Key points

• IaaS compute with customer-managed guest operating system and software.
• A VM depends on size, image, NIC, OS disk, optional data disks, and placement.
• Lifecycle operations include start, stop, redeploy, resize, move, patch, and delete.

Best-known use cases

• Run software requiring guest OS control.
• Host a legacy server workload in Azure.

What candidates often confuse it with

• VM vs App Service: guest OS control vs managed web application platform.
• VM vs VM Scale Sets: individual machine management vs orchestrated fleet.

Key takeaway

Use Azure VMs when guest OS control is required and administer their compute, storage, network, and lifecycle dependencies together.

Related services

• Azure managed disks
• Encryption at host

Relevant exam tasks

• D3.2.S1 — Create a virtual machine
• D3.2.S2 — Configure encryption at host for Azure virtual machines
• D3.2.S3 — Move a virtual machine to another resource group, subscription, or region
• D3.2.S4 — Manage virtual machine sizes
• D3.2.S5 — Manage virtual machine disks

Learn more

• Azure Virtual Machines documentation