Looking to Set Up Multiple Virtual Desktops

Question

Hi, I'm a newb looking to set up multiple virtual desktops for my employees. What would be the best windows image to use and how do I install Chrome onto the machines?

Answer 1

Hi Shru84;
Welcome to Azure.  Azure Virtual Machine as the name suggest are Virtual Server which function as your regular server but does not have a physical presence but is hosted on Azure Platform.
We have a variety of OS flavors, there is nothing which is good or bad, its more of a question of your requirement.  Please note that the desktop Version of Windows 7/ 8
are at the moment only available for MSDN subscriber.
As for Chrome Installation its the same as installing it on a regular machine, that is opening up a web browser, loggin into chrome download site and installing it. ( http://www.google.com/chrome/ )
Here is an example:
his tutorial shows you how easy it is to create an Azure virtual machine (VM). This tutorial uses a Windows Server image, but that's only one of the many images available through Azure. This includes Windows operating systems, Linux-based operating systems,
and images with installed applications. The images you can choose from depend on the type of subscription you have. For example, desktop images may be available to MSDN subscribers.
You can also create Windows VMs using
your own images as templates. To learn more about Azure VMs, see
Overview of Azure Virtual Machines.
NOTE:
You need an Azure account to complete this tutorial:
You can
open an Azure account for free: You get credits you can use to try out paid Azure services, and even after they're used up you can keep the account and use free Azure services, such as Websites. Your credit card will never be charged, unless you explicitly
change your settings and ask to be charged.
You can
activate MSDN subscriber benefits: Your MSDN subscription gives you credits every month that you can use for paid Azure services.
How to create the virtual machine
This section shows you how to use the From Gallery option in the Management Portal to create the virtual machine. This option provides more configuration choices than the
Quick Create option. For example, if you want to join a virtual machine to a virtual network, you'll need to use the
From Gallery option.
NOTE:
You can also try the richer, customizable Azure Preview Portal to create a virtual machine, automate the deployment of multi-VM application templates, use enhanced VM monitoring and diagnostics features, and more. The
available VM configuration options in the two portals overlap substantially but aren't identical.
Sign in to the Azure Management Portal. Check out the
Free Trial offer if you don't have a subscription yet.
On the command bar at the bottom of the window, click New.
Under Compute, click Virtual Machine, and then click
From Gallery.
The first screen lets you Choose an Image for your virtual machine from one of the lists in the Image Gallery. (The available images may differ depending on the subscription you're using.) Click the arrow to continue.
The second screen lets you pick a computer name, size, and administrative user name and password. If you just want to try out Azure Virtual Machines, fill in the fields as shown in the image below. Otherwise, chose the tier and size required to run your
app or workload. Here are some details to help you fill this out:
New User Name refers to the administrative account that you use to manage the server. Create a unique password for this account and make sure to remember it.
You'll need the user name and password to log on to the virtual machine.
A virtual machine's size affects the cost of using it, as well as configuration options such as the number of data disks you can attach. For details, see
Virtual Machine and Cloud Service Sizes for Azure.
The third screen lets you configure resources for networking, storage, and availability. Here are some details to help you fill this out:
The Cloud Service DNS Name is the global DNS name that becomes part of the URI that's used to contact the virtual machine. You'll need to come up with your own cloud service name because it must be unique in Azure. Cloud services are important
for scenarios using
multiple virtual machines.
For Region/Affinity Group/Virtual Network, use a region that's appropriate to your location. You can also choose to specify a virtual network instead.
NOTE:
If you want a virtual machine to use a virtual network, you must specify the virtual network when you create the virtual machine. You can't join the virtual machine to a virtual network after you create the VM. For more information, see
Azure Virtual Network Overview. - For details about configuring endpoints, see
How to Set Up Endpoints to a Virtual Machine.
The fourth configuration screen lets you configure the VM Agent and some of the available extensions. Click the check mark to create the virtual machine.
NOTE:
The VM agent provides the environment for you to install extensions that can help you interact with or manage the virtual machine. For details, see
Using Extensions.
After the virtual machine is created, the Management Portal lists the new virtual machine under
Virtual Machines. The corresponding cloud service and storage account also are created and are listed in those sections. Both the virtual machine and cloud service are started automatically and the Management Portal shows their status as
Running.
Click Virtual Machines, and then select the appropriate virtual machine.
On the command bar, click Connect.
Click Open to use the Remote Desktop Protocol file that's automatically created for the virtual machine.
Click Connect to continue.
Type the credentials for the administrative account on the virtual machine, and then click
OK.
TIP:
In most cases, you'll use the user name and password that was specified when the virtual machine was created. Check the user name to make sure it has the correct domain information:
If the VM belongs to a domain at your organization, make sure the user name includes the name of that domain.
If the VM doesn't belong to a domain, either remove any domain information by starting the line with '\' or use the VM name as the domain name. For example,
\MyUserName or MyTestVM\MyUserName.
If the VM is a domain controller, type the user name and password of a domain administrator account for that domain.
Click Yes to verify the identity of the virtual machine.
You can now work with the virtual machine remotely.
Regards;
Prasant