Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service provided by Microsoft Azure. It’s designed for building highly responsive and scalable applications with low-latency access to data across the globe. Azure Cosmos DB is suitable for a wide range of applications, including web and mobile apps, gaming, IoT, and more. Here are some key features and concepts related to Azure Cosmos DB:

1. Global Distribution: Azure Cosmos DB is designed for global distribution. It allows you to replicate your data to multiple Azure regions around the world, ensuring low-latency access for users regardless of their geographic location.

2. Multi-Model: Azure Cosmos DB supports multiple data models, including document, key-value, graph, column-family, and more. This flexibility allows you to choose the most suitable data model for your application.

3. NoSQL Database: It is a NoSQL database service, which means it is schema-less and can handle semi-structured or unstructured data. This makes it suitable for agile development and accommodating evolving data requirements.

4. Multi-API Support: Azure Cosmos DB provides support for various APIs, including SQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Gremlin, and Table. This allows you to use familiar programming models and APIs when working with the database.

5. Turnkey Global Distribution: Azure Cosmos DB offers automatic and instant replication of data across multiple regions, automatic failover, and high availability with guaranteed SLAs for availability, latency, throughput, and consistency.

6. Scalability: It offers horizontal scaling, allowing you to scale throughput and storage independently based on your application’s needs. You can easily add or remove resources as demand changes.

7. Consistency Models: Azure Cosmos DB provides multiple consistency models, including strong, bounded staleness, session, consistent prefix, and eventual consistency. You can choose the model that best fits your application’s requirements.

8. Partitioning: Data in Azure Cosmos DB is automatically partitioned to distribute the workload and enable horizontal scaling. Partitioning is transparent to developers and managed by the service.

9. Security: Azure Cosmos DB includes security features like firewall rules, virtual network service endpoints, encryption at rest and in transit, and role-based access control (RBAC) to help protect your data.

10. Monitoring and Insights: It provides monitoring and diagnostics through Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics, allowing you to gain insights into the performance and health of your database.

11. Global Distribution of Data: Azure Cosmos DB allows you to specify the regions where your data should be replicated. This enables data residency compliance and disaster recovery planning.

12. Serverless Offering: Azure Cosmos DB offers a serverless option that allows you to pay only for the actual request units (RUs) consumed by your application, making it cost-effective for low-traffic or sporadically used applications.