Microsoft Azure quietly expands ARM-based VMs to cut cloud energy consumption

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Microsoft Azure is increasingly adopting ARM-based processors, specifically Ampere Altra chips, as an alternative to the long-dominant x86 architecture in its data centers. Unlike x86's complex instruction set, ARM uses a reduced instruction set design that allows it to handle many cloud workloads while consuming significantly less energy. Ampere Computing claims its data center processors can deliver up to 2.5 times better performance per watt and up to 50% lower energy use for certain cloud-native tasks, though results vary by workload. Azure now offers ARM64-based virtual machine families such as Dpsv5 and Dplsv5, targeting applications like microservices, Kubernetes, and serverless functions. The shift is driven by the strategic importance of energy efficiency at hyperscale, where even small per-server power savings multiply into massive reductions in cost and carbon footprint across hundreds of thousands of servers.

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