S4. Compute and virtualization

Outcome: you can deploy and manage servers on-premises and in Azure and explain the tradeoffs.

Skills: Windows Server VMs, Azure VMs, images, scale and availability concepts, Linux virtualization basics (KVM, libvirt), container fundamentals.

Labs

1. Deploy a Windows Server VM and a Linux VM in Azure. Choose sizes, disks and network settings and justify each one.
2. Use custom script extensions to configure both VMs after deployment.
3. Compare an on-premises VMware VM and an Azure VM: backup, resize, move.
4. Deploy a container to Azure Container Instances or App Service and a second one on LNX1 with Docker or Podman.
5. Linux lane: install libvirt on LNX1 and inspect the VM definition files and virtual networks. Nested virtualization is off in this lab, so treat this as reading and light configuration, not running a second-level VM.

Prove it: a decision table for when to use a VM, a container, or an app service, with costs.

Certs: AZ-104 (compute, 20-25%), AZ-802 (Windows Server VMs in Azure), Cloud+ (deployment), Linux+ (containers), LPIC-3 305 (foundation).