Deploy and manage VMs inside an Azure virtual network with full OS-level control.
| Hosting model | IaaS |
|---|---|
| Container support | Container-compatible |
| Minimum nodes | 1 (2+ for a higher SLA) |
| State management | Stateless or stateful |
| Web hosting | Agnostic |
| Autoscaling | Virtual machine scale sets |
| Load balancer | Azure Load Balancer |
| Scale limit | 1,000 nodes per scale set (platform image); 600 (custom image) |
| Multiregion | Single region only — external router plus multiple VM deployments |
| Virtual network integration | Supported |
| Hybrid connectivity | Supported |
| GPU support | Supported |
| TLS | Set up in the VM |
| Architecture styles | N-tier, big compute (HPC) |
| Required skills | OS administration, networking, security patching |
| Operational overhead | High — full infrastructure management |
| Best for teams | Teams with traditional IT operations experience |
This is one candidate from the Azure compute decision guide. The right choice depends on your full requirements — evaluate scaling, cost, and operational fit before committing.
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