Introduction

  • 3 minutes

You can deploy Windows Server ​​infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machines (VMs) in Microsoft Azure by using the Azure portal, by using Azure Command-Line Interface (Azure CLI), or by using templates.

Scenario

Contoso is a medium-size financial services company in London with a branch office in New York. Most of its compute environment runs on-premises on Windows Server. This includes virtualized workloads on Windows Server 2012 R2 hosts. The IT group at Contoso is in the process of migrating Contoso servers to Windows Server 2019.

Contoso's IT director realizes that Contoso has an outdated operational model with limited automation and reliance on dated technology. The Contoso IT Engineering team has started exploring Azure capabilities. They want to determine whether Azure services can help modernize operations through automation and virtualization.

As part of the initial design, the Contoso IT team asked you, their lead system engineer and server administrator, to set up a proof of concept environment. This environment must verify whether Azure services can help to modernize the IT infrastructure and meet business goals.

As you consider ways to implement VMs in Azure, you realize you must understand the various ways you can deploy Windows Server IaaS VMs in Contoso's Azure subscription. You want to ensure you can minimize the number of configuration steps you must perform when deploying VMs. At the back of your mind are concerns about cost and performance, so you must understand how best to size a Windows Server IaaS VM.

By the end of this module, you'll be able to describe Azure compute and storage in relation to Azure VMs, and deploy Azure VMs by using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or templates. You'll also be able to describe how Azure Automanage and Windows Server Datacenter: Azure Edition can optimize your IT management capabilities.

Learning objectives

After completing this module, you'll be able to:

  • Describe Azure compute.
  • Describe Azure storage.
  • Deploy Azure VMs.
  • Create a VM from the Azure portal.
  • Create a VM from Azure Cloud Shell.
  • Deploy Azure VMs by using templates.
  • Describe Azure Automanage and key features of Windows Server Datacenter: Azure Edition.

Prerequisites

To get the best learning experience from this module, it's important that you have knowledge and experience of:

  • Managing Windows Server operating system and Windows Server workloads in on-premises scenarios, such as Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Domain Name System (DNS), the Distributed File System (DFS), Microsoft Hyper-V, and file and storage services
  • Common Windows Server management tools
  • Core Microsoft compute, storage, networking, and virtualization technologies
  • On-premises resiliency Windows Server-based compute and storage technologies
  • Implementing and managing IaaS services in Microsoft Azure
  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • Security-related technologies (firewalls, encryption, multi-factor authentication)
  • Windows PowerShell scripting
  • Automation and monitoring