Microsoft has updated the lifecycle of an Azure instance, without offering any information on how long it takes for an instance type to expire.
Redmond’s “enhanced lifecycle” landed in late September in a post that explains the four phases in the life of a cloudy VM:
Current – VMs are recommended for new deployments, are available in many regions, and receive standard maintenance and support;
Extended – Still supported, but may be subject to usage quotas and unspecified “changes to purchasing options and pricing.” Microsoft recommends planning a move to Current VMs.
End of Life – VMs are still supported but are only available to existing customers and you may not be able to get more of the instances you want. Once VMs reach this stage, Microsoft wants you “actively” working to shift workloads onto Current or Extended VMs.
Retired – Unsupported but not quite dead. Microsoft says VMs in this phase are no longer available and have been “deallocated” – Azure-speak for not having an IP address and being dormant, with data preserved. Customers can’t provision the instance types.
Microsoft’s post explains that the company defined this lifecycle because it is “committed to helping you navigate these infrastructure transitions and take advantage of the next wave of innovation.” The post includes many mentions of “modernization” – the process of moving to Current Azure instance types.
“As Azure continues to advance, our commitment is to make change predictable, transparent, and supported through clear lifecycle guidance, early visibility, and practical help to modernize with confidence,” the post states.
The mention of “predictable” change led The Register to wonder if the lifecycle has a predictable cadence that means users can expect that instance types will remain in “Current” status for a certain number of years.
We asked Microsoft if its Azure instance lifecycles are timed, and a spokesperson sent the following comment:
“As Azure continues to innovate, we regularly evolve our infrastructure to give customers access to newer technologies and capabilities. As part of our updated Azure Virtual Machines lifecycle, we will continue to provide customers with advance notice when select older-generation VM series enter the End of Life stage. We’re giving customers time, guidance and resources to plan their transition to the current VM generations, while continuing to support Azure VMs through their lifecycle in alignment with the policies we published.”
The spokesperson added that Microsoft customers are “notified directly about their specific VM retirements.”
For what it’s worth, Microsoft publishes retirement announcements for Azure services. The company has also previously revealed it runs Azure servers for six years. It is unclear if the new Azure lifecycle is tied to that hardware retirement schedule.
What is clear is that Microsoft wants Azure customers to regularly consider moving to its latest instance types.
That’s a reasonable suggestion given that newer VMs will likely use more powerful processors. There’s also plenty of upside for Microsoft because more recent silicon typically offers more cores per die, and better performance-per-watt. Microsoft therefore gets greater processor density with lower energy consumption, which lowers its operating costs. Let’s see if Redmond’s lifecycle tweaks also see it pass on those savings. ®
Source: The register