Understanding Azure VMs

A VM is a logical configuration of resources to emulate a machine that runs similarly to a normal computer. The difference is that you can leverage a set of pooled resources, such as memory, CPU, and storage, to create customized VMs. Typically, a physical machine is limited by its physical specifications and is designed to run a single machine. Through virtualization, though, you can carve up the resources to create several machines according to the limits of your physical resources. By being able to leverage a hyperscale hypervisor such as Azure, you benefit from being able to leverage the nearly unlimited resources that Microsoft builds into its data centers to allow massive scale. You essentially need to identify the number and size of resources you need and select an appropriate VM that matches your requirements.

You can run both Windows VMs as well as Linux VMs in Azure. VMs come in all sorts of sizes and a variety of prices, ranging from VMs with a...