Set Up A Minecraft Server In Azure VM

My son has developed a new addiction to Minecraft. It is a single or multiplayer game with a client-server architecture, millions of users, and a vibrant community. I was initially put off by the crude graphics of the game (a cube-constructed environment with overlaid textures on blocks), but I quickly came to terms with how fun it was and how it encouraged creativity. I'm also impressed by the huge and vibrant community of people playing and extending the game with plug-ins (mods), custom maps, and public server worlds (sites you can go to play, such as http://planetminecraft.net).

Minecraft allows you to play single-player or connect to remote servers. If you're a power user or an IT pro, you can set up your server yourself. There are numerous tutorials to help you get started. This involves downloading and running the server software, disabling firewalls, and entering a server IP address onto the client machine.

Of course what comes next is "Dad, can my friends connect to my Minecraft server?"

So I went down that route and configured our home router to do port forwarding, in turn allowing open internet traffic into the Minecraft-active port on our home network. It was easy, and there are dozens of tutorials to help you.

The scary part: Poking holes in the firewall. This allows unknown (and sometimes malign) parties to your home network and onto a computer that may have additional personal information. There is also the matter of connection bandwidth. This is an essential aspect of smooth gaming when a host server is involved. You could be creating an unusable server if you don't have an internet connection that is fast or has bandwidth limitations.

Enter Windows Azure Virtual Machines

As a Microsoft Windows Azure Insider I realized that Windows Azure was the ideal infrastructure for this type shared access. Minecraft servers Windows Azure provides many capabilities, including access control, storage, shared host roles and access control. This is what is generally referred as PaaS - Platform as a Services. But a relatively new offering from Windows Azure is IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service - which includes virtual machine hosting.

AHH! Finally, a good reason for you to get started with Azure VMs.

[Wait... That sounds a little snarky... It's not intended to be. I was trying be funny... I guess I should continue my day job...

The more I think about the idea, the more I like it. It can be spun down when you're done. You don't even have to alter your home firewalls. Yada, yada...