Microsoft Corp. said today it’s making its first-ever batch of Azure virtual machines powered by Ampere Computing LLC’s Arm-based Altra server chips available in preview.

The company said the new VMs, which are essentially computers in software, include the general-purpose Dpsv5 and the memory-optimized Epsv5, which can deliver a price-performance boost of up to 50% versus comparable x86-based VMs. They’re designed for a range of tasks, including running web applications and videogame servers, Microsoft said.

Paul Nash, head of product for Microsoft’s Azure Compute Platform, said in a blog post that companies face a complex set of challenges as they deploy broader ranges of workloads spanning the edge and the cloud. “There is a need for a new breed of operationally efficient cloud-native computing solutions that can meet this demand without a massive growth in infrastructure footprint and energy consumption,” he said.

Microsoft added that the Ampere VMs support Windows, CentOS and Ubuntu Linux, and that each one packs up to 64 virtual processors with eight gigabytes of random-access memory per processor. They also come with the option of high-performance local flash storage, if customers desire this.

Arm-based processors such as Ampere’s Altra chips and Amazon Web Services Inc.’s Graviton silicon have been gaining popularity in the cloud server market as enterprises seek greater performance and lower energy use. It’s a concern for companies such as Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which sell x86-based chips that carry out the bulk of today’s cloud data processing work.

For now, Arm-based chips only account for a minority of cloud-based server workloads, but they are making steady gains, analysts say.

Ampere Chief Product Officer Jeff Wittich said the Azure preview of Ampere Altra Azure VMs is intended to give customers a first-hand look at their performance across cloud workloads of all types.

“We have seen rapid growth in the adoption of our Ampere Cloud Native Processors, and this further expands their global scale and availability,” he said. “Not only do Ampere Altra processors deliver new levels of performance to the cloud, but they are also the efficient and sustainable choice.”

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that variety has been the name of the game in cloud computing since last year, so it’s no surprise that Microsoft Azure has joined the Arm-based VM party.

“This is great news for customers as it means they can exploit these platforms better with specific workloads and  achieve better performance both on the cost and infrastructure side,” the analyst said.

Microsoft said the new Ampere Altra Azure VMs are available in preview in its Azure West US 2, West Central US and West Europe regions. Customers that want to take them for a spin can signal their interest here.

Photo: Microsoft