3-Tier Architecture Deployment on Azure

A complete step-by-step guide to deploying a production-grade Next.js + Node.js + MySQL stack on Azure Architecture Overview → Internet → Azure Application Gateway (Web Tier) → Web VM (Next.js + Nginx) — Public Subnets → Internal Load Balancer (App Tier) → App VM (Node.js backend) — Private Subnets → Azure Database for MySQL (HA + Read Replica) — Private Subnets Phase 1: The Foundation Networking — Virtual Network, 6 Subnets, NAT Gateway, Route Tables Step 1: Create a Resource Group All Azure resources must live inside a Resource Group. This is your project container. Go to the Azure Portal (portal.azure.com) > search Resource Groups > Create. Subscription: Select your subscription. Resource group name: capstone-rg Region: East US (or your preferred region — choose ONE and use it consistently). Click Review + Create > Create. Step 2: Create the Virtual Network (VNet) This is the Azure equivalent of a VPC with a 10.0.0.0/16 address space. Search Virtual Networks > Create. Resource group