🚀 A 10-Day Azure Roadmap for MERN Developers (Practical Guide)
I’m starting a focused journey to learn Microsoft Azure from a Full Stack (MERN) developer’s perspective.
Instead of trying to learn 50+ Azure services, I’m focusing only on the services that are actually useful for building and deploying real-world applications.
🎯 Focus Areas
- Azure App Service
- Azure Functions
- Azure Storage (Blob, Queue)
- Azure Key Vault
- Azure SQL
- CI/CD with GitHub Actions
- Managed Identity & RBAC
- Basic monitoring & security
💡 Goal
Build one real-world application while learning Azure — not just watching tutorials.
☁️ What is Azure?
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that provides services for:
- Hosting web applications and APIs
- Managing databases
- Storing files and media
- Running serverless functions
- Securing secrets and credentials
- Automating deployments (CI/CD)
- Monitoring applications
🧠 Azure Architecture (MERN Perspective)
For a MERN developer, Azure can be visualized like this:
React / Next.js
↓
Azure App Service
↓
Node.js + Express API
↓
┌──────────────┬──────────────┐
↓ ↓ ↓
Azure SQL Blob Storage Azure Functions
↓
Azure Key Vault
📅 Day 1 — Azure Fundamentals
Before building anything, understand the Azure hierarchy.
Azure
↓
Subscription
↓
Resource Group
↓
Resources
A resource group can contain:
- App Service
- Function App
- Storage Account
- Key Vault
- Azure SQL
✅ Learn
- Azure Portal
- Subscriptions
- Resource Groups
- Regions
- Pricing basics
- RBAC fundamentals
🛠 Practice
Create a resource group:
mern-azure-demo-rg
👉 Always understand why you are creating a resource, not just how.
📅 Day 2 — Azure App Service
What is App Service?
Azure App Service is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering for hosting web applications and APIs.
Instead of managing:
- Servers
- Operating systems
- Runtime setup
- Patching & maintenance
You focus only on:
- Code
- Configuration
- Deployment
MERN Flow
React Frontend
↓
Node.js + Express API
↓
Azure App Service
✅ Learn
- App Service & App Service Plan
- Environment variables
- Application settings
- Logging
- Scaling
- Custom domains
- HTTPS
- Deployment basics
🛠 Practice
Deploy a simple Express API:
GET /api/users
POST /api/login
GET /api/products
Target:
Local API → Azure App Service → Public URL
📅 Day 3 — Azure Functions (Serverless)
Azure Functions are used for event-driven and serverless workloads.
Common Use Cases
Timer Trigger → Scheduled jobs
Blob Trigger → File processing
Queue Trigger → Background tasks
HTTP Trigger → Lightweight APIs
✅ Learn
- Function App
- HTTP Trigger
- Timer Trigger
- Queue Trigger
- Stateless execution
- Cold start concept
- Consumption vs Premium plan
🛠 Practice
Create a simple function:
{
"message": "Hello from Azure Functions"
}
Then add a Timer Trigger function.
📅 Day 4 — Azure Storage
Azure Storage includes multiple services:
📦 Blob Storage
Used for:
- Images
- Videos
- PDFs
- Documents
📬 Queue Storage
Used for:
- Background processing
- Async workflows
📊 Table Storage
Used for lightweight NoSQL-style data.
Example (Best Practice)
Instead of storing files in a database:
Node.js → Database (❌ not ideal)
Use:
Node.js → Blob Storage → File URL stored in DB
Example JSON
{
"fileName": "profile.jpg",
"fileUrl": "https://blob-url",
"userId": "123"
}
📅 Day 5 — Azure Key Vault
Why Key Vault?
Storing secrets in .env files is risky:
JWT_SECRET=123456
DB_PASSWORD=admin
Better Approach
Azure Key Vault
↓
Secrets / Keys / Certificates
↓
App Service (via Managed Identity)
✅ Learn
- Secrets management
- Access policies
- Managed Identity
- Key rotation
- Secure configuration
🔐 Key Concept: Managed Identity
Instead of credentials:
App → Username/Password → Key Vault
Use:
App Service → Managed Identity → Key Vault
📅 Day 6 — Azure SQL
If you're from MongoDB, this is a shift in mindset.
MongoDB
Collections → Documents
SQL
Tables → Rows → Columns
Example Schema
Users
- id
- name
- email
Orders
- id
- user_id
- amount
Relationship
Users (1) → (Many) Orders
✅ Learn
- SQL basics
- Tables & relationships
- Indexing
- Connection strings
- Firewall rules
- ORM usage
📅 Day 7 — Full Stack Azure Project
Project: Employee Management System
Architecture
React
↓
Azure App Service (Node API)
↓
┌──────────────┬──────────────┐
↓ ↓ ↓
Azure SQL Blob Storage Azure Functions
↓
Azure Key Vault
Workflow
Create Employee
React → API → Azure SQL
Upload File
React → API → Blob Storage
Background Processing
Blob Upload → Azure Function → Processing
📅 Day 8 — CI/CD with GitHub Actions
Instead of manual deployment:
Code → Build → Upload → Deploy
Use:
GitHub → GitHub Actions → Azure App Service
✅ Learn
- GitHub integration
- CI/CD pipelines
- Build automation
- Deployment slots
- Environment variables
📅 Day 9 — Security & Architecture
Focus Areas
- RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
- Managed Identity
- Key Vault integration
- HTTPS enforcement
- CORS policies
- Least privilege access
Example Security Flow
App Service
↓ (Managed Identity)
Key Vault
↓
Secrets
📅 Day 10 — Revision & Interview Prep
App Service
Q: What is Azure App Service?
A managed PaaS for hosting web apps without managing infrastructure.
Azure Functions
Q: When to use Functions?
For event-driven or background processing tasks.
Storage
Q: Where to store images?
Azure Blob Storage.
Key Vault
Q: Where to store secrets?
Azure Key Vault with Managed Identity.
Azure SQL
Q: When to use SQL?
When structured relational data and transactions are required.
🧠 Final Architecture You Should Understand
React
↓
Azure App Service
↓
┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
↓ ↓ ↓
Azure SQL Blob Storage Azure Functions
↓
Azure Key Vault
👉 The goal is not memorization — it is understanding why each service exists.
✅ 10-Day Checklist
Day 1
- Azure basics
- Resource groups
Day 2
- App Service deployment
Day 3
- Azure Functions
Day 4
- Blob & Queue Storage
Day 5
- Key Vault + Managed Identity
Day 6
- Azure SQL
Day 7
- Full project integration
Day 8
- CI/CD pipeline
Day 9
- Security & RBAC
Day 10
- Revision + interview prep
🚀 Final Thought
Don’t measure success by completing courses.
Measure it by:
“I can deploy a full-stack application on Azure and explain how each service works together.”
