On April 6, Microsoft participated in the launch of Intel’s 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, where Microsoft announced the upcoming preview of Azure Confidential Computing and general-purpose Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines. Today we are delivering on that promise and announcing the preview of Dv5-series and Ev5-series Azure Virtual Machines for general-purpose and memory-intensive workloads. You can request access to the preview by filling out Intel’s 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable Processors in Azure form.
The promise associated with cloud economics goes well beyond any initial cost reductions that customers may experience when transitioning their IT environments to the cloud. Many organizations implicitly expect, among other benefits, continuous cloud infrastructure efficiency improvements. Specifically, they need a highly secure and “evergreen” infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform that is able to deliver increasing levels of performance and value. They also need fast access to the latest innovation before rolling out at scale within their own data centers. This is also why Microsoft continues to collaborate with technology vendors like Intel and embed the latest Intel hardware innovation within the fabric of Azure IaaS.
Azure Virtual Machines Dv5 and Ev5-series run on the latest 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Platinum 8370C (Ice Lake) processor in a hyper-threaded configuration, providing better value for most general-purpose enterprise-class workloads. The new processor features a higher all-core Turbo clock speed of 3.5GHz, Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, Intel Advanced Vector Extensions 512 (Intel AVX-512), and Intel Deep Learning Boost. These new virtual machines (VMs) deliver up to 15 percent increased performance for many workloads and better price-to-performance than the previous Dv4 and Ev4-series VMs.
“Intel has been collaborating closely with the Microsoft Azure team to bring innovations to market since the beginning of our cloud journey,” said Rebecca Weekly, Vice President of Data Platforms Group, General Manager Hyperscale Strategy and Execution, Intel. “Once again, it is exciting to see how Microsoft is embracing the latest 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors’ capabilities to deliver significant improvements in performance and costs to customers running a broad range of workloads on Azure Virtual Machines.”
General-purpose workloads
The new Dv5-series VMs offer a balance of memory to vCPU performance with increased scalability, up to 96 vCPUs, and 384 GiB of RAM. These VMs work well for many general computing workloads, e-commerce systems, web front ends, desktop virtualization solutions, customer relationship management applications, entry-level and mid-range databases, application servers, and more.
| Series | vCPU | Memory (GiB) | Local Disk (GiB | Max Data Disks | Max NICs |
|
Dv5-series |
2 – 96 |
8 – 384 |
n/a |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
|
Dsv5-series |
2 – 96 |
8 – 384 |
n/a |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
|
Ddv5-series |
2 – 96 |
8 – 384 |
75 – 2,400 |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
|
Ddsv5-series |
2 – 96 |
8 – 384 |
75 – 2,400 |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
Memory-intensive workloads
The new Ev5-series VMs are ideal for memory-intensive enterprise applications, large relational database servers, data warehousing workloads, business intelligence applications, in-memory analytics workloads, and additional business-critical applications, including systems that process financial transactions of various nature. The new Ev5-series VMs offer high memory-to-vCPU ratios, with increased scalability up to 96 vCPUs and 672 GiB of RAM.
| Series | vCPU | Memory (GiB) | Local Disk (GiB | Max Data Disks | Max NICs |
|
Ev5-series |
2 – 96 |
16 – 672 |
n/a |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
|
Esv5-series |
2 – 96 |
16 – 672 |
n/a |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
|
Edv5-series |
2 – 96 |
16 – 672 |
75 – 2,400 |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
|
Edsv5-series |
2 – 96 |
16 – 672 |
75 – 2,400 |
4 – 32 |
2 – 8 |
The Dv5 and Ev5-series Azure Virtual Machines will also further extend product categories that we introduced with the Dv4 and Ev4-series VMs by offering options with and without local disk storage. VM sizes with a local disk are denoted with a small “d” in the name. VM sizes without a local disk do not have the small “d” value. Many workloads do not benefit from a local disk, so these new options are optimized specifically for this case. Whether you choose a VM with a local disk or not, you can attach remote persistent disk storage to all VMs. Remote disk storage options (such as for the VM boot disk) are billed separately from the VMs in any case, as always.
Learn more about Dv5 and Ev5-series Azure Virtual Machines preview
The Dv5 and Dsv5, Ddv5 and Ddsv5, and Ev5 and Edv5 Azure Virtual Machines are all available in preview today. The Esv5 and Edsv5 series will be available in May 2021. The preview is initially available in our East US 2 Azure region and will be expanded to other regions over time.
During the preview period, the eight new series are available only with pay-as-you-go pricing. The price points are significantly discounted compared to future general availability prices. Spot Virtual Machines and Reserved Virtual Machine Instance pricing will not be available during the preview. Prices will vary by region.
If you are currently using Dv4 and Ev4-series Azure Virtual Machines, the Dv5 and Ev5-series VMs will provide you with a better price-to-performance option and increased scalability up to 96 vCPUs and are just one way that we’re continuing to bring the promise of the cloud to customers everywhere.
To request access to the preview, fill out Intel’s 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable Processors in Azure form. We look forward to hearing from you.
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