Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Virtualization

    Microsoft Azure Cloud Updates: Bigger, Safer, Docker-Friendly

    By
    Pedro Hernandez
    -
    January 11, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Azure Cloud update

      As promised back in October as part of an expansion of the Microsoft’s hyperscale cloud capabilities, the company has made its new G-Series virtual machines (VM) for Azure generally available.

      G-Series is the new king of Azure VMs, according to Corey Sanders, director of program management for Microsoft Azure. “G-series sizes provide the most memory, the highest processing power and the largest amount of local SSD [solid-state drive] of any virtual machine size currently available in the public cloud,” he said in a Jan. 8 Azure Blog post.

      Backed by Intel’s newest server processors and speedy, flash-based storage, Microsoft has upgraded its cloud-computing capabilities to make room for resource-intensive enterprise applications.

      “G-series offers up to 32 vCPUs [virtual CPUs] using the latest Intel Xeon processor E5 v3 family, 448GB of memory and 6.59TB of local solid-state drive (SSD) space,” Sanders said. “This large amount of memory will enable much faster deployments of mission-critical applications such as large relational database servers like SQL Server and MySQL and large NoSQL and big data solutions like MongoDB, Cassandra, Cloudera, xTremeData and DataStax.”

      On the storage front, G-Series VMs support up to 64 attached disks for a total of up to 64TB of storage. All told, five G-Series sizes are available, ranging from G1 plan with two cores, 28GB RAM and 412GB of storage capacity to the top-of-the-line G5 plan described above. Currently, G-Series VMs are only available out of the company’s Western U.S. Azure data centers.

      To help organizations better manage their cloud data security, Microsoft unveiled a public preview of its new Azure Key Vault. A scalable, cloud-based alternative to on-premise hardware security module (HSM) appliances, Azure Key Vault simplifies key management and speeds up applications by eliminating the need for cryptographic operations to make the trip from an HSM to the cloud and back, Sanders said.

      “Azure Key Vault helps customers safeguard and control keys and secrets using HSMs in the cloud, with ease and at cloud-scale. Key Vault can be configured in minutes, without the need to deploy, wait for or manage an HSM and has a single programming model across HSM-protected and software-protected keys,” he stated.

      The Key Vault Preview is available in the following Azure regions: Eastern United States, North Central United States, Northern Europe, Western Europe, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Expanded availability is scheduled for the “coming months.”

      Finally, the company announced Azure Marketplace’s first Docker image, Docker on Ubuntu Server by Canonical and Microsoft Open Tech. In terms of business computing, Docker is taking the cloud world by storm due, in large part, to its lightweight, containerized approach to virtualized applications that allows organizations to skip the one OS per VM requirement.

      “Users can now easily select a Docker gallery item and provision an Azure Ubuntu VM with the latest Docker engine immediately ready to use,” said Sanders. Previously, the process required users to install the Docker extension to a running Linux VM, he explained.

      Pedro Hernandez
      Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to eWEEK and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×