Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-304) Practice Test

Which compute service should be recommended for hosting a public web API and a private health monitoring container together in Azure?

1. Azure Service Fabric

2. Azure Container Service

3. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

4. Azure Container Instances

The correct answer is: Azure Container Instances

The recommended service for hosting both a public web API and a private health monitoring container together in Azure is Azure Container Instances. This service is designed for scenarios where you need to quickly and easily run containerized applications without the complexity of managing the underlying virtual machines or orchestrators. Azure Container Instances allows you to create containers in a serverless environment, meaning you only pay for the resources you use. This is particularly beneficial for hosting scenarios that may not require a permanent infrastructure setup, such as a public web API which may experience fluctuating demand. Additionally, Azure Container Instances supports various networking features that can help you securely expose your public API while keeping the health monitoring container private. This flexibility allows developers to isolate different components of an application based on their accessibility and security requirements. In comparison, while Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) would allow for orchestrating a larger number of containers and managing life cycles efficiently, it introduces additional complexity and overhead that may not be necessary for simpler applications. Azure Service Fabric is more suited for complex microservices applications with stateful requirements, and Azure Container Service, which is now deprecated, would not provide the necessary features and support. Thus, Azure Container Instances stands out as the most appropriate option for this scenario, balancing simplicity, flexibility