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How to Choose Azure Virtual Server?

How to Choose Azure Virtual Server?

If you have decided to expand your data center in Azure environment to create your virtual server infrastructure quickly and flexibly, the first question for you is which Azure Virtual Server is suitable for your workloads. Microsoft offers a comprehensive virtual server alternative with unique power, price and functionality. Below you can find the basic issues to be considered in choosing the most suitable virtual server for us.

First of all, if you are going to move a large server track to Azure environment, it will be helpful to use “Azure Migrate Server Assessment”; With this tool that you will manage through the Azure portal, you set up a server in your hypervisor environment and without an agency, which analyzes the virtual server configurations and usage status in the on premise environment and suggests you through the Azure Portal which Azure Virtual Server type you need to choose.

If you want to create a new server or move smaller number of your servers to Azure environment;

  • You can start by determining which series you should use:

A-Series;CPU and memory performance are at entry level. It can be used for development and test server.

Bs-Series; It has low to moderate baseline CPU performance. It is suitable for low-traffic web servers.

D Series; It provides fast CPU and optimum CPU – Memory configuration. It can be used for many application/data base on live environment.

DC Series;It can be preferred to protect the confidentiality and integrity of code and data with secure isolated use area.

E Series; The E-series are optimized for heavy in-memory application. It should be preferred for relational databases and SAP HANA systems etc.

F Series; F-series feature a higher CPU-to-memory ratio. They are equipped with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB SSD) per CPU core.

G Series; It provides memory and local SSD storage for the most demanding applications. Examples of use include applications such as ERP and SAP.

H Series; The series are optimized for applications driven by intensive computation, such as simulation. They have 4 GB of RAM per CPU core

Ls Series; They are preferred for NoSQL databases (such as Cassandra, MongoDB) with high disk performance.

M Series; The M-series family is preferred for heavy in-memory workloads. They are ideal for systems such as SAP HANA with up to 4 TB of RAM per server.

N Series; The N-series has GPU capabilities and ideal for graphics-intensive workloads such as image rendering.

  • You may encounter with new versions in Azure Virtual Servers as there is a new version of physical servers in OnPrem environment (DL 380 G11 is the new version of DL380 G10). It is recommended that the newer versions which is generally identified with "_vX" in the name are used (They cost the same as the old versions.)
  • Take advantage of Azure flexibility; you can use smaller scale virtual server clusters with "VM Scale Set" instead of using 1 virtual server with scale that can handle the peak period of your applications, and add new servers to the cluster when the CPU values reach a certain threshold value. This way, you do not have a server running at high configuration and creating unnecessary costs.
Hikmet Kapusuzoğlu - Microsoft Platforms Senior Consultant

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