Azure Bastion is a fully managed service provided by Microsoft Azure, designed to provide secure and seamless RDP and SSH connectivity to virtual machines (VMs) hosted in Azure. With Azure Bastion, you no longer need to open public endpoints or establish a VPN connection to access your virtual machines. Instead, you can connect to them through a private, fully managed and secure RDP or SSH session.
One of the advantages of Azure Bastion is that it can be used as a virtual machine host. This means that you can use Azure Bastion to deploy and manage your virtual machines, instead of deploying them directly to Azure. This article will explore the benefits of using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host, and how you can get started with this approach.
Benefits of using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host
There are several benefits to using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host, including:
- Enhanced security: Azure Bastion provides a secure way to access your virtual machines without exposing them to the public internet. It uses Azure Active Directory for authentication and provides role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure that only authorized users can access your virtual machines.
- Simplified management: By using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host, you can manage all your virtual machines in a single location. This makes it easier to configure and monitor your virtual machines, and to apply updates and patches.
- Improved performance: Azure Bastion provides fast and reliable connectivity to your virtual machines. It uses a highly available network infrastructure and optimized protocols to ensure low latency and high throughput.
- Cost savings: By using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host, you can reduce your infrastructure costs. You no longer need to maintain your own virtual machine hosts, and you can take advantage of the pay-as-you-go pricing model of Azure Bastion.
Getting started with Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host
To get started with Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host, follow these steps:
- Create an Azure Bastion service: To create an Azure Bastion service, navigate to the Azure portal and select “Create a resource”. Search for “Azure Bastion” and select “Create” to start the creation process.
- Configure your virtual machine host: Once your Azure Bastion service is created, you can configure it to act as a virtual machine host. To do this, navigate to the “Virtual Machine Hosts” tab in the Azure Bastion service and select “Add”. You can then specify the virtual machine specifications, including the number of virtual CPUs and the amount of RAM.
- Deploy your virtual machines: Once your virtual machine host is configured, you can deploy your virtual machines to it. To do this, navigate to the “Virtual Machines” tab in the Azure Bastion service and select “Add”. You can then specify the virtual machine specifications, including the operating system, disk type, and network configuration.
- Connect to your virtual machines: Once your virtual machines are deployed, you can connect to them through the Azure Bastion service. To do this, navigate to the “Virtual Machines” tab in the Azure Bastion service and select the virtual machine you want to connect to. You can then click the “Connect” button to start a secure RDP or SSH session.
Azure Bastion provides a secure, reliable, and cost-effective way to access your virtual machines hosted in Azure. By using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host, you can simplify your infrastructure management, enhance your security, and improve your performance. If you are looking for a way to deploy and manage your virtual machines in Azure, consider using Azure Bastion as a virtual machine host.