How to Set Up and Manage Azure Virtual Machines Like a Pro - NareshIT

An Azure Virtual Machine (VM) is an on-demand, scalable computing resource that you can use to run Windows or Linux virtual machines in the cloud. They are a core component of Azure's Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, giving you the flexibility of a physical server without the overhead of hardware maintenance.

How to Set Up an Azure Virtual Machine

1. Plan and Prepare

Before you begin, have a clear plan. Consider the following:

Operating System (OS): Do you need a Windows or Linux VM? Azure offers a wide range of images, from Windows Server and Ubuntu to Red Hat and SUSE Linux.

Size: This determines the VM's CPU, RAM, and storage. Choose a size that meets your workload's performance requirements without being overly expensive. Azure Advisor can provide recommendations for right-sizing your VMs.

Region: Select a data center region geographically close to your users to minimize latency.

Resource Group: Create a new resource group or use an existing one to logically group your VM and its associated resources (disks, network interface, public IP, etc.).

Network: Decide if you'll use an existing virtual network (VNet) or create a new one. A VNet provides a secure, isolated network for your VM.

2. Create the VM

The most common way to create a VM is through the Azure portal.

Log in to the Azure Portal: Go to portal.azure.com and sign in with your account.

Create a Resource: Click "Create a resource," search for "Virtual machine," and click "Create."

Configure Basic Settings: Fill in the basic details: subscription, resource group, VM name, region, and image.

Select Size: Choose a VM size from the list. The portal shows the estimated cost per month for each size.

Set up Administrator Account: For Windows, you'll set a username and password. For Linux, it's highly recommended to use an SSH public key for security.

Configure Disks: Choose your OS disk type (Standard HDD, Standard SSD, or Premium SSD). Premium SSDs offer the best performance and are recommended for production workloads.

Configure Networking: The portal will automatically create a virtual network, a network security group (NSG), and a public IP address. The NSG acts as a firewall, controlling inbound and outbound traffic. You'll need to open specific ports (like RDP for Windows or SSH for Linux) to connect to your VM.

Review and Create: Review all the settings and click "Create." Azure will provision your VM and its resources, which can take a few minutes.

3. Connect to Your VM

Once deployed, you can connect to your VM to start working.

Windows VM: On the VM's overview page in the Azure portal, click "Connect" and then "RDP." Download the RDP file, open it, and enter the credentials you created during setup.

Linux VM: On the VM's overview page, click "Connect" and then "SSH." Use an SSH client to connect using the public IP address and the SSH key file you downloaded. For example: ssh -i <path_to_key_file> azureuser@<public_ip_address>

Managing Azure VMs Like a Pro 🧙‍♂️

Setting up a VM is just the first step. Effective management is key to ensuring performance, security, and cost-efficiency.

Cost Optimization 💸

Right-Sizing: Regularly review VM usage with Azure Advisor and Azure Cost Management. If a VM is underutilized, resize it to a smaller, more cost-effective size.

Auto-Shutdown: For non-production VMs (dev, test, etc.), use the Auto-shutdown feature to automatically deallocate the VM at a specified time. You only pay for compute resources while the VM is running.

Reserved Instances: For stable, long-running workloads, purchase an Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instance. This gives you a significant discount (up to 72%) on the pay-as-you-go rate in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment.

Azure Spot VMs: Use Spot VMs for interruptible workloads. They use surplus Azure capacity and are available at a substantial discount, but can be deallocated at any time.

Security and Availability 🔒

Network Security Groups (NSGs): Control network traffic to and from your VM using NSGs. Create rules to restrict access to only necessary ports and IP addresses.

Just-in-Time (JIT) VM Access: Use JIT access with Microsoft Defender for Cloud to lock down inbound traffic to your VMs. This provides temporary, on-demand access to management ports, greatly reducing the attack surface.

Azure Backup: Configure Azure Backup to create regular snapshots of your VM disks. This protects your data from accidental deletion, corruption, or ransomware attacks.

Availability Sets and Zones: For mission-critical applications, deploy your VMs across Availability Zones or within an Availability Set to protect against data center-level failures and planned maintenance.

Automation and Monitoring 🤖

Azure Monitor: Use Azure Monitor to collect metrics and logs from your VMs. Set up alerts to notify you of critical issues like high CPU usage, low memory, or network bottlenecks.

Azure Automation: Automate common management tasks like starting/stopping VMs on a schedule, applying OS updates, or running custom scripts.

Tags: Use tags to organize and categorize your VMs and other resources. This is crucial for cost management, as you can filter costs by department, project, or environment.

5 Important Q&A on Azure VMs

1. What's the difference between a virtual machine and a container?

A virtual machine is a complete, self-contained operating system (OS) and its applications, virtualized on a host server. It provides full isolation and is ideal for running applications that require a specific OS or have complex dependencies. A container shares the host OS kernel and only packages the application and its dependencies. Containers are lightweight, start faster, and are ideal for microservices and cloud-native applications.

2. How can I optimize costs for my Azure VMs?

The best ways to optimize costs are to right-size your VMs based on actual usage, enable Auto-shutdown for non-production environments, and use Azure Reserved Instances or Azure Spot VMs for predictable or interruptible workloads, respectively. Also, always check the Azure Advisor recommendations for cost-saving suggestions.

3. What is a Network Security Group (NSG) and why is it important?

An NSG is a fundamental security component that acts as a virtual firewall for your VM. It contains a set of inbound and outbound security rules that allow or deny network traffic to and from your VM's network interface. It's crucial for controlling access and protecting your VM from unauthorized connections.

4. What are Availability Sets and Availability Zones?

Availability Sets are a logical grouping of VMs within a single data center that helps to ensure your application remains available during planned or unplanned maintenance. It distributes your VMs across different fault domains (isolated hardware groups) and update domains (groups that can be updated simultaneously).

Availability Zones are physically separate data centers within an Azure region. Deploying VMs across multiple zones protects your applications from data center-level failures.

5. How can I ensure my VM's OS is always up-to-date?

You can use the Update Management solution in Azure Automation or Azure Policy to automate the process of assessing and deploying OS updates for your VMs. For Linux VMs, you can also use tools like apt-get or yum with automation scripts to keep the OS patched and secure.