Microsoft launches Arm-based Azure virtual machines with Ampere chips

Microsoft has announced the availability of new Azure virtual machines (VMs) running on Ampere's Arm-based processors. The new virtual machines, called Ampere Altra, offer up to 80 cores and 128 GB of memory, making them ideal for high-performance computing, data analytics and machine learning workloads.

Ampere Altra virtual machines are the first in the industry to use the Ampere Altra processor, which is based on the Arm Neoverse N1 platform. The processor offers high performance, scalability and efficiency, while being compatible with Arm's rich ecosystem of software and tools. Microsoft claims that Ampere Altra virtual machines can offer up to 30% better price-performance ratio than comparable x86-based virtual machines.

Ampere Altra virtual machines are currently available in preview in the US East, US West 2, and Europe West regions. Customers can choose from four sizes, ranging from 16 to 80 cores and 32 to 128 GB of memory. Virtual machines also support premium Azure SSDs, accelerated networking, and spot instances.

Microsoft says Ampere Altra virtual machines are part of its commitment to offering customers more choice and flexibility in the cloud. The company already offers Azure virtual machines powered by Intel, AMD, and Nvidia processors, as well as its own custom-designed Azure SmartNICs. By adding Arm-based virtual machines to its portfolio, Microsoft aims to meet a broader range of customer needs and preferences.

To get started with Ampere Altra virtual machines, customers can sign up for the preview on the Azure website. Microsoft also provides documentation and tutorials on how to deploy and manage virtual machines, as well as how to optimize applications for the Arm architecture. Microsoft says it plans to expand the availability of Ampere Altra virtual machines to more regions and offer more sizes in the future.

Microsoft has officially launched its new virtual machines (VMs) in Azure that run on Ampere Altra, a powerful processor based on the Arm architecture. These are the first Azure virtual machines to use Arm chips, and as of today, they are available in 10 Azure regions. Starting September 1, they will also be able to integrate with Kubernetes clusters managed by Azure Kubernetes Service.

Azure Arm-based virtual machines offer up to 64 virtual CPU cores, 8 GB of memory per core, and 40 Gbps of network bandwidth, along with local and pluggable SSD storage. They are designed to run scale-out cloud-native workloads efficiently, such as open source databases, Java and .NET applications, and game, web, application, and media servers.

Virtual machines support a variety of operating systems, including Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise and Linux operating system distributions such as Canonical Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Debian. Preview versions of Windows 11 are available on virtual machines on day one. Microsoft says Java applications can run on virtual machines with minimal code changes, thanks to its contributions to the OpenJDK project.

The launch of Azure VM is a major milestone for Ampere, which emerged in 2018 with the bold vision of challenging Intel's dominance in the data center chip market. The company has raised $426 million in venture capital and is led by a former Intel president. It has secured partnerships with Oracle, Equinix, Google Cloud, and several Chinese cloud service providers to offer Arm-based virtual machines.

Ampere faces competition from Amazon Web Services, which acquired startup Annapurna Labs in 2015 to develop its own line of Arm-based server hardware called Graviton. Microsoft is also reportedly working on its own Arm chip designs, as well as Alibaba and Huawei.