Azure Virtual Machines – Your Complete Control over the Cloud

By Dr. Umar / March 19, 2026

Topics Covered in this post are:

Azure Compute Services (Introduction)
Virtualization Overview
Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS)

When moving to the cloud, one of the first questions organizations ask is, “Can we run our existing applications without rewriting them?” The answer is often a resounding “Yes,” thanks to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and specifically, Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) .

To understand VMs, we first need to look at the category they belong to and the technology that makes them possible.

What are Azure Compute Services?

Azure Compute Services is a category of on-demand services used to run cloud-based applications. Think of it as the “brain” of your IT operations, the part that actually processes instructions and runs your workloads. Whether you need to host a simple website, run a complex database, or process big data analytics, you will use a compute service.

The Magic Behind the Machine: Virtualization

Before diving into Azure VMs specifically, it is helpful to understand the concept of virtualization. Virtualization is the technology that allows one physical server to run multiple “virtual” machines.

Key Characteristics of Virtualization:

Emulation of Physical Machines: A virtual machine emulates a physical computer, complete with a CPU, memory, and storage.
Different Configurations: You can assign different virtual hardware configurations (e.g., more RAM, faster CPU) to different VMs based on the application’s needs.
Different Operating Systems: You can run a Linux VM and a Windows VM side-by-side on the same physical host.
Total Separation: Each VM is completely isolated from the others. They have their own file systems, services, network ports, and system configurations. If one VM crashes, it doesn’t affect the others on the same host.

Introducing Azure Virtual Machines

An Azure Virtual Machine is Microsoft’s IaaS offering that puts this virtualization technology into your hands. When you create a VM in Azure, you are essentially renting a slice of a physical server in one of Microsoft’s data centers, but you get complete control over that slice.

Key Characteristics of Azure Virtual Machines:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This is the foundational layer of cloud computing. With IaaS, you are responsible for managing the operating system, the software, and the configurations. Azure handles the physical hardware.
Total Control: You have full administrative access to the VM. You can install any software, configure the OS settings, manage users, and control security policies. You are the administrator.
Flexible Images: You can create a VM using pre-built images from the Azure Marketplace (like Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS or Windows Server 2019 Datacenter) or you can upload and use your own custom images.
Best Suited For:
- Custom Software: Applications that require specific system configurations or legacy dependencies.
- Lift-and-Shift Scenarios: Moving an on-premises application to the cloud exactly as it is, without rewriting code. You pick up your server and “shift” it to a VM in Azure.
- Any Application: VMs are versatile. They can run web apps, databases, desktop applications, jump boxes for secure access, gateways, and more.

Creating a VM: A Peek Behind the Curtain

The PDF provides a glimpse into the VM creation process. When you set up a VM, you make several key decisions:

Project Details: You select the subscription to manage costs and the Resource Group (a logical folder) to organize all related resources.
Instance Details:
- VM Name: A friendly name for your machine.
- Region: The physical location (e.g., West Europe) where your VM will run.
- Availability Options: Decide if you need redundancy against data center failures.
- Image: Choose the operating system (Windows Server, Ubuntu, etc.).
- Size: Select the compute power (vCPUs and RAM) you need. Options range from small B-series for testing to powerful sizes for production loads. The PDF shows a Standard_B2s (2 vCPUs, 4 GiB RAM) costing around €25-29 per month.
Administrator Account: Set up the username and password (or SSH key for Linux) to access your machine.

Once deployed, you can connect to your VM using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) for Windows or SSH for Linux. You then have a fully functional server in the cloud, ready for you to configure and use.