A First Glance at Azure Container Apps

By Owin Gruters

3 min read

Azure recently launched Container Apps, Somewhere in the function-middle between Container Instances and Kubernetes Services lives this new resource type. This is a journal of a first glance on it.

A First Glance at Azure Container Apps
Authors

I did some testing of the relatively new Azure Container Apps. I must say I am quite enthusiastic and will probably try to use it in one of the upcoming projects we will do that are eligible for it. In my view, this would be projects that use microservices and maybe even 1 frontend and 1 API, but at least simple enough not to need AKS.

How does is relate to other Azure services?

How Container Apps relate to other azure services like Webapps, AKS or Container Instances is written here, it gave me a good insight on where to use it. Basically, Container apps is a container instance on steroids including load balancing (auto)scaling, certificates+custom domains, identity, logging, Service connections (see below) and probably some other stuff. After I did a simple tutorial with a frontend UI app + an API app and how to connect the two. It was quite easy and working like a charm.

Service Connections

In the Azure portal I noticed it is very easy to hookup other Azure services as a 'service connection', which is in preview, but looks very promising (see screenshot with services that can be connected).

The image shows a list of all service connection available from Container Apps.

NO azure managed certificates (yet)!

As for now, you can only bring your own certificate and thus custom domain. Azure managed certificates is in the making. But as frontdoor cannot do without certificates if you have more than 1 routing rule it's quite a blocker for now. (source: https://twitter.com/nthonyChu/status/1525267833856225281).

Costs!!

Finally, I looked at the costs and was a bit amazed by the low cost of the setup. Not sure if I entirely doing the right things in the azure calculator, but it seems that for < 2M requests per month it is free of charge. Then 0.55 cents per every extra million requests. And even if I put in quite high numbers for requests, vCPU, concurrent requests, and execution time the pricing is still enormously low compared to App Service or AKS. This is what surprised me the most.

Some more on the calculation of the costs :)

The number of vCPU seconds = (#requests * execution time) / concurrent requests per container app. If that’s more that 180.000 you start paying. The denominator here is a bit tricky naming-wise. In the Azure Pricing Calculator, it seems to be the number of simultaneous requests, but actually it is the number of concurrent requests your container can manage (as autoscaling will be done if it can’t manage it).

With this calculation it pays off to do proper micro servicing, making the Apps small.

Note that the calculator does not seem to consider the idle time of an instance if you decide to have 1 instance always online. It's not really clear to me yet how long the warmup time is for the first instance to be able to have the default to 0 instances.

To Sum up

This new Azure resource for docker containers look very promising. As container instances has very limited functionality and AKS is quite complex to master, container apps seem a very promising resource. It can be for the gamechanger for docker images, what App Services have been for webservices.

It's also still in the making. You cannot yet create managed certificates, so it's bring-your-own-for now. There will most likely be some other caveats that I have not encountered. But Microsoft is also actively developing more features and integrations, so it will only get better.


Upcoming events

  • The Test Automation Meetup

    PLEASE RSVP SO THAT WE KNOW HOW MUCH FOOD WE WILL NEED Test automation is a cornerstone of effective software development. It's about creating robust, predictable test suites that enhance quality and reliability. By diving into automation, you're architecting systems that ensure consistency and catch issues early. This expertise not only improves the development process but also broadens your skillset, making you a more versatile team member. Whether you're a developer looking to enhance your testing skills or a QA professional aiming to dive deeper into automation, RSVP for an evening of learning, delicious food, and the fusion of coding and quality assurance! 🚀🚀 18:00 – 🚪 Doors open to the public 18:15 – 🍕 Let’s eat 19:00 – 📢 First round of Talks 19:45 – 🍹 Small break 20:00 – 📢 Second round of Talks 20:45 – 🍻 Drinks 21:00 – 🙋‍♀️ See you next time? First Round of Talks: The Power of Cross-browser Component Testing - Clarke Verdel, SR. Front-end Developer at iO How can you use Component Testing to ensure consistency cross-browser? Second Round of Talks: Omg who wrote this **** code!? - Erwin Heitzman, SR. Test Automation Engineer at Rabobank How can tests help you and your team? Beyond the Unit Test - Christian Würthner, SR. Android Developer at iO How can you do advanced automated testing for, for instance, biometrics? RSVP now to secure your spot, and let's explore the fascinating world of test automation together!

