Microsoft launched the public preview of its new Azure FXv2-series Virtual Machines, designed for high-performance and compute-intensive workloads. Powered by the latest 5th Generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8573C processors, the FXv2-series includes two models, FXmsv2 and FXmdsv2, both offering significant enhancements over the previous FXv1-series. These VMs are particularly suited for workloads such as databases, data analytics, and Electronic Design Automation, requiring high CPU performance, memory, and storage bandwidth.
The FXv2-series VMs deliver several improvements:
- CPU Performance: Up to 1.5x better CPU performance compared to the FXv1-series.
- vCPU Count: VMs now support up to 96 vCPUs, with larger sizes offering 2x the vCPUs compared to their predecessors.
- Memory: Up to 1800 GiB of memory, ensuring ample resources for memory-intensive workloads.
- Network Bandwidth: Enhanced network bandwidth of up to 70Gbps, a 1.5x improvement over previous versions.
- Local Storage: Double the IOPS for local storage, with support for up to 5280 GiB of local SSD capacity.
- Remote Storage: Up to 2x IOPS and 5x throughput with support for Premium SSD v2 and Ultra Disk, delivering up to 400K IOPS and 11 GBps throughput.
The FXv2-series also introduces better flexibility in resource allocation. Developers can choose between standard and constrained-core VM sizes, allowing them to select a core-to-memory ratio that best fits their workloads. The series offers up to a 21:1 memory-to-vCPU ratio, further improved in constrained-core configurations. These VMs are available with or without local disks, and they support the NVMe interface for both local and remote disks, providing enhanced storage options.
In addition to performance enhancements, the FXv2-series comes equipped with Intel Advanced Matrix Extension for better AI inference and training performance, along with Intel Total Memory Encryption to improve security by encrypting data stored in memory. Azure Boost further enhances networking, storage, and overall CPU performance.
The FXv2-series VMs are designed for compute-heavy tasks. For SQL Server workloads, they offer:
- Enhanced Performance: High CPU, memory, and storage to manage large datasets and transactions.
- Cost Savings: Constrained-core options lower SQL Server licensing costs without sacrificing performance.
- Local Storage: FXmdsv2-series VMs offer fast local storage suited for tempdb-heavy workloads.
VMs are currently available in Azure regions such as West US 3 and Southeast Asia, with plans to expand to more regions in 2024. Customers can deploy them through the Azure portal, SDKs, APIs, PowerShell, and the CLI. While in preview, FXv2-series VMs will be charged at full price. Pricing details and more information can be found on the Azure Virtual Machines pricing page. To request access to the FXv2-series VMs preview, interested users can complete the FXv2-series-Preview-Signup form.
More information about the new Azure FXv2-series VMs is available on the specification pages for the FXmdsv2-series and FXmsv2-series.