Microsoft Azure will switch to using AMD EPYC processors for its Lv2 virtual machines, something that will allow to enhance and improve Azure systems and services in the cloud.
Important announcement by AMD, as Microsoft has acquired the AMD EPYC processors for its Azure servers in the cloud, which is great news. Microsoft Azure will implement EPYC processors in data centers, for an upgrade of its virtual machines (VMs) of the M series for storage-optimized workloads. The new Lv3 VM systems will take advantage of the high-level counting and connectivity support of AMD EPYC processors.
"We are extremely excited to partner with Microsoft Azure to bring the power of AMD EPYC processors to its data centers," said Scott Aylor, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Business Solutions. “There is a great opportunity for users to take advantage of the capabilities that we can deliver across storage and other workloads through the combination of AMD EPYC processors on Azure. We look forward to continued close collaboration with Microsoft Azure in future instances throughout 2018 '
Corey Sanders, Director of Computing at Microsoft Azure, said, “We’re welcoming AMD’s new EPYC processor to Microsoft Azure with the next generation of our L-series virtual machines. The new Lv2 series are high-I/O, dense storage offerings that make EPYC perfect for the demanding workloads of Azure customers. We’ve enjoyed a deep collaboration with AMD on our next-generation next-generation cloud hardware design called Microsoft’s Project Olympus. We believe Project Olympus will be the foundation for future innovation between Microsoft and AMD, and we look forward to adding more instance types in the future that benefit from the core density, memory bandwidth, and I/O capabilities of AMD EPYC processors.”
The Lv2 virtual machines make use of AMD EPYC 7551 processors, which work at a frequency of 2.2GHz and can reach a Boost frequency of 3.0GHz. These processors also feature 128 PCIe lanes and also feature 33% more connectivity in available dual socket systems to address the unprecedented number of NVMe drives directly. Lv2 virtual machines are supported for up to 64 vCPUs and will have direct access up to 4TB of memory. These machines have support for Azure Premium storage units, which will also offer support for accelerated network capabilities to obtain the highest performance of any cloud, being perfect units for intensive storage.
