Microsoft has unveiled a new generation of Azure virtual machines (VMs) built on AMD’s 5th Gen EPYC processors, designed for cloud, AI, and high-performance computing.

The newly introduced Da/Ea/Fasv7-series VM families were created to expand Azure’s AMD-based offerings and improve performance, scalability, and cost efficiency across a wide range of workloads. The VMs comprise general-purpose (Dasv7, Dalsv7), memory-optimized (Easv7), and compute-optimized (Fasv7, Falsv7, Famsv7) series, offered with or without local storage.

According to Microsoft, the VMs deliver up to 35% better CPU performance and price-performance compared with the previous v6 AMD-based generation. Gains vary by workload, with reported improvements of up to 25% for Java applications, up to 65% for in-memory caching systems, up to 80% for cryptographic workloads, and up to 130% for web servers.

Peter Schinagl, senior technical architect at SUSE, noted a "significant performance uplift during initial tests" with the release, adding they showed a 20%-40% increase with typical Linux kernel compilation tasks compared to the same instance sizes of the v6 series.

"This demonstrates the enhanced capabilities the v7 series brings to our joint customers seeking maximum efficiency and performance for their critical applications."

The improvements come from the underlying Turin line of processors, which are based on AMD's Zen 5 CPU architecture. Zen 5 introduces higher instructions-per-clock, greater memory bandwidth, and support for advanced vector instructions used in compute-intensive tasks such as analytics, scientific computing, and machine learning.

Storage and security features

Storage and networking performance have also been upgraded. Microsoft reported up to 20% higher input/output operations per second for remote disks, up to 50% higher remote storage throughput, and up to 55% higher throughput for local disks. Network performance also improved by up to 75% compared with equivalent v6 VM series. Several of the new VM variants also add local disk support.

The AMD-based VMs use Azure Boost, Microsoft’s system for offloading infrastructure tasks from the host CPU to specialized hardware, improving both performance and security. They also use the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter (MANA) and support the NVMe protocol for faster access to both local and remote storage.

On the processor side, AMD’s Infinity Guard security features, including transparent secure memory encryption, are supported to help protect data in memory from unauthorized access.

Steve Berg, corporate VP and GM of the Server CPU Cloud Business Group at AMD, said: “AMD and Microsoft have built one of the industry’s most successful cloud partnerships, bringing over 60 VM series to market through years of deep engineering collaboration. With the new v7 Azure VMs powered by 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors, we’re setting a new benchmark for performance, efficiency, and scalability – giving customers the proven, leadership compute they expect from AMD in the world’s most demanding cloud environments.”

The launch comes as Microsoft looks to diversify its VM lineup. Last November, the hyperscaler claimed its Azure ND GB300 v6 VMs, which are based on Nvidia's GB300s, achieved AI performance achieve token performance that "fundamentally alters the calculus of AI efficiency."