Microsoft launches Azure virtual machines based on Arm and Ampere power

Microsoft We have announced the availability of new virtual machines Azure (VM) powered by Ampere Arm processors. The new VM, appelées Ampere Altra, offrent jusqu'à 80 cœurs et 128 Go de mémoire, ce qui les rend idéales pour les charges de travail de calcul high performance, d'analyse de données et d'apprentissage automatique.

The virtual Ampere Altra machines are the first of the sector to use the Ampere Altra processor, which is based on the Arm Neoverse N1 platform. Ce processeur offers performances, une évolutivité et une efficacité élevées, tout en prenant en charge le riche écosystème de logiciels et d'outils d'Arm. Microsoft claims that the Ampere virtual machines can offer a price-performance ratio of 30% higher than the cell phone of the comparable x86-based virtual machines.

The Ampere Altra virtuelle machines are currently available in avant-première in the régions Est des États-Unis, Ouest des États-Unis 2 and Europe de l'Ouest. Clients can choose between four tails, ranging from 16 to 80 hearts and from 32 to 128 minutes. The virtuelle machines can also charge the Azure Premium SSD disks, the accelerés réseaux and the ponctuelles instances.

Microsoft explains that the machines virtuelles Ampere Altra font partie de son commit à offrir aux clients plus de choix et de flexibilité dans l'informatique dématérialisée. The company proposes leaving the virtual Azure machines equipped with Intel, AMD and Nvidia processors, as well as offering Azure SmartNICs, conçus sur mesure. In addition to the portefeuille of virtual machines based on Arm processors, Microsoft understands that it will respond to a larger event of kisses and client preferences.

To begin using the virtual Ampere Altra machines, clients can register for the latest release on the Azure website. Microsoft fournit également de la documentation et des tutorials sur le déploiement et la management des machines virtuelles, ainsi que sur l'optimisation des applications pour l'architecture Arm. Microsoft indicates that it will extend the availability of virtual machines Ampere Altra in other regions and propose other sizes in the future.

Microsoft officially launched its new virtual machine (VM) in Azure that works with Ampere Altra, a powerful processor based on the architectural arm. The first VM Azure releases are available in 10 Azure regions. As of September 1, they will be integrated into Kubernetes clusters created by Azure Kubernetes Service.

The Azure Arm virtual machines offer just 64 virtual CPU cores, 8 GB of core memory and 40 Gbps of bandwidth bandwidth, as well as a local and fileable SSD stock. They are conçues to execute efficacement des charges de work cloud scale-out telles que de bases de données open source, des applications Java et .NET, ainsi que des serveurs de jeux, web, d'applications et de médias.

The virtual machines are available for a variety of exploitation systems, including Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise, as well as distributions of Linux exploitation systems including Canonical Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Enterprise Linux, CentOS and Debian. The preliminary versions of Windows 11 are available on the virtual machines from the first day. Microsoft affirms that Java applications can function in machines with minimal code modifications, thanks to their contributions to the OpenJDK project.

The launch of Azure VM is an important stage for Ampere, which emerged in 2018 with the audacious vision to challenge the domination of Intel on the march of the puces for données centres. The company raised 426 million dollars in capital and is led by a former president of Intel. This concludes the partnerships with Oracle, Equinix, Google Cloud and more Chinese cloud services providers to propose the virtual machines based on Arm.

Ampere doit faire face à la concurrence d'Amazon Web Services, who acquis la startup Annapurna Labs en 2015 pour développer sa propre ligne de serveurs basés sur Arm, appelée Graviton. Microsoft works closely with the design of its own Arm devices, all with Alibaba and Huawei.