Azure Virtual Machines Documentation

Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) provide on-demand, scalable computing resources. You can use Azure VMs to deploy a wide range of computing solutions—from hosting applications in the cloud to expanding your datacenter capabilities. Azure offers a variety of VM sizes and configurations to meet your specific workload requirements.

Getting Started with Azure VMs

Follow these steps to get your first Azure VM up and running:

Create an Azure Account: If you don't have one, sign up for a free Azure account.
Navigate to Virtual Machines: In the Azure portal, search for "Virtual machines" and select it.
Create a Virtual Machine: Click "+ Create" and then "Virtual machine".
Configure your VM: Select your subscription, resource group, VM name, region, image (OS), size, and administrator credentials.
Configure Disks, Networking, and Management: Adjust these settings based on your needs.
Review and Create: Review your configuration and click "Create".

For a more detailed walkthrough, see the official Create your first VM tutorial.

Understanding Azure VM Types

Azure offers several VM series optimized for different workloads:

General Purpose (A, D, E, F, B series): Balanced compute, memory, and I/O. Ideal for testing, development, small-to-medium databases, and web servers.
Compute Optimized (C series): High CPU-to-memory ratio. Suited for medium-weight web servers, network appliances, batch processes, and application servers.
Memory Optimized (E, M series): High memory-to-CPU ratio. Excellent for relational database servers, large caches, and in-memory analytics.
Storage Optimized (L series): Optimized for high disk throughput and I/O. Best for Big Data, SQL, and NoSQL databases.
GPU Optimized (N series): For graphics-intensive applications, video rendering, and AI/ML workloads.
High Performance Compute (H series): For the most demanding computational workloads, such as fluid dynamics, weather modeling, and seismic processing.

Deployment Options

You can deploy Azure VMs using various methods:

Azure Portal: A user-friendly web interface for creating and managing resources.
Azure CLI: A command-line interface for managing Azure resources across various platforms.
Azure PowerShell: A scripting environment for automating Azure tasks.
ARM Templates/Bicep: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for declarative deployment.
Terraform: A popular open-source IaC tool.

Tip: For repeatable deployments and disaster recovery, consider using Infrastructure as Code tools like ARM Templates or Bicep.

Virtual Machine Management

Manage your VMs effectively with these features:

Start, Stop, Restart: Basic VM lifecycle management.
Resize: Change VM size to adjust compute or memory resources.
Re-deploy: Moves a VM to a new host within Azure.
Reset Password: Reset administrator credentials for Windows VMs.
Run Command: Execute scripts on your VM remotely.
Extensions: Deploy agents and custom scripts to configure VMs after deployment.

Networking

Azure VMs integrate seamlessly with Azure networking services:

Virtual Networks (VNets): Isolate your VMs in private network spaces.
Network Security Groups (NSGs): Filter network traffic to and from Azure resources.
Load Balancers: Distribute network traffic across multiple VMs.
Application Gateway: A web traffic load balancer that enables application-level routing.
Public IP Addresses: Assign static or dynamic public IPs for internet connectivity.

Storage

Choose the right storage for your VM needs:

Managed Disks: Provide high-performance and highly available storage for VMs. Options include Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD, and Ultra Disk.
OS Disk: The disk containing the operating system.
Data Disks: Additional disks for storing application data.
Temporary Disk: Provides high-performance, low-latency storage for temporary data (e.g., swap files, temp files). Data on this disk is ephemeral.

Security Considerations

Securing your Azure VMs is paramount:

Update Management: Keep your operating systems and applications patched.
Azure Security Center: Centralized security management and threat protection.
Disk Encryption: Use Azure Disk Encryption to encrypt OS and data disks.
Network Security: Implement NSGs and firewalls to control access.
Identity and Access Management (IAM): Control who can manage your VMs.

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Gain insights into your VM performance and health:

Azure Monitor: Collects, analyzes, and acts on telemetry from your Azure and on-premises environments.
VM Insights: Provides performance and health monitoring for your VMs.
Boot Diagnostics: Collects boot information to diagnose startup issues.

Pricing

Azure VM pricing varies based on VM size, region, operating system, storage, and commitment. Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate costs.

Consider using Azure Hybrid Benefit and Reserved Instances for cost savings.