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Virtual Machines

Azure's IaaS compute for Windows and Linux: families for every workload, reserved pricing and the hybrid benefits of your Microsoft licenses.

FOCUS · GOVERNED COMPUTERight sizes, licenses exploited and sensible shutdowns: the cloud VM that doesn't waste
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01 · What it is

Azure Virtual Machines, made clear.

Azure VMs cover every need — general purpose, memory, compute, GPU — with managed disks, availability zones and scale sets. The difference for a Microsoft shop is the Hybrid Benefit: the Windows/SQL licenses you already own cut the bill like on no other cloud.

700+
the sizes available across families and generations: the right fit exists
−40%
the order of savings with Reserved Instances and Hybrid Benefit
99,99%
the SLA with availability zones: HA is designed, not presumed
Azure Virtual Machines
OFFICIAL MICROSOFT BRANDING · VIRTUAL MACHINES
PORTALE AZURE REALE · CREAZIONE VM · FONTE: MICROSOFT LEARN
REAL AZURE PORTAL · VM CREATION · SOURCE: MICROSOFT LEARN
02 · How to use it well

The things that make the difference.

How we govern it

Windows & Linux applicationsil carico di lavoro
Scale set
Availability zone
Dischi gestiti
elasticity · resilience · storage
Policies, tags and budgetsthe governance that avoids surprises
Reserved + Hybrid Benefitthe optimized price
IaaS yes, but with discipline

Continuous right-sizing

Metrics decide the size: oversizing is the cloud's hidden tax.

Hybrid Benefit exploited

Windows Server and SQL with Software Assurance are worth heavy discounts: they just need activating properly.

Planned shutdowns

Dev and test don't work at night: start/stop automation cutting 60% of the hours.

Security baseline

Defender for Cloud, orchestrated patches and JIT access: the exposed VM is the forgotten one.

03 · In depth

Series, disks and availability

VMs are chosen by series (D general purpose, E memory, F compute, L storage, N GPU) and version (v5/v6, with suffixes: s=premium storage, a=AMD, p=ARM Cobalt). Managed disks range from Standard HDD to Premium SSD v2 (independently tunable IOPS and throughput) and Ultra Disk; availability is built with availability zones and flexible Virtual Machine Scale Sets. Azure Hybrid Benefit reuses Windows/SQL licenses; Trusted Launch (secure boot+vTPM) is the modern default.

  • Premium SSD v2 — IOPS/throughput decoupled from size: the disk tuned to the workload
  • Scale Set flexible — a mix of sizes and spot in the same fleet with fault domains
  • Hybrid Benefit — Windows/SQL with SA: up to -40% off the VM bill
  • Spot VM — the interruptible at a steep discount with a managed eviction policy
  • Trusted Launch — secure boot, vTPM and attestation: the integrity baseline
  • Capacity reservation — guaranteed capacity in the AZs for workloads that can't wait
04 · Numbers and lifecycle

The numbers that matter.

99,99%
the SLA with VMs spread across availability zones
-40%
the typical cut with Hybrid Benefit on Windows
80k
Ultra Disk IOPS for extreme databases
v6
the current series: size refreshes follow a calendar
The right VM is size+disk+reservation: right-sizing with Azure Advisor, Hybrid Benefit activated and reservations on the base — we keep the bill in check.
05 · Use cases

Where it really pays off.

Governed lift & shift

The servers that must migrate fast, without carrying the waste along.

Peaks and projects

Capacity by the hour for seasonality and testing.

DR in cloud

The secondary site you pay for only when needed.

The cloud isn't expensive: the ungoverned cloud is. FinOps and 24/7 operations are our craft.