Azure Update - 7th November 2025

Key Concepts

• HBv5 Virtual Machines: High-performance computing (HPC) VMs with massive memory bandwidth, RAM, CPU cores, InfiniBand networking, and NVMe SSD storage.
• ExpressRoute Resiliency Validation: A feature to test failovers for ExpressRoute connections and visualize traffic.
• ExpressRoute Resiliency Index: A score reflecting the resiliency of an ExpressRoute connection, with recommendations for improvement.
• ExpressRoute End-to-End Connectivity Monitor: A tool to monitor ExpressRoute connections from day one of configuration.
• Azure NetApp Files Object REST API: An S3-compatible API for interacting with Azure NetApp Files, enabling use of familiar AWS storage APIs.
• Planned Failover (Azure Storage): The ability to switch between primary and secondary regions for geo-redundant storage accounts.
• Object Level Replication Metrics: Metrics for tracking pending operations and bytes for object-level replication in Azure Storage.
• UltraDisk Provisioning: Changes in UltraDisk provisioning to 1 GB increments, with increased maximum IOPS and defined minimums.
• DocumentDB Kubernetes Operator: An open-source operator to deploy and manage DocumentDB (MongoDB-compatible) clusters on Kubernetes.
• Azure Load Balancer for MySQL Flexible: Dedicated standard Azure load balancer for improved failover in MySQL flexible high availability configurations.
• Cosmos DB Query Advisor (.NET SDK): A tool to optimize Cosmos DB queries for efficiency and cost reduction.
• Cosmos DB GeoSpatial Distance Ordering: Ability to order geospatial queries by distance directly within Cosmos DB.
• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) GitHub Copilot Integration: Preview integration for T-SQL statement generation and SQL database environment queries.
• SQL Database Hyperscale Multiple Geo-Replicas: Preview feature allowing multiple geo-secondary replicas for Hyperscale SQL databases.
• SQL Database/Elastic Pool Instance Restart: Ability to restart SQL database and elastic pool instances from the Azure portal.
• PostgreSQL Flexible Premium SSD v2 Read Replicas: Support for Premium SSD v2 for PostgreSQL flexible read replicas, enabling higher IOPS.
• Azure Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server: GA feature providing a standard way for AI applications to communicate with Azure services and reflect their capabilities to generative AI models.

Compute Updates

HBv5 Virtual Machines (GA)

• Key Features: Part of the high-performance computing (HPC) series, now generally available.
• Technical Specifications:
  • Memory Bandwidth: 6.9 TB/s.
  • RAM: Up to 450 GB.
  • Memory per Core: Up to 9 GB.
  • CPU Cores: Up to 352 AMD EPYC Zen 4 CPU cores.
  • Networking: 800 Gbps InfiniBand from Nvidia Networking.
  • Local Storage: 15 TB of local NVMe SSD storage.
• Purpose: Designed for supercomputing needs requiring massive connectivity and high performance.

Networking Updates

ExpressRoute Resiliency Validation (GA)

• Functionality: Allows testing of failovers for connections to your ExpressRoute gateway.
• Capabilities:
  • Test disconnection of individual ExpressRoute circuits to verify failover.
  • Display redundancy for prefixes.
  • Visualize traffic on the gateway.

ExpressRoute Resiliency Index (GA)

• Purpose: A score to assess the resiliency of your ExpressRoute connection.
• Components: Based on ExpressRoute resiliency, zone-redundant gateway usage, advisory recommendations, and resiliency validation test results.
• Benefit: Provides recommendations to improve the score and prioritized actions for enhancing resiliency.

ExpressRoute End-to-End Connectivity Monitor (GA)

• Integration: Can be enabled during the creation or update of ExpressRoute connections.
• Benefit: Monitoring is active from day one, eliminating a separate post-configuration step.
• Requirements: Still requires an Azure virtual machine and on-premises endpoints for monitoring.

Storage Updates

Azure NetApp Files Object REST API (Preview)

• Compatibility: S3-compatible API.
• Use Case: Allows users familiar with AWS storage APIs to interact with Azure NetApp Files instances using the same API sets.
• Application: Suitable for cloud-native service development.

Planned Failover (Azure Storage) (GA)

• Scenario: For geo-redundant storage accounts with asynchronous replicas in a paired region.
• Functionality: Enables switching between primary and secondary regions as needed.
• Applications: Useful for disaster recovery testing and proactive failover before potential events (e.g., natural storms).
• Supported Accounts: Works on general-purpose v2 storage accounts with both flat and hierarchical namespaces (hierarchical namespace enables Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2).

Object Level Replication Metrics (GA)

• Context: For storage accounts with object-level replication (container or object level) to a chosen region, offering more flexibility than fixed account-level region pairing.
• Metrics Available:
  • Pending Operations.
  • Pending Bytes.
• Data Granularity: Metrics are emitted in time buckets (e.g., <5 minutes, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes) to show how long operations have been pending replication.

UltraDisk Provisioning Changes

• Capacity Provisioning: Now provisioned in 1 GB increments instead of capacity tiers.
• IOPS:
  • Maximum IOPS: Increased to 1,000 IOPS per gigabyte.
  • Minimum IOPS: 100 IOPS per disk.
• Throughput:
  • Minimum Throughput: 1 MB/s per disk.
• Benefit: Provides greater flexibility in provisioning.

Database Updates

DocumentDB Kubernetes Operator (Open Source)

• Functionality: Allows running DocumentDB (a MongoDB-compatible, open-source document database built on PostgreSQL) on Kubernetes.
• Mechanism: Extends Kubernetes with custom resource definitions for easier deployment and management of DocumentDB clusters.
• Integration: Works with familiar tools like kubectl and Helm.

MySQL Flexible Dedicated Standard Azure Load Balancer

• Benefit: Enhances failover experience as part of high availability configurations.

Cosmos DB for NoSQL Query Advisor (.NET SDK)

• Purpose: Helps optimize queries for efficiency, reducing Request Units (RUs) and consequently costs.

Cosmos DB for NoSQL GeoSpatial Distance Ordering

• Functionality: Allows ordering geospatial queries by distance from a given point or GeoJSON object using ST_DISTANCE.
• Benefit: Eliminates the need for manual distance calculations in client-side code, simplifying distance-based interactions.

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) GitHub Copilot Integration (Preview)

• Capabilities:
  • Generate T-SQL statements.
  • Answer questions about SQL database environments.
• Integration: Seamlessly integrated within SSMS.

SQL Database Hyperscale Multiple Geo-Replicas (Preview)

• Architecture: Leverages Hyperscale's separation of compute and page servers for higher scale and performance.
• Feature: Enables multiple geo-secondary replicas in an environment.

SQL Database and Elastic Pools Instance Restart (Portal)

• Location: Available in the maintenance section of the Azure portal.
• Functionality: Users can now restart their SQL database and elastic pool instances directly.

PostgreSQL Flexible Premium SSD v2 Read Replicas

• Support: Premium SSD v2 is now supported for read replicas.
• Benefit: Allows up to 80,000 IOPS per replica.
• Scalability: Supports a two-stage hierarchy of replicas (replica of a replica), enabling a large number of replicas.

AI Services

Azure Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server (GA)

• Purpose: Provides a standard protocol for AI applications to communicate with Azure services, offering additional knowledge, tooling, and prompts.
• Key Feature: The MCP server reflects its capabilities in a way that generative AI models can directly understand, without manual explanation.
• Application: Helps AI applications, including GitHub Copilot, work effectively with Azure services.

Conclusion

This Azure update introduces significant advancements across compute, networking, storage, and database services, with a strong focus on performance, resiliency, and developer productivity. Key highlights include the GA of high-performance HBv5 VMs, enhanced ExpressRoute resiliency features, S3-compatible API for Azure NetApp Files, and improved disaster recovery capabilities for Azure Storage. In the database realm, the introduction of a Kubernetes operator for DocumentDB, query optimization tools for Cosmos DB, and expanded geo-replication options for SQL databases are notable. The integration of GitHub Copilot into SSMS and the GA of the Azure MCP server further underscore Azure's commitment to empowering AI development.