--- title: "Azure VM Overview" slug: "azure-vm-overview" updated: 2024-09-06T15:16:51Z published: 2024-09-06T15:16:51Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.skillable.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Azure VM Overview When using Skillable Studio to build Virtual Machines on Microsoft Azure, there are a number of considerations to make. Starting with how you would like the user experience to be. Skillable supports deploying virtual machines via Resource Templates that can be interacted with more like an Azure administrator. Alternatively, and what this article will focus on, is the option to deploy VMs in Azure as a virtualization platform- where the focus is on the VM rather than Azure and it is presented directly to the user, they may not know that it is in Azure at all. When using Azure for virtualization in Skillable Studio, VMs presented to learners or candidates are deployed into the Azure region on the Lab Profile definition that is geographically closest to the user. When using Azure as a virtualization platform, there are two choices in how to deploy VMs: 1. Using **Azure Marketplace** images 2. Using customized **Azure Compute Gallery** images ## Using Azure Marketplace Images Azure Marketplace is an online store that contains thousands of IT software applications and services. Skillable provides access to the Azure Marketplace Virtual Machine gallery in order to allow the use of Marketplace VM images in labs. ### Benefits of using Azure Marketplace VMs - **Expedite the lab build process** - Selecting from a variety of ready-to-go images managed by Microsoft or other publishers instead of going through a setup process, reducing the time it takes to set up new environments. - **Reduced maintenance overhead** - If your lab scenario can be accomplished with a marktplace VM, it removes the need to create & maintain a custom image in an Azure Compute Gallery. ### Best Practices for using Azure Marketplace VMs - Install **Skillable Integration Services** using a Life Cycle Action. ## Using Azure Compute Gallery Images [Azure Compute Gallery](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/shared-image-galleries) (formerly known as Shared Image Gallery) is a service that allows you to create and share custom image definitions in Azure and then deploy virtual machines based on those images. This is the recommended path for utilizing virtual machines in Azure as it enables you to have completely custom images rather than always starting from a default marketplace image. When using Azure for virtualization in Skillable Studio, VMs presented to learners or candidates are deployed into an Azure region based on VM images that live within an Azure Compute Gallery. VM images utilized in this way can be replicated to multiple regions so that Skillable can geolocate the lab user and launch the VM in the supported Azure region that is physically closest to the lab user - improving overall user connectivity & experience. ### Benefits of Azure Compute Gallery - **Standardize VM images with pre-configured software, operating systems, and settings**. - This ensures consistency and helps in maintaining a uniform environment across different deployments. - **Reuse VM images to provision multiple VM instances**. - This saves time and effort, as you don’t need to manually set up each VM from the beginning. - **Expedite the VM provisioning process**. - Instead of the user going through a setup process or figuring out complicated scripts, simply select a pre-configured VM image from your gallery and deploy it, reducing the time it takes to set up new environments. - **Collaborate with other members of your organization or even with external parties**. - Share VM images with others using different methods, such as RBAC, shared directly to a tenant or subscription, or shared through an AD group. - **Optimize global performance with resource replicas in each region**. - Replicate VM images to multiple regions for better connectivity for a global audience. ### Best Practices for using Azure Compute Gallery - Install **Skillable Integration Services** when capturing your image definition. - Use **Resource Locks** at the gallery level to prevent images from accidental deletion. - Maintain **separate galleries** for development and production work. - Make **backup copies** of production images. - **Standardize on a single region** for all images, then **replicate into other regions** as desired. ## Next Steps Now that you understand the differences between Azure Marketplace and Azure Compute Gallery images, you can: - [Setup Azure for Skillable Virtualization](/v1/docs/setup-azure-compute-gallery-for-deploying-custom-vms) - [Build Labs using Azure Marketplace Virtual Machines](/v1/docs/build-labs-using-azure-marketplace-virtual-machines) - [Manage Azure Compute Gallery Virtual Machine Images](/v1/docs/manage-azure-compute-gallery-vms) Skillable's lab building & authoring platform. Microsoft's public cloud computing platform. Labs in Skillable Studio are housed in a Lab Profile. The Lab Profile contains the information about the configurable settings and the virtual machines that make up a lab. For a Lab Profile to be published it must be part of a Lab Series. With Life Cycle Actions, Skillable Studio is able to execute actions when specific events occur during the lab instance life cycle.