What is Resource Group in Azure and How to Use it?

Introduction

In the process of working with Azure, you quickly encounter many different resources connected to it, for example, virtual machines, storage accounts, and databases. When you have such a large number of resources in Azure, it becomes challenging to track the various ones in use or simply keep track of them in general. That is where Resource Group in Azure comes in.

In this blog, you are going to learn what Azure Resource Groups are, why they are important, and how you can use them to manage your Azure resources. To learn how to efficiently manage your Azure resources, you can enrol in the Microsoft AZ900 and AZ104 Combo Training.

Let’s first understand what Resource Group really is.

What is Resource Group in Azure?

A Resource Group in Azure is a method of categorizing or bringing related resources under a similar group in the Azure platform. Similar to how a folder is used to store all the relevant documents required to complete a certain task or work on an application. This allows resources to be easily managed, monitored, and protected due to their central location as well as being easier to group.

The resource group can be all the resources for the solution or only discrete resources that you want to create as a group. The resource group in Azure scope is also used throughout the Azure portal to build views that contain cross-resource information. For example:

• The Metrics blade is a feature that enables the descriptions of metrics such as CPU and resources for users.
• A general artifact called ‘deployments blade’ contains the log of ARM Template or Bicep deployments that have targeted the Resource Group (which also adds Portal deployments).
• Policy blade shows details of the policies applied to the resource group.
• The diagnostics settings blade offers the capability to diagnose or review errors or warnings as the case may be.

In turn, the Azure resource group contains metadata about the resources. Thus, it means that when you state a location in which the resource group is to be placed, it is underlining as to where this metadata shall be placed.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of Resource group in Azure, let’s now discuss some of their key features.

Key Features of Resource Group in Azure

Some of the key features of Resource Group in Azure are:

1. Logical Grouping: Resources in the Azure resource group can be related as they are based on a common parameter like requirements for a particular application or service. By arranging resources in such a manner, there is easy organization and management of resources to help achieve set objectives.
2. Deployment Management: You can deploy and manage resources all at once in a resource group in Azure if needed. This is especially helpful when applying large solutions in organizations with numerous dependencies between resources.
3. Access Control: Azure Resource groups enable you to implement Role-Based Access Control that is RBAC. This entails that you get to decide who is allowed to update, or even use, certain resources that are enclosed in a given group.
4. Resource Lifecycle Management: Resource groups in Azure can also be applied to control the resources’ life cycle. All resources within the Azure resource groups can be deployed, updated or deleted in a single attempt as a group.
5. Cost Management: When such resources are disaggregated you can easily manage your costs since they are frequently related. Azure also has features that allow displaying consumption and costs for every created resource group if it is a concern for the user.

How to Create an Azure Resource Group?

Resource Group in Azure can be created by:

Using An Azure Portal

1. Sign in to the Azure Portal: Navigate to the Azure Portal and sign in with your Azure account credentials.

2. Navigate to Resource Groups: In the left-hand menu, select “Resource Groups” or use the search bar to find it.

3. Create a New Resource Group:

• Click on “Add” or “Create a resource group”.

• Enter the required information.
• Name: Choose a descriptive name for your resource group.
• Subscription: Select the Azure subscription under which the resource group will be created.
• Resource Group Location: Choose the region where the resource group will be managed. This location is primarily used for metadata and does not affect the resources within the group.

4. Review and Create: Review your configuration settings and click “Create” to finalize the creation of the resource group in Azure.

Using Azure CLI

Create a new resource group.

Using Azure PowerShell

Using Python

How To Manage and Use Azure Resources?

Once you have created a resource group in Azure, you can start managing resources within it. Here are some common management tasks:

1. Deploying Resources: Resources can be assigned to the given resource group by using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure RM Templates.
   • Azure Portal: Select your resource group in Azure portal, where you will find a ‘+Add’ option with a wizard that provides a step-by-step process for adding new resources.
   • Azure CLI: To deploy resources, use commands such as az resource create.
   • ARM Templates: Employ JSON templates to define the resources along with their configuration. In addition, you can provision these templates through the Azure Portal or Azure Command Line Interface or CLI.
2. Monitoring and Managing Resources: Azure provides several tools for monitoring and managing resources within a resource group: Azure provides several tools for monitoring and managing resources within a resource group:
   • Azure Monitor: Crawls through your resources and acquires their usage patterns and health status.
   • Azure Activity Log: Offers information on the operations that have been done on the resources in a given resource group coupled with who and when did it.
   • Azure Cost Management: This enables you to monitor and price costs related to the resources of the resource group in use.
3. Applying Access Control: To manage who can access or modify resources in a resource group in Azure, you can use Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):
   • Define Roles: Create or use predefined roles like Owner, Contributor, or Reader.
   • Assign Roles: Assign roles to users, groups, or service principals at the resource group level.
4. Deleting Resources: If you no longer need a resource group or the resources within it, you can delete it. Deleting a resource group will remove all resources contained within it, so proceed with caution:
   • Azure Portal: Navigate to the resource group, click on “Delete resource group,” and follow the prompts.
   • Azure CLI: Use the command ‘az group delete –name <resource-group-name>.’

Best Practices for Using Azure Resource Groups

To make the most out of Azure Resource Groups, consider the following best practices:

Organize by Lifecycle

Group resources that are similar in phase of the lifecycle they are in. For example, resources that are used conjointly, resources whose updates and deletions are simultaneous, should be in one resource group in Azure. This makes the work easier to manage and difficult to alter in a way that was not originally intended.

Use Naming Conventions

It is recommended that you start to be consistent with the naming of the resource groups to help you easily understand what the Azure resource group is about and the contents that it holds. For instance, you might decide to prefix the resource with the environment followed by the application name and geographical region.

Apply Resource Tags

From the resource group options, you can use tags to classify the resources. Managing costs and access and applying policies can be easier with tags. Tags are attributes that you use to add metadata to the resources and the Resource Groups.

Implement RBAC Policies

Implement security as well as control the availability of resources with RBAC. Implement roles based on the principle of least privilege; this means that users and services should only have the required amount of privileges they require.

Automate with ARM Templates

Constant and standardized deployments must be done through the use of ARM templates. Templates are used to describe the architecture and settings of the resources and make deployments more predictable and easily manageable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 – What are resource groups used for?

A resource group in Azure is a collection of resources that have something in common, a characteristic that you want to take into consideration when managing and administrating them; that is, when defining functional use, stage in the lifecycle, location, or any other custom divisions.

Q2 – How many Azure resource groups are there?

Currently, there are about 800 resource groups in Azure. However, certain resources can have more than 800 items in a group.

Q3 – What is the difference between Azure resource group and subscription?

Resource groups are considered organizational containers where one would manage various resources in Azure, such as virtual machines, web applications, databases, and storage accounts, to name but a few.

Q4 – What is a Load balancer in Azure?

It is a highly loaded service that allows you to distribute the load effectively for your resources, supports all the UDP and TCP protocols, and provides submicron latency and 100% availability for millions of requests per second.

Conclusion

Resource Groups in Azure are one of the crucial aspects of the cloud that help manage the resources conveniently. Learning about resource groups and their creation, as well as how to work with them, creates greater efficiency in cloud services, better resource control, and great cost control.

Regardless of whether you are embracing new resources, enhancing or containing access control, or calculating costs, Azure Resource Groups have the solution of the structural approach to working with the main challenges of cloud platforms. With the help of guidelines and available information regarding Azure, it shall be possible for the management of cloud resources to be efficient, secure, and cost-optimal as well.