Microsoft launched a number of new and powerful cloud services for its customers in the UK, which can easily handle large workloads. With this move, Microsoft presumably becomes the only company to offer such high cloud computing power level in the UK.
The new offerings include M-series virtual machines (VMs), Dv3 VMs, B-series VMs, and a scalable push-notification engine called Notification Hubs.
- M-series virtual machines
The M-series VMs can handle and process large workloads involving tebibytes (TiB) of data. A single M-series VM can support up to 128 vCPUs (virtual CPUs), and RAM ranging between 1 to 3.8TiB. (1TiB = 1024GB)
It provides up to 20 terabytes (TB) of memory, and up to 30 GB per second data transfer speed between VMs. These features of M-series VMs will make it easy for enterprises to back up files or replicate databases.
These VMs are the only virtual machines in the UK which can handle large workloads on SAP HANA platform.
- Dv3 virtual machines
Dv3 VMs are built using hyper-threading technology on Intel processors, enabling users to run several processes at a time. The Dv3 VMs perform better, are more efficient, and cost 28% less than the previous VMs (Dv2).
Supporting up to 64 vCPUs, the Dv3 VMs features 256 GB of RAM. They also include nested virtualization feature, which enables users to run a VM inside another VM.
“By unlocking more power from the underlying hardware, we are able to harness better performance and efficiency, resulting in cost savings that we are passing on to our customers,” said Jon Beck, Principle Program Manager at Microsoft.
- B-series virtual machines
B-series VMs is a flexible and cost-effective solution for enterprises who need small computing power for their business. In case their business demand arises, they can use more power and pay accordingly.
“These VM sizes allow you to pay and burst as needed, using only a fraction of the CPU when you don’t need it and burst up to 100% of the CPU when you do need it,” said Corey Sanders, Director of Compute at Azure. “This level control gives you extreme cost flexibility and flexible value.”
- Notification Hubs
This is a scalable push-notification engine that allows enterprises to send information in a pop-out box to their customers. These notifications can be sent to any mobile device, and can be customized for specific customers or a group.
Notification Hubs works for customers with all platforms, including Windows, iOS, Android, Kindle and Baidu.
Also read: Microsoft adds new monitoring and troubleshooting services to Azure Site Recovery
These VM solutions from Microsoft will empower British businesses to handle more data intensive workloads that was not possible previously.
