Understanding and Managing Azure Virtual Machines

Published: October 26, 2023 | Last Updated: November 15, 2023 | Author: Microsoft Docs Team

Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) provide on-demand, scalable computing resources. You can deploy and run VMs to host a wide variety of applications and services, offering the flexibility and control of a physical server without the need to manage the underlying hardware.

Key Concept

A virtual machine is an emulation of a computer system. VMs are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer. This includes the ability to interact with applications and operating systems as if it were a physical computer.

What are Azure Virtual Machines?

Azure VMs offer a full compute infrastructure that you can manage, from the operating system to applications. They are ideal for:

  • Development and Testing: Quickly set up and tear down development and test environments.
  • Running Applications: Host web servers, database servers, enterprise applications, and more.
  • High-Performance Computing (HPC): Leverage powerful VM sizes for complex simulations and calculations.
  • Disaster Recovery: Implement robust disaster recovery strategies for your on-premises workloads.
  • Data Storage and Analytics: Process and analyze large datasets.

Key Features and Benefits

  • Scalability: Easily scale your VMs up or down based on demand.
  • Flexibility: Choose from a wide range of operating systems (Windows, Linux) and VM sizes.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Pay only for the compute resources you consume.
  • High Availability: Utilize Azure's built-in features for high availability and fault tolerance.
  • Security: Benefit from Azure's robust security infrastructure.

Getting Started with Azure VMs

Creating an Azure VM is a straightforward process. You can use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, PowerShell, or ARM templates.

Using the Azure Portal

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. Search for "Virtual machines" and select it.
  3. Click "Create" and choose "Virtual machine".
  4. Fill in the required details such as Subscription, Resource group, VM name, Region, Image, Size, and Administrator account.
  5. Configure networking, storage, and management settings as needed.
  6. Review your configuration and click "Create".

Example using Azure CLI

Here's a basic example of creating a Linux VM using the Azure CLI:


az vm create \
  --resource-group MyResourceGroup \
  --name myVM \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys

Managing Your Virtual Machines

Once your VM is deployed, you can perform various management tasks:

Starting, Stopping, and Resizing

You can start, stop, or restart your VM through the Azure portal or command-line tools. Resizing allows you to change the VM's size to meet performance or cost requirements.

Connecting to Your VM

  • Windows: Use Remote Desktop Connection (RDP).
  • Linux: Use SSH.

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Azure Monitor provides comprehensive insights into your VM's performance, health, and resource utilization. You can set up alerts and collect diagnostic logs.

Disk Management

Manage the storage disks attached to your VM. You can create, attach, detach, and resize data disks, and configure OS disks.

Networking

Configure virtual networks, subnets, network security groups (NSGs), and public IP addresses to control network traffic to and from your VM.

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

For applications that require high availability and need to automatically scale out or in, consider using Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS). VMSS allows you to deploy and manage a set of identical, load-balanced VMs.

Cost Management

Azure VMs are priced based on the VM size, operating system, storage, and any associated data transfer. Utilize cost-saving options like Reserved Instances and Azure Hybrid Benefit where applicable.

Cost Optimization Tip

Shut down your VMs when they are not in use to save on compute costs. Note that storage costs will still apply.

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