title: Strategy recommendations for implementing Azure to perform simulation software
body: <p>My company uses modeling software that takes between 10-12 hours to complete a full simulation run. After it finishes running, data can be collected and stored in our database. Our goal is to be able to perform some machine learning on this data. However, in order to get enough data for this, we are going to need to run this modeling software at least a few hundred times.</p>
  
  <p>This is where Azure, I hope, comes in. Is it reasonable to rent several VMs from Azure, download our modeling software, and then let these VMs run our modes as many times as they can?</p>
  
  <p>We would want to be able to save the state of our VMs after we have downloaded and installed our modeling software. This would allow us the ability to start and pause the use of the VMs without having to re-download the modeling software every time. Although after that, as long as we could export the results to our local database, we would have no need to continuously back up the VMs.  </p>
  
  <p>Given all of this, do you think that using multiple VMs through azure is a good fit for my company? If so, do you think configuring a Recovery Services vault for multiple VMs would be the correct method for saving the state of my VMs after the software has been installed? (based on articles <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-vms-first-look-arm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-vms-first-look-arm</a> and <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-arm-vms-prepare" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-arm-vms-prepare</a>)</p>
  
  <p>Thank you for any advice or insights you are able to give.</p>