Set Up A Minecraft Server In Azure VM

My son is addicted to Minecraft, a single or multi-player game with a client/server architecture, millions of players, a recently released version (as of last Wednesday), and a vibrant, engaged 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).

With Minecraft you can play single-player on a local machine, or you can connect to remote servers. You don''t need to be a technical expert or a power user to set up your own server. There are many tutorials that will help you. You will need to download the server software, run it, disable any firewalls and enter a server IP on the client.

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

So I followed that path and set up our router to forward port traffic, which allowed us to open the Minecraft-active port on the home network. This was not difficult, and there are many tutorials that will help you.

The scary part is: Exploiting holes in the firewall. This, of course, allows the unknown (and sometimes malicious) parties onto your home network and onto a machine that may have other personal information on it. There is also the issue of bandwidth. This is an important aspect of smooth gameplay when a host is involved. If you don''t have a screaming-fast internet connection, or bandwidth limitations on your connection, you could really be setting up an unusable server.

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. Windows Azure offers many capabilities including storage, access control, shared host roles, storage, and what is commonly referred to as PaaS – Platform as a service. Just another site IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service – a relatively new offering of Windows Azure - includes virtual machine hosting.

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

[Wait... That sounds kind of snarky... It''s not meant that way. I was trying not to be funny... I guess I should keep my day job... ;)]

The more I think about the idea, the more I like it. It can be rearranged when you''re done, and it doesn''t need to affect your home firewalls. Yada, yada...