    | Coven of Wisdom - Amsterdam

    Go to page for The Test Automation Meetup
  • Coven of Wisdom - Herentals - Winter `24 edition

    Worstelen jij en je team met automated testing en performance? Kom naar onze meetup waar ervaren sprekers hun inzichten en ervaringen delen over het bouwen van robuuste en efficiënte applicaties. Schrijf je in voor een avond vol kennis, heerlijk eten en een mix van creativiteit en technologie! 🚀 18:00 – 🚪 Deuren open 18:15 – 🍕 Food & drinks 19:00 – 📢 Talk 1 20:00 – 🍹 Kleine pauze 20:15 – 📢 Talk 2 21:00 – 🙋‍♀️ Drinks 22:00 – 🍻 Tot de volgende keer? Tijdens deze meetup gaan we dieper in op automated testing en performance. Onze sprekers delen heel wat praktische inzichten en ervaringen. Ze vertellen je hoe je effectieve geautomatiseerde tests kunt schrijven en onderhouden, en hoe je de prestaties van je applicatie kunt optimaliseren. Houd onze updates in de gaten voor meer informatie over de sprekers en hun specifieke onderwerpen. Over iO Wij zijn iO: een groeiend team van experts die end-to-end-diensten aanbieden voor communicatie en digitale transformatie. We denken groot en werken lokaal. Aan strategie, creatie, content, marketing en technologie. In nauwe samenwerking met onze klanten om hun merken te versterken, hun digitale systemen te verbeteren en hun toekomstbestendige groei veilig te stellen. We helpen klanten niet alleen hun zakelijke doelen te bereiken. Samen verkennen en benutten we de eindeloze mogelijkheden die markten in constante verandering bieden. De springplank voor die visie is talent. Onze campus is onze broedplaats voor innovatie, die een omgeving creëert die talent de ruimte en stimulans geeft die het nodig heeft om te ontkiemen, te ontwikkelen en te floreren. Want werken aan de infinite opportunities van morgen, dat doen we vandaag.

    | Coven of Wisdom Herentals

    Go to page for Coven of Wisdom - Herentals - Winter `24 edition
  • Mastering Event-Driven Design

    PLEASE RSVP SO THAT WE KNOW HOW MUCH FOOD WE WILL NEED Are you and your team struggling with event-driven microservices? Join us for a meetup with Mehmet Akif Tütüncü, a senior software engineer, who has given multiple great talks so far and Allard Buijze founder of CTO and founder of AxonIQ, who built the fundaments of the Axon Framework. RSVP for an evening of learning, delicious food, and the fusion of creativity and tech! 🚀 18:00 – 🚪 Doors open to the public 18:15 – 🍕 Let’s eat 19:00 – 📢 Getting Your Axe On Event Sourcing with Axon Framework 20:00 – 🍹 Small break 20:15 – 📢 Event-Driven Microservices - Beyond the Fairy Tale 21:00 – 🙋‍♀️ drinks 22:00 – 🍻 See you next time? Details: Getting Your Axe On - Event Sourcing with Axon Framework In this presentation, we will explore the basics of event-driven architecture using Axon Framework. We'll start by explaining key concepts such as Event Sourcing and Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS), and how they can improve the scalability and maintainability of modern applications. You will learn what Axon Framework is, how it simplifies implementing these patterns, and see hands-on examples of setting up a project with Axon Framework and Spring Boot. Whether you are new to these concepts or looking to understand them more, this session will provide practical insights and tools to help you build resilient and efficient applications. Event-Driven Microservices - Beyond the Fairy Tale Our applications need to be faster, better, bigger, smarter, and more enjoyable to meet our demanding end-users needs. In recent years, the way we build, run, and operate our software has changed significantly. We use scalable platforms to deploy and manage our applications. Instead of big monolithic deployment applications, we now deploy small, functionally consistent components as microservices. Problem. Solved. Right? Unfortunately, for most of us, microservices, and especially their event-driven variants, do not deliver on the beautiful, fairy-tale-like promises that surround them.In this session, Allard will share a different take on microservices. We will see that not much has changed in how we build software, which is why so many “microservices projects” fail nowadays. What lessons can we learn from concepts like DDD, CQRS, and Event Sourcing to help manage the complexity of our systems? He will also show how message-driven communication allows us to focus on finding the boundaries of functionally cohesive components, which we can evolve into microservices should the need arise.

    | Coven of Wisdom - Utrecht

    Go to page for Mastering Event-Driven Design

Share