VM Family Guide
Select a VM family by matching the user's workload to the right category. Families describe hardware intent — not individual SKUs.
Source: Azure VM sizes overview
Note: This reference may become stale. Before making final recommendations, verify critical specifications (especially Spot VM support, newer series availability, and specific family capabilities) by fetching the relevant learn.microsoft.com documentation.
Family Selection Table
| Workload | Family | Series | Quota Resource Name | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web servers, dev/test, microservices | General Purpose | D-series (Dsv5, Ddsv5, Dasv5) | standardDSv5Family / standardDDSv5Family |
Balanced CPU:memory ratio |
| Burstable / intermittent loads | General Purpose | B-series (Bsv2, Basv2) | standardBsv2Family / standardBasv2Family |
Low baseline CPU, credits for bursts; cheapest option |
| CI/CD, batch, gaming servers | Compute Optimized | F-series (Fsv2, Fasv6) | standardFSv2Family |
High CPU:memory ratio |
| Relational DBs, in-memory caches | Memory Optimized | E-series (Esv5, Edsv5, Easv5) | standardESv5Family / standardEDSv5Family |
High memory:CPU ratio |
| SAP HANA, very large DBs | Memory Optimized | M-series (Msv3, Mdsv3) | standardMSMediumMemoryv3Family |
Extreme memory (up to 4 TB) |
| Big Data, NoSQL, data warehousing | Storage Optimized | L-series (Lsv3, Lasv3) | standardLSv3Family |
High disk throughput and IOPS |
| ML training, inference, rendering | GPU | NC-series (NCadsH100v5, NCasT4v3) | StandardNCadsH100v5Family |
NVIDIA GPU compute |
| Large-scale AI/ML training | GPU | ND-series (ND_MI300X_v5, NDH100v5) | standardNDSH100v5Family |
Multi-GPU, high memory |
| Virtual desktop, cloud gaming | GPU | NV-series (NVadsA10v5) | StandardNVADSA10v5Family |
GPU graphics/visualization |
| Cloud gaming, VDI (AMD GPU) | GPU | NG-series (NGadsV620v1) | StandardNGADSV620v1Family |
AMD Radeon GPU; cost-effective graphics |
| Confidential workloads | Confidential | DC-series (DCasv5, DCadsv5) | standardDCASv5Family |
Hardware-based TEE isolation |
| Confidential + encrypted memory | Confidential | EC-series (ECasv5, ECadsv5) | standardECASv5Family |
TEE isolation with memory encryption |
| CFD, weather simulation, FEA | HPC | HB/HC-series (HBv4, HBv5) | standardHBv4Family / standardHBv5Family |
InfiniBand, high memory bandwidth |
| EDA, large memory HPC | HPC | HX-series | standardHXFamily |
Very large memory capacity |
⚠️ Do not normalize quota name casing. The mixed casing (e.g.,
standardvsStandard) matches the exact values returned byaz vm list-usage. Changing them will break quota lookups.
Decision Tree
Workload needs GPU?
├─ Yes → training/inference? → NC/ND-series
│ visualization/VDI? → NV/NG-series
├─ No
│ ├─ Confidential computing? → DC/EC-series
│ ├─ HPC (MPI, InfiniBand)? → HB/HC/HX-series
│ ├─ High disk I/O (NoSQL, warehousing)? → L-series
│ ├─ Memory-heavy (DB, cache, SAP)?
│ │ ├─ Extreme (>1 TB RAM) → M-series
│ │ └─ Standard → E-series
│ ├─ CPU-heavy (batch, CI/CD)? → F-series
│ ├─ Burstable / dev-test? → B-series
│ └─ Balanced / general web → D-seriesKey Trade-offs
| Choice | Pro | Con |
|---|---|---|
| B-series (burstable) | Lowest cost | Throttled when credits exhausted |
AMD (a suffix) vs Intel |
~5–15% cheaper | Some workloads assume Intel extensions |
ARM (p suffix, Cobalt) |
Best price-performance for Linux | Windows not supported; check app compatibility |
| Previous-gen (v4, v3) | Sometimes cheaper | Not recommended for new deployments |
| Spot VMs | Up to 90% discount | Can be evicted with 30s notice |
Naming Convention
Standard_<Family><Subfamily?><vCPUs><Features>_<Version>
| Letter | Meaning |
|---|---|
a |
AMD CPU |
p |
ARM (Cobalt/Ampere) CPU |
d |
Local temp disk |
s |
Premium SSD capable |
l |
Low memory per core |
i |
Isolated (dedicated host) |
b |
Block storage perf |
Example: Standard_D4as_v5 → D-family, AMD, 4 vCPUs, premium SSD, version 5.