Things to know while choosing your Azure Virtual Machine
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Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) are a fundamental component of Microsoft’s Infrastructure – as – a – Service (IaaS) offerings, which provides scalable, on-demand computing resources as in when required in Azure.
This allows users to deploy and manage both Windows and Linux-based workloads without the need for physical hardware. With Azure VMs, businesses can run applications, host databases, and handle intensive computing tasks, without worrying about the procurement and hardware upgrades as they just need to pay for what they use.
Microsoft Azure offers a vide range of Virtual Machines (VM’s) which fit easily in the variety of computing requirements of the business. When it comes to choosing the right VM you need which is indeed a painful task and there are several factors which must be considered such as Memory, Core, Storage, Networking etc.
Below is a brief overview of the various virtual machines which are available on Azure:
General Purpose: These machines have a balanced CPU-to-memory ratio and are ideal for testing and development, small to medium databases, and web servers with low to medium traffic.
- A-Series: Entry-level VMs ideal for development workloads, build servers, code repositories, low-traffic websites and web applications, microservices, early product experiments, and small databases. They also include load balancing and auto-scaling features at no additional charge.
- B-Series: Ideal for workloads that typically require low to moderate baseline CPU utilisation but sometimes need to burst to significantly higher CPU utilisation as needed. They are also compatible with all types of storage available in Azure.
- D-Series: Ideal for workloads that require less RAM per vCPU than standard VM sizes, such as small-to-medium databases, low-to-medium traffic web servers, virtual desktops, application servers, batch processing, analytics, and more. These VM sizes are optimal for reducing the costs of running non-memory-intensive applications and are compatible with all types of storage available in Azure, with varied types of processors to meet your needs.
Compute Optimised: These machines have a high CPU-to-memory ratio and are optimised for high-performance computing workloads. They are best suited for medium traffic web servers, network appliances, batch processes, and application servers.
Memory Optimised: These machines have a high memory-to-CPU ratio and are best suited for memory-intensive workloads such as relational database servers, medium to large caches, and in-memory analytics. They are available in various series of VMs: Esv3, Easv4, GS, G, D11, and M.
Recently, Microsoft has introduced a new series of VMs called Constrained CPU capable VMs, which are optimised for database workloads that often require high memory, storage, and I/O bandwidth, but not a high CPU core count. These machines can constrain the VM vCPU(s), which in turn helps reduce licensing costs.
Storage Optimised: These machines have high disk throughput and I/O, making them best suited for storage-intensive workloads or applications requiring large-scale storage solutions like Big Data, SQL/Non-SQL databases, data warehousing, and large transactional databases. They are primarily available in the L and Lsv2 series of virtual machines.
GPU Optimised: These virtual machines are specially designed for graphic-intensive workloads such as applications that require heavy graphic rendering and video editing, model training and inferencing, like network designing with deep learning. They are primarily available in the NV, NC, and ND series of virtual machines.
High Performance Compute: These virtual machines are specially designed to handle high-performance computing workloads such as financial risk modelling, seismic and reservoir simulation, molecular modelling, and genomic research. They are available in the H series of virtual machines.
Approach to Making the Right Choice for VM: When it comes to making the right choice for virtual machines on Azure, it is imperative to evaluate your workload requirements based on memory and CPU, storage, networking, and OS against the associated costs.
Conclusion: Making the right choice of virtual machine (VM) for your workload is a crucial activity, whether you are conducting a pre-migration assessment or post-migration performance and cost optimisation. Microsoft Azure offers a wide range of VM types to meet every type of computing need. When selecting a VM, it’s important to consider your specific requirements, such as memory, CPU, storage, and networking needs, as well as operating system compatibility and cost. In a nutshell, choosing the right VM for your workload is essential for achieving optimal performance and cost efficiency on Microsoft Azure. With careful consideration of your requirements and the available VM types, you can select the best VM for your workload and achieve the best possible outcomes.