Upgrade older Azure D series virtual machines to newer Dv5 series for improved price performance and cost savings.
Why Upgrading Matters
Azure’s Dv5 series virtual machines offer significant improvements over previous generations, providing:
- Better price-to-performance ratio
- More efficient processors
- Potential cost reductions of 23-34%
- Improved computational capabilities
Detailed Explanation
Cost and Performance Benefits
Azure’s latest generation of virtual machines (Dv5 series) provides substantial advantages over older D series machines:
Performance Comparison Example:
- D4 v2 Machine:
- 8 vCPUs
- 28 GB RAM
- 400 GB temporary storage
- Monthly cost: $427 (East US region)
- D8 v5 Machine:
- 8 vCPUs
- 32 GB RAM
- Remote storage only
- Monthly cost: $280
- Savings: 34%
- D8d v5 Machine:
- 8 vCPUs
- 32 GB RAM
- 300 GB temporary storage
- Monthly cost: $330
- Savings: 23%
Key Upgrade Series Options
- Dv5/Ddv5: General purpose
- Dsv5/Ddsv5: Storage optimized
- Supported with AMD and Intel processors
Implementation Guide
Infrastructure as Code Example (Terraform)
# Before (Old D Series)
resource "azurerm_virtual_machine" "example" {
vm_size = "Standard_D4_v2"
}
# After (Upgraded Dv5 Series)
resource "azurerm_virtual_machine" "example" {
vm_size = "Standard_D8_v5" # or Standard_D8d_v5
}Manual Migration Steps
- Verify workload compatibility
- Create a snapshot of existing VM
- Stop the current VM
- Change VM size in Azure portal
- Restart the virtual machine
- Test application performance
Best Practices
- Test performance before full migration
- Consider workload-specific requirements
- Review storage and networking configurations
- Use Azure Advisor recommendations
Recommended Tools
- Infracost: Automatically detect and recommend VM upgrades
- Azure Cost Management
- Azure Advisor
- Azure Migrate
Example Scenarios
Web Application Hosting
A mid-sized web application running on D4 v2 could save approximately $1,740 annually by upgrading to D8 v5.
Development Environments
Development teams can reduce infrastructure costs while maintaining or improving computational performance.
High-Performance Computing
Scientific and research computing environments benefit from newer processor architectures.
Considerations and Caveats
Potential Limitations
- Some legacy applications might require specific configurations
- Temporary storage differences between series
- Potential minor performance variations
- Migration effort and potential downtime
When to Avoid Upgrading
- Highly specialized workloads
- Applications with strict compatibility requirements
- Environments with complex dependency chains