Where code runs.
WHAT VIRTUAL MACHINES PROVIDE
A complete operating system you control.
What they suit: existing applications, anything requiring full control.
What they cost: you patch, secure, scale and monitor them.
WHAT APP SERVICES PROVIDE
A managed platform for web applications, without managing servers.
What they suit: web applications and APIs.
What they provide: scaling, deployment slots, certificates, and patching handled.
WHAT CONTAINERS PROVIDE
Applications packaged with their dependencies, run on managed infrastructure.
What options exist: simple container instances, or full orchestration.
WHAT SERVERLESS FUNCTIONS PROVIDE
Code executed in response to events, billed by execution.
What they suit: event handling, scheduled work, integration, and irregular workloads.
What they cost: cold start latency, and execution time limits.
WHAT TO CHOOSE
The most managed option that meets the requirement.
WHY
Every layer you manage is a layer you must patch, secure and monitor.
WHAT TO AVOID
Virtual machines chosen out of familiarity Orchestration for a single application
WHAT TO CONSIDER
Whether the workload runs continuously or intermittently, which changes the economics entirely.
