Unfortunately, this is not an on-premises SQL Server install because I do not have the right operating system available for SQL Server 2019, which includes the below:

• Windows 2016 +
• Red Hat 7.3-7.6
• SUSE v12 SP2+
• Ubuntu 1.8

So, I am going to use my clicking skills and spin a Machine up in Azure utilizing the market place, so I can get an image of SQL Server installed on the VM already.

Once you have selected the image you want you will get routed to the create a virtual machine page.

I noticed the Azure spot option, with this you can take advantage of our unused capacity at a significant cost savings. At any point in time when Azure needs the capacity back, the Azure infrastructure will evict Spot VMs. Therefore, Spot VMs are great for workloads that can handle interruptions like batch processing jobs, dev/test environments etc. That’s quite cool.

When it comes to sizing there are so many choices. You are probably best advised to select based on the family type you require.

Obviously, I am going for General Purpose here but let’s look at the specs and cost of the more powerful ones, because I am curious. So, the M128-32ms VM size, a cool £23k / month.

Next is disk setup where I opt for managed disks. What are managed disks? Why do I like them? Ultimately it simplifies disk management whilst having a vast choice of types to select from including Premium / standard SSDs to standard HDDs.

Networking configuration should be done with network admins, so you are placing the VM in the correct subnet ranges etc.

Management section, I tend not to change too much here, just the auto shut down rules for dev machines really.

In the advanced section there are section about proximity placement groups and host groups. Check this link out for more details. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-ca/blog/introducing-proximity-placement-groups/

The Security section is quite self-explanatory.

Thats it – Before you create the machine grab the templates – JSON files for future deployments.