Microsoft unveils bigger and more powerful Azure VMs

A person at a laptop with a secure lock symbol floating above it.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / laymanzoom)

Microsoft has announced the general availability of two new Azure instances with remote storage performance and memory-intensive business-critical applications in mind.

The new Ebsv5 and Ebdsv5 models promise up to three times higher remote storage IOPS and up to six times higher remote storage throughput performance than the Ev4 that succeeded them.

With the higher performance, Microsoft’s suggestion is that customers may be able to reduce the number of VMs they require, saving some cash.

Ebsv5 and Ebdsv5 NVMe VM series

Both the Ebsv5 and Ebdsv5 NVMe virtual machines will offer up to 260,000 IOPS and 8,000 MBps of remote disk storage throughput. They can be configured up to 672 GB of memory and the Ebdsv5 can support up to 3,800 GB of storage provided by SSDs.

The higher figures are possible thanks to the introduction of new E96 and E112i vCPUs, with the lowest Standard_E2bs_v5 VM capped at 16GB memory, 5500 IOPS, and 156 MBps of remote disk storage throughput.

It’s worth pointing out that the Ebsv5 family doesn’t include local storage, unlike the Ebdsv5, though both are based on the 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Platinum 8370C chips.

Microsoft explained in its announcement: “In today's data-driven business environment, rapid processing, analysis, and extracting actionable insights from the increasing volume of data collected is critical for companies to maintain a competitive edge,” citing online transaction processing as an example use case.

The new NVMe-enabled VMs will be available in the following 13 regions with more set to follow, and will join the Ebsv5 and Ebdsv5 SCSI family that launched a year ago:

USNorth, Southeast Asia, West Europe, Australia East, North Europe, West US 3, UK South, Sweden Central, East US, Central US, West US 2, East US 2, Southcentral US.

Craig Hale

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!