Azure Virtual Machines Reviews

What makes Azure VMs stand out for our team is the sheer flexibility in configuration.

Whether we need a small B-series VM for lightweight dev workloads or a compute-optimized instance for heavier processing tasks, the right option is always available.

The deployment process is remarkably simple — we can spin up a new VM within minutes, which has been a huge productivity boost for our team.

We've had a few surprise bills early on before we set up proper cost alerts and budgets.

What I like best about Azure Virtual Machines is how easy and convenient it is to spin up a new VM with just a few clicks. The process of selecting machine types, configuring resources, and assigning resource groups is very straightforward. I also find the ability to create new virtual machines from existing VM images especially useful, as it saves time and ensures consistency. From a pricing perspective, Azure VMs provide great value with solid performance and a wide range of integrations. Additionally, Azure’s support and SLA commitments are reliable and meet industry standards.

One thing I dislike about Azure Virtual Machines is that pricing can become confusing when additional services like storage, networking, and backups are included, sometimes making cost estimation difficult. Initial configuration and permission management can also feel overwhelming for new users. Additionally, occasional performance tuning and resource optimization are needed to avoid unnecessary costs.

Azure Virtual Machines solve the problem of quickly provisioning scalable computing resources without the need to invest in or manage physical infrastructure. One of the biggest benefits for me is that I don’t have to worry about hardware setup, maintenance, or upgrades—I can simply spin up a VM and focus on development instead of infrastructure management. It also allows me to easily create environments based on project needs, scale resources when required, and deploy systems using existing VM images. This saves time, improves flexibility, and helps maintain consistency across environments.

.Easy implementation, fair pricing because of used resources calculation, good integration possibilities with newest stack

Not an easy setup for beginners, also, due to different roles, it could be difficult to track, what's the permissions and who's responsible for what

Orchestration and scaling of virtual environments in the organization

Azure Virtual Machines provides easily scale resources (CPU, RAM, storage) up or down based on workload demands, which is ideal for dynamic environments.

VM startup and deployment time often feels slower compared to container-based or serverless solutions

It eliminates the need for heavy upfront investment in physical servers, data center space, and hardware maintenance.

Azure Virtual Machines is one of the best options for security-focused companies. The main reason is that there’s no need to manage on-premises infrastructure, electricity, server temperature, and other related overhead. With Azure Virtual Machines, I can deploy almost any OS within a minute, and I can scale up or down easily when needed.

After a few months, I noticed the performance of our Azure virtual machines was slightly down. Sometimes the VM restarts automatically, which has been disruptive.

We needed an on-premises DNS server, so I created a VM in Azure running Windows Server. After creating the VM, I installed and configured DNS on the Azure VM. In the VM server i installed Entra connect also so i can easily integrate Azure AD.

Maximum flexibility, cost-optimisation options, a high level of security, globally available VMs, and easy integration.

The pricing structure feels complex, and certain VMs take longer than expected to provision.

It mainly solves our infrastructure problems, and we can scale up or down within just a few hours. Multi-region availability, etc.

Azure Virtual Machines provide excellent flexibility and scalability for running workloads in the cloud. One of the biggest advantages is the ability to quickly deploy Windows or Linux virtual machines with customizable CPU, memory, and storage configurations. Integration with other services in the Microsoft Azure ecosystem makes it easy to manage networking, security, monitoring, and backups in one place.

Another major benefit is the reliability and global availability of Azure data centers, which helps ensure high uptime and performance. Features like auto-scaling, load balancing, and easy snapshot backups make it simple to maintain production environments. The platform is also very useful for testing, development, and running enterprise applications without needing physical hardware.

One challenge with Azure Virtual Machines is that the pricing structure can become complex, especially when additional services such as storage, networking, backups, and bandwidth are included. Without careful monitoring, costs can increase quickly.

Recently, I’ve appreciated the improvements in Azure Virtual Machines around automation and integration with other Azure services. Features like automatic scaling, improved monitoring through Azure Monitor, and easier integration with security tools such as Microsoft Defender for Cloud make it much simpler to manage workloads in production environments. I also like how flexible VM deployment has become through infrastructure-as-code tools like ARM templates and Terraform, which helps streamline deployments and maintain consistent environments.

While Azure Virtual Machines are very powerful, cost management can still be challenging if resources are not monitored closely. It would be helpful to have even clearer cost optimization recommendations directly within the VM management experience. Additionally, simplifying some networking and configuration options could make the platform easier for teams that are newer to Azure infrastructure.

Azure Virtual Machines offer great flexibility, stability, and integration across the entire Azure ecosystem. Creating VMs is extremely easy, and templates/SKU options help in optimizing cost vs performance. Features like Availability Sets, Scale Sets, Azure Backup, Update Management, and Azure Monitor make lifecycle management smooth and automated.

Performance has been very consistent, especially with newer VM families. Integration with Azure AD and RBAC improves security and governance.

Pricing can become confusing, especially with storage, network bandwidth, and licensing components. Support for issues sometimes takes longer than expected. Additionally, importing/exporting large VMs between regions can be time-consuming.

Hosting production workloads with high uptime

It's the flexibility to quickly deploy and scale resources according to my needs. Integration with other Azure services simplifies management, and I can choose from a wide range of operating systems and configurations.

The price can be high when scaling multiple instances, especially for long-term workloads; some collaborations with other manufacturers cannot be supported.

Run applications and workloads without investing in physical servers. It allows me to scale resources according to demand, saving costs and improving efficiency. The flexibility to choose different operating systems and configurations makes it easy to adapt to diverse projects.