Create a Windows VM in Azure and RDP from Linux.

Estimate Azure VM pricing

Open the Azure pricing calculator here

Select Virtual Machine and scroll down to see the calculator.

If you are using the VM only for Power BI then a 4GB of RAM might be good enough. However, if you use it for Power BI and one more program like Visual Studio, the applications will crash with only 4GB, then use 8GB RAM.

On the calculator, leave the defaults:

  • Region: Central US
  • OS: Windows
  • Type: OS Only
  • Tier: Basic
  • Instance: A2: 2 Cores, 3.5GB RAM, 60GB Temporary Storage, $0.085/hour
  • Virtual machine: 1
  • Number of hours:
    • Let’s say that you work on PowerBI 4 hours per day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks. Total hours 80
    • Monthly cost so far is $9.20/month
  • Compute (A2): Pay as you go
  • OS (Windows): License included

Changing the instance to A3 with 7GB gives $17.44/month

However, when creating a VM below, there aren’t A instances. The lowest letter is B.

Create a Virtual Machine in Azure with 8GB RAM

Go to your Azure dashboard. (Or open a free Azure account)

In the search, type virtual machine and select the service.

On the drop down, click Create and then Azure virtual machine

Project details

  • Choose a resource group or create one.

Instance details

  • Enter a name
  • Select the region closest to you.
  • Availability options: Leave default No infrastructure redundancy required
  • Security type: Leave default Trusted launch virtual machines
  • Image: Select Windows 10 Pro, version 21H2 - x64 Gen2 (free services available)
  • VM architecture: By default it should be x64
  • Size
    • The default is too expensive Standard_D2s_v3 - 2vcpus, 8GiB memory ($96.36/month)
    • Click See all sizes
      • Review the prices for B-Series (they are the cheapest)