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Architecture Planning
Select hosting stack and map components to Azure services.
Stack Selection
| Stack |
Best For |
Azure Services |
| Containers |
Docker experience, complex dependencies, microservices |
Container Apps, AKS, ACR |
| Serverless |
Event-driven, variable traffic, cost optimization |
Functions, Logic Apps, Event Grid |
| App Service |
Traditional web apps, PaaS preference |
App Service, Static Web Apps |
Decision Factors
| Factor |
Containers |
Serverless |
App Service |
| Docker experience |
✓✓ |
|
|
| Event-driven |
✓ |
✓✓ |
|
| Variable traffic |
|
✓✓ |
✓ |
| Complex dependencies |
✓✓ |
|
✓ |
| Long-running processes |
✓✓ |
✓ (Durable Functions) |
✓ |
| Workflow / orchestration |
|
✓✓ (Durable Functions + DTS) |
|
| Minimal ops overhead |
|
✓✓ |
✓ |
Container Hosting: Container Apps vs AKS
| Factor |
Container Apps |
AKS |
| Scale to zero |
✓✓ |
|
| Kubernetes API access |
|
✓✓ |
| Custom operators/CRDs |
|
✓✓ |
| Service mesh |
Dapr (built-in) |
Istio |
| Networking/dataplane |
Managed platform defaults |
Azure CNI powered by Cilium |
| GPU workloads |
|
✓✓ |
| Best for |
Microservices, event-driven |
Full K8s control, complex workloads |
When to Use Container Apps
- Microservices without Kubernetes complexity
- Event-driven workloads (KEDA built-in)
- Need scale-to-zero for cost optimization
- Teams without Kubernetes expertise
When to Use AKS
- Need Kubernetes API/kubectl access
- Require custom operators or CRDs
- Service mesh requirements (Istio, Linkerd)
- GPU/ML workloads
- Complex networking or multi-tenant architectures
AKS Planning: For AKS SKU selection (Automatic vs Standard), networking, identity, scaling, and security configuration, invoke the azure-kubernetes skill.
Service Mapping
Hosting
| Component Type |
Primary Service |
Alternatives |
| SPA Frontend |
Static Web Apps |
Blob + CDN |
| SSR Web App |
Container Apps |
App Service, AKS |
| REST/GraphQL API |
Container Apps |
App Service, Functions, AKS |
| Background Worker |
Container Apps |
Functions, AKS |
| Scheduled Task |
Functions (Timer) |
Container Apps Jobs, Kubernetes CronJob (on AKS) |
| Event Processor |
Functions |
Container Apps, AKS + KEDA |
| Microservices (full K8s) |
AKS |
Container Apps |
| GPU/ML Workloads |
AKS |
Azure ML |
Data
| Need |
Primary |
Reference |
Alternatives |
| Relational |
Azure SQL |
SQL Database |
PostgreSQL, MySQL |
| Document |
Cosmos DB |
Cosmos DB |
MongoDB |
| Cache |
Redis Cache |
|
|
| Files |
Blob Storage |
Storage |
Files Storage |
| Search |
AI Search |
|
|
Integration
| Need |
Service |
| Message Queue |
Service Bus |
| Pub/Sub |
Event Grid |
| Streaming |
Event Hubs |
Workflow & Orchestration
| Need |
Service |
Notes |
| Multi-step workflow / orchestration |
Durable Functions + Durable Task Scheduler |
DTS is the required managed backend for Durable Functions. Do NOT use Azure Storage or MSSQL backends. See durable.md. |
| Low-code / visual workflow |
Logic Apps |
For integration-heavy, low-code scenarios |
Supporting (Always Include)
| Service |
Purpose |
| Log Analytics |
Centralized logging |
| Application Insights |
Monitoring, APM |
| Key Vault |
Secrets management |
| Managed Identity |
Service-to-service auth |
Document Architecture
Record selections in .azure/deployment-plan.md with rationale for each choice.
