What VM's are you using in Azure?

[MichaelTorbett]

Hello all,

For those of you using ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Pro in Microsoft Azure, I'm curious which VM's you have chosen. Is it meeting your needs?

Thanks,

Michael

[QuantitativeFuturist]

Our technical VM structure for Enterprise has a dev environment with lower specced machines and a more highly specced production environment. We run pro on Citrix machines with a large graphics card. Happy with the infrastructure in general, extremely unhappy with ArcGIS Enterprise we have nothing but problems with bugs and functionality. In fact we are looking at dropping Enterprise altogether, for the money it costs we expect a far more stable product. Esri have completely lost their way and the software somehow gets worse as software versions increment.

[AbiDhakal]

I'm also working on a new VM and would like to know what would be the right VM for ArcGIS Enterprise Standard. At the moment we have a VM with 1 socket, 8 virtual processors, and 28 GB of RAM. The Server mostly runs at full capacity. The Memory usage is between 86 and 95. The CPU usage is mostly below 30. We get Memory Pressure error and as such are thinking of getting ourselves a new VM. We are looking at a VM with 64 GB of RAM and 16 vCUPs. Do you all have any suggestions?
 

[MarceloMarques]

Your analysis is correct, your VM needs more memory to cope with the workload. The VM size depends on your workload needs, if the VM cpu/memory is under high utilization, greater than 80% - 90% for a prolonged period then you need to consider power off the VM and change the machine type in Azure Console to add more cpu/memory. 

[AbiDhakal]

@MarceloMarquesThank you for your great response. We are looking at these two VMs for replacement.
Please see below.
We will appreciate your input and breakdown of the specs. What are the major takeaways? The differences. We understand you will not advocate one machine over the other and that is strictly on what the client prefers to have. Why