In this chapter, you will learn what products of Microsoft make a hybrid cloud and look at the characteristics and functionalities delivered by these solutions. The technical details and how-to's will be described in Chapter 3, Understanding the Microsoft Azure Architecture, and the later chapters.

You will learn how the products were developed and also take look at the service levels of Microsoft Azure, the cost structure, supported software, and license mobility.

Last but not least, we will have a fair and unbiased look at what is possible using Microsoft cloud solutions—because it is not only important to understand what a solution delivers, but also what a solution doesn't deliver at the moment.

As described in Chapter 1, An Introduction to Cloud Computing, the Microsoft hybrid cloud is made out of a few software components. The ones we will discuss in this chapter are: