Custom Azure Virtual Machine image

Question

I want to make a custom Virtual Machine image for the Azure cloud. When creating an new Azure cloud instance the Azure cloud should use my Virtual Machine image and not the standard Azure one. On my Virtual Machine image I want a database server installed, and the database should be able to access the physical drives for reasons of I/O performance. Is all this possible, and how should I proceed to achieve this?

Answer 1

Sure you can do that.

You can start from an existing VM Azure image: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-capture-image-windows-server/

You can also upload a VHD: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-create-upload-vhd-windows-server/