MSDN Documentation

Microsoft Developer Network

Azure Virtual Machines Overview

Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) are on-demand, scalable computing resources that you can create as needed. Azure VMs provide the full compute capacity of a physical computer but with added benefits of flexibility from hardware virtualization. You can deploy and run virtual machines in Azure that include full operating systems like Windows or Linux.

Key Benefits of Azure VMs

  • Flexibility: Choose from a wide range of VM sizes and configurations to match your workload requirements.
  • Scalability: Easily scale your resources up or down based on demand, ensuring optimal performance and cost-efficiency.
  • Reliability: Leverage Azure's robust infrastructure for high availability and disaster recovery.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Pay only for what you use with flexible pricing models, including reserved instances and spot VMs.
  • Security: Benefit from Azure's comprehensive security features and compliance certifications.

Common Use Cases

Azure Virtual Machines are suitable for a variety of scenarios:

  • Development and Test Environments: Quickly provision and de-provision environments for development and testing.
  • Running Applications: Host web servers, application servers, databases, and other enterprise applications.
  • High-Performance Computing (HPC): Utilize specialized VM sizes for demanding computational tasks.
  • Big Data Analytics: Deploy clusters for processing and analyzing large datasets.
  • Disaster Recovery: Replicate your on-premises servers to Azure VMs for business continuity.

Getting Started with Azure VMs

You can create and manage Azure Virtual Machines through various tools:

  • Azure Portal: A web-based interface for easy management.
  • Azure CLI: A command-line tool for scripting and automation.
  • Azure PowerShell: A module for Windows PowerShell to manage Azure resources.
  • Azure SDKs: Programmatic access for building custom solutions.

Example: Creating a VM using Azure CLI

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

VM Sizes and Series

Azure offers a diverse range of VM sizes optimized for different workloads, categorized into series:

  • General Purpose (A, B, D, E, F, G, H, M series): Balanced CPU-to-memory ratio for web servers, small to medium databases, etc.
  • Compute Optimized (F series): High CPU-to-memory ratio for compute-intensive applications.
  • Memory Optimized (E, G, M series): High memory-to-CPU ratio for large in-memory workloads.
  • Storage Optimized (L series): Optimized for high disk throughput and IOPS.
  • GPU Optimized (N series): For graphics rendering, AI, and machine learning.
  • HPC Optimized (H series): For high-performance computing and simulation workloads.

Learn more about choosing the right VM size for your needs in the Azure VM sizes documentation.

Next Steps

Explore the following resources to deepen your understanding: