Virtual machines, networking, storage and monitoring in Microsoft Azure.
I created a virtual network with two /24 subnets, 10.0.0.0/24 and 10.0.1.0/24, and deployed one VM in each (10.0.0.4 and 10.0.1.4). A /24 has 254 usable host addresses, but Azure shows 251 available because it reserves some addresses for its own services.
The first subnet holds Subnet0-VM at 10.0.0.4. Azure shows 251 of its addresses as available; the rest are reserved for Azure's own services.
Over Remote Desktop I ran ipconfig to confirm the VM's private address and gateway, and pinged its address. This checks the VM's own addressing, not a connection between the two VMs.
C:\Users\myaccount>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : [hidden]
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : [hidden]
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
C:\Users\myaccount>ping 10.0.0.4
Pinging 10.0.0.4 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 10.0.0.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.0.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.0.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.0.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 10.0.0.4:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0msThe second subnet holds Subnet1-VM at 10.0.1.4. Azure shows 251 of its addresses as available; the rest are reserved for Azure's own services.
The same check on the second VM: ipconfig for its address and gateway, then a ping to its own address.
C:\Users\myaccount>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : [hidden]
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : [hidden]
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.1.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.1.1
C:\Users\myaccount>ping 10.0.1.4
Pinging 10.0.1.4 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 10.0.1.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.1.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.1.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.1.4: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 10.0.1.4:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0msI created a Windows Server 2019 VM (size Standard B1s, East US), connected to it over Remote Desktop and checked its system properties in Server Manager. Then I deleted its resource group to clean up.
After adding the AllowPing rule, pinging the VM from my own PC got 4 of 4 replies, averaging 23 ms.
C:\Users\...>ping [VM public IP]
Pinging [VM public IP] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from [VM public IP]: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=48
Reply from [VM public IP]: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=48
Reply from [VM public IP]: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=48
Reply from [VM public IP]: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=48
Ping statistics for [VM public IP]:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 21ms, Maximum = 26ms, Average = 23msI added a network security group rule, AllowPing (priority 310, ICMP), next to the existing SSH rule (priority 300, TCP port 22).
I launched an Ubuntu 20.04 VM and connected over SSH to check the kernel version, OS release, network interfaces and outbound connectivity.
azureuser@NETW211-VM-FZ:~$ uname -r
5.15.0-1045-azure
azureuser@NETW211-VM-FZ:~$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="20.04.6 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS"
...
azureuser@NETW211-VM-FZ:~$ ping -c 4 www.facebook.com
...
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 16.331/16.601/17.065/0.329 ms
azureuser@NETW211-VM-FZ:~$ ip addr
...
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
inet 10.0.0.4/24 brd 10.0.0.255 scope global eth0
...Two activity-log alert rules on the Linux VM: one for a restart and one for a deallocation.
An action group that sends an email when either alert fires.
I restarted and stopped the VM, and both alert emails arrived on October 5, 2023.
I uploaded an image to Blob storage and opened it by its URL. I took a snapshot of a text blob, then turned on versioning and saved a revised copy, so both the original and the revision were kept.
I worked through the core pieces of Microsoft Azure across the course modules. I deployed Windows and Linux virtual machines, built a virtual network with two subnets, opened a firewall rule so I could ping a VM from my local PC, stored and versioned files in Blob storage, and set up alerts that email me when a VM restarts or shuts down.
I created a Windows Server 2019 VM (size Standard B1s, East US), connected to it over Remote Desktop and checked its system properties in Server Manager. Then I deleted its resource group to clean up.
I created a virtual network with two /24 subnets, 10.0.0.0/24 and 10.0.1.0/24, and deployed one VM in each (10.0.0.4 and 10.0.1.4). A /24 has 254 usable host addresses, but Azure shows 251 available because it reserves some addresses for its own services. Over Remote Desktop I ran ipconfig on each VM to confirm its private address and gateway, and pinged its address.
I launched an Ubuntu 20.04 VM and connected over SSH to check the kernel version, OS release, network interfaces and outbound connectivity. Then I added a network security group rule, AllowPing (priority 310, ICMP), next to the existing SSH rule (priority 300, TCP port 22). Pinging the VM from my own PC got 4 of 4 replies, averaging 23 ms.
I uploaded an image to Blob storage and opened it by its URL. I took a snapshot of a text blob, then turned on versioning and saved a revised copy, so both the original and the revision were kept.
I created an action group that sends an email, and two activity-log alert rules on the Linux VM: one for a restart and one for a deallocation. I restarted and stopped the VM, and both alert emails arrived on October 5, 2023.
The checks I ran on the Ubuntu VM over SSH:
uname -r # 5.15.0-1045-azure
cat /etc/os-release
ping -c 4 www.facebook.com
ip addrAnd on each Windows VM over Remote Desktop, checking the VM's own address rather than a connection between the two VMs:
ipconfig
ping 10.0.0.4Hot storage is for data that's used constantly. It's quick to access but costs more.
Cool storage is for data you access less often. It takes longer to get to but is much cheaper.
Archive storage is for long-term keeping: things you rarely need to touch.
I learned how to deploy and manage virtual machines in Azure, how virtualization works in practice, and a lot more about networking: subnets, reserved addresses, and how firewall rules decide what traffic gets through. When something didn't work, like the alert emails, I had to work out where the problem was and fix it. The course also named cloud service models among its skills, though the labs here show virtualization, networking and security.