A Simple Guide to Creating a Windows VM and Setting Up a Data Disk on Azure

Hello, fellow Cloud Enthusiasts!

So, I’ve been diving into the world of Cloud Computing lately, and let me tell you—it’s been a mix of excitement, confusion, and a whole lot of learning. As someone who’s just starting out as a cloud engineer, I wanted to share my experience and break down how I created a Windows Virtual Machine (VM) and also set up a data disk on Azure. If you’re new to this like me, or just need a refresher, this guide is for you. Let’s walk through it together!

Overview

1. Sign in to Azure Portal

2. Create a Windows Virtual Machine

3. Connect to the Windows VM

4. Add and setup a Data Disk

1. Logging into the Azure Portal

First things first, you’ll need to log into the Azure Portal. If you don’t have an account yet, you can sign up for a free one by clicking this link. Start your free Microsoft Azure trial and receive USD$200 in Azure credits to use any way you want. It’s a great way to get started without committing to any costs upfront.

2. Creating a Windows Virtual Machine

This is where the fun begins! Here’s how I created my first Windows VM.

Navigate to Virtual Machines:

i. Once you’re in the Azure Portal, click on the search bar and type “Virtual Machines.”

ii. Select “Virtual Machines” from the list of results.

iii. Click on the “Create“ button.

iv. Select “Azure virtual machine“ from the drop-down list.

v. You will be directed to the “Basics” page

Configure the Basics:

i. Choose your subscription (e.g., Free Trial or Pay-As-You-Go).

ii. Create a new Resource Group by clicking on “Create new“ under the resource group field and give your resource group a name, or select an existing one. Think of this as a folder to organize your resources.

iii. Give your Virtual Machine a unique name.

iv. Pick a region you want your virtual machine to be located in. Mind you, not all VM sizes are available in all regions.

v. For the image, select “Windows 11 Pro, version 24H2 - x64 Gen2” or select an image of your choice.

vi. Select your desired size or click on “See all sizes“ to have more options to choose from. Azure offers a wide variety of sizes to support many types of uses. For testing purposes, I went with “Standard_B1ls - 1 vcpu, 0.5 GiB memory“. it’s small, cheap, and perfect for testing

vii. In setting up the administrator account, I provided a username and set a strong password. Make sure to remember these because you’ll need them to log in later.

viii. In the inbound port rules section, select "Allow selected ports" and then select HTTP (80) and RDP (3389) from the drop-down. These ports serve essential functions: the first for web traffic and the second for remote management.

ix. Check the Licensing box to confirm you have an eligible Windows 10/11 license with hosting rights.

x. Click on "Next: Disks>" to direct you to the Disk page

Configure Disks:

A data disk is a managed disk that's attached to a virtual machine to store application data or other data. I will be creating and attaching a new disk to my VM.

i. Select your preferred OS disk size and the disk type. I left the OS disk size at the default and changed the disk type to “Premium SSD (locally-redundant storage). ” This option gives better storage resiliency against zone failure; you can click on the arrow and choose what best suits you.

ii. Check the “Delete with VM“ box; by leaving this checked, the attached disk is automatically deleted when the associated virtual machine is deleted.

iii. For Key Management, select Platform-managed key: These are key encryption keys that are generated, stored, and managed entirely by Azure.

iii. Click on "Next: Networking>" to direct you to the networking page.

iv. Leave the networking setting in its default state.

v. Leave the Management, Monitoring, Advanced, and Tags pages in their default state and click on “Review + Create“ at the bottom left corner of the screen.

vi. Review the summary of your virtual machine configuration.

vii. Click on the "create" button to begin the deployment process.

viii. Wait for Azure to deploy and provision your virtual machine. This process may take a few minutes.

ix. Once the deployment is complete, click on "Go to resource."

3. Connect to the Windows Virtual Machine

i. Click on “connect” at the top menu or at the side panel, then click on “connect” from the drop-down list.

ii. Under the “Native RDP“, click on the “Download RDP file“ button and open the downloaded file.

iii. Once you open the downloaded RDP file a Remote Desktop Connection window should pop up. Click on connect.

iv. After this, you will be prompted to put in your Administrator Password. Click on “Ok“ after putting in your password.