Future Outlook & 7 Use Cases

In modern computing, efficiency and automation are critical determinants of successful system management. One of the most fundamental aspects of this is task scheduling, a process that, if implemented effectively, can lead to significant improvements in system productivity and reliability. Azure Scheduler is a cloud-based service from Microsoft designed to run simple or complex tasks on an easy-to-use and flexible platform.

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into Azure Scheduler, exploring its features, capabilities, limitations, and how you can use it to optimize your tasks and operations. In addition, we will discuss real-world applications and its replacement with Azure Logic Apps.

What is Azure Scheduler?

Azure Scheduler is a cloud-based job scheduling service that allows you to run jobs, such as calling HTTP/S endpoints or publishing messages to Azure Storage queues, on any schedule, from microseconds to monthly. It is a simple yet effective tool for planning and coordinating tasks, making it easier for businesses to focus on their core business activities.

Users can schedule jobs to run at specific times, set them to run periodically or on demand. It’s all processed in the cloud, so server maintenance or uptime is not a concern.

Azure Scheduler has a simple user interface where users can add images and work schedules. (See Figure 1)

Source: Microsoft¹

Figure 1: Azure Scheduler

Key features of Azure Scheduler

• Multiple job action types: Azure Scheduler supports several workflows such as HTTP/S, storage queues, Service Bus queues, and Service Bus topics.
• Rich planning capabilities: You can set a task to repeat at certain intervals, from minutes to months, and specify a start time, end time, and time zone for each job.
• Error tolerance: Azure Scheduler is designed to be fault tolerant. The job will automatically retry according to your set policy if it fails.
• Observability: Azure Scheduler provides job history that includes job results, time taken to run, and error messages to help you better understand your jobs and troubleshoot them.

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ActiveBatch is a comprehensive workload automation tool that enables users to automate, manage and monitor the execution of various tasks, processes and workflows across multiple platforms, applications and systems. With ActiveBatch, users can extend the capabilities of Azure Scheduler by:

• Perform workloads in Azure systems and scale machine resources to meet current demands and minimize machine wastage.
• Automatically provision and deprovision Azure resources based on events such as ServiceNow or SCSM ticket creation, self-service requests, or other criteria.
• Install ActiveBatch on Azure systems for highly reliable scheduling and orchestration of end-to-end workflows.

How does Azure Scheduler work?

Azure Scheduler uses three main components: job collections, tasks, and actions.

• Working collections: These are working groups. Each working collection has a set of quotas and a unique namespace.
• Vacancies: These are the tasks you want to accomplish. They can be anything from HTTP/S calls to posting messages to Azure Storage queues or Service Bus topics.
• Actions: It defines what happens when the job is done. Actions can include HTTP/S requests, sending a message to an Azure Storage queue, or a Service Bus thread.

Azure Scheduler integration with other Azure services

Azure Scheduler is designed to work seamlessly with various services in the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.

• Azure Functions and Logic Apps: Azure Scheduler can trigger Azure functions and logic apps at defined intervals. It’s a powerful tool when you need to perform tasks that involve complex workflows, data manipulation, or interaction with other Azure services.
• Azure Service Bus: Azure Scheduler can send messages to an Azure Service Bus Queue or thread at defined intervals. It allows you to create sophisticated messaging workflows and distribute the different components of your application.
• Azure Storage: You can configure Azure Scheduler to automatically move or manipulate data stored in Azure Storage at specified intervals. This can be useful for tasks such as automatic backups or data archiving.
• Azure Event Hubs: Azure Scheduler can send notifications to Azure Event Hubs, a big data streaming platform and event recording service. This can be useful in real-time analytics scenarios or when you need to collect data from multiple sources and process it simultaneously.
• Azure Runbooks: Azure Scheduler can run Azure Runbooks (part of Azure Automation) on a schedule. It allows you to automate management tasks, such as scaling resources or managing virtual machines, based on a predefined schedule.
• Azure Batch: In scenarios where massively parallel and high-performance computing is required, Azure Scheduler can trigger Azure Batch jobs. This allows efficient planning and computation of large volumes of data.
• Azure API Management: Azure Scheduler can send HTTP or HTTPS requests to any HTTP endpoint. This means it can trigger any API managed by Azure API Management at regular intervals. You can read our article on API management to understand its importance, benefits and best use cases.

Top 7 Azure Scheduler Use Cases

1-regular data collection and analysis

Azure Scheduler can be used to automate data collection at regular intervals. This can be especially useful for organizations that frequently need to analyze new data, such as stock prices or social media sentiment.

2. Automation of technical works

Routine maintenance tasks such as database cleanup, log rotation or system health checks can be scheduled automatically, reducing the need for manual intervention.

3. Job Chaining

Azure Scheduler can orchestrate the execution of complex workflows where tasks must be executed in a specific order. For example, an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) workflow can be automated, where data is first extracted from the source, transformed or cleaned, and then loaded into the database.

4. Sending repetitive emails or messages

If you need to send recurring emails or notifications, such as weekly reports or daily reminders, Azure Scheduler can handle this automatically.

5. Calling Azure functions or logic apps

Azure Scheduler can trigger Azure functions or logic apps at specific times. This is useful when these services need to run on a schedule, such as running a function every night to back up data.

6. Testing

Azure Scheduler can help with load testing or stress testing by generating a large volume of requests to an application at a specific time. Azure Scheduler can also be used to automatically perform health checks on applications or services and alert administrators in case of service outages.

7. Coordination of microservices

In a microservices architecture, Azure Scheduler can coordinate and trigger actions across different services.

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Azure Scheduler vs. Azure Logic Apps

While Azure Scheduler is a powerful tool, it’s important to note that Microsoft has recommended Azure Logic Apps as the preferred way to schedule and run tasks in the cloud since the Scheduler service was released in 2019. Azure Logic Apps provides similar functionality to Azure Scheduler, but adds additional features, including a visual designer, connectors to various services, and built-in support for tracking, alerting, and logging.

Although Azure Scheduler has been retired, Azure Logic Apps has replaced it and offers more extensive functionality and integration options. Whether you’re still using Azure Scheduler or have migrated to Azure Logic Apps, understanding the principles of job scheduling in the cloud will help you get the most out of these tools and streamline your development processes.

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External links

1. Microsoft, Schedule Batch Jobs

Altay is an industry analyst at AIMultiple. He has expertise in international political economy, multilateral organizations, development cooperation, global politics and data analysis.

He has experience working in private and government institutions. Altai discovered his interest in emerging technology after seeing its widespread use in several sectors and recognizing its importance for the future.

He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from the University of Bilkent and his master’s degree in international politics from KU Leuven.