Windows Azure Virtual Machines

In the recent June 2012 update, we can now provision Virtual Machines (VM) on Windows Azure via a new feature called Windows Azure Virtual Machines. This is Microsoft's entry into the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) space.

Windows Azure Virtual Machines is different from VM Role, in that it does not require us to create the VHD ourselves and upload it to the cloud. Everything is done on Windows Azure and we will have our VM running in just a few minutes.

There are few images that are available during the preview, Windows Server 2012 RC being one of them.

Not only can we create Windows VMs, but we can also create non-Windows VMs from the Gallery.

Once we have created our VMs, we can just RDP in.

Here is the Pricing information. Take note that you will still be charged during the preview period. So remember to delete your VMs (and the other stuff that was created for you) if you are just testing!

Note: After removing your VM, do remember to also remove the Cloud Service that was created. To remove the Storage, you will first need to Delete the Disk in the Virtual Machines tab.