender XDR security services	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/microsoft-365-defender-security-integrate-azure
Implement a second defense layer with Microsoft Defender XDR	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/microsoft-defender-xdr-build-second-layer-defense
Automate incident response with Microsoft Sentinel playbooks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/microsoft-sentinel-automated-response
Plan cross-tenant workload migrations between Entra tenants	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/migrate-cloud-workloads-across-security-tenants
Design multilayered security for Azure virtual machines	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/multilayered-protection-azure-vm
Automate SAP infrastructure deployment using SUSE on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/sap-workload-automation-suse
Design cross-region TDE with Managed HSM for SQL MI	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/secure-sql-managed-instance-managed-hardware-security-module
Build SMB modern data platform with Fabric and Databricks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/solution-ideas/articles/small-medium-modern-data-platform