New Generation of Storage Azure VMs Enable Larger Workloads 

• A new generation of storage-optimized Azure VMs offers higher performance at a lower storage cost.
• On-premises customers with big data workloads may find cloud migrations more feasible with these VMs than with previous generations

A new fourth generation of Microsoft’s L family of storage-optimized Azure VMs offers more storage and a better price-performance ratio. Existing cloud customers may find that upgrading offers lower costs while those with on-premises storage-intensive workloads, such as large-scale database or analytics, may find the new generation makes cloud migration more feasible.

As Microsoft deploys the latest generation hardware, customers using older generation storage-optimized VMs should watch for capacity constraints that can make new deployments difficult or limit the ability to perform critical tasks such as system upgrades.

Why Storage-Optimized VMs

Storage-optimized VMs are intended for applications that require larger disk capacity and performance. Typical examples include high-end database systems, big data analytics, and video production (such as media file servers, video editing, and 3D rendering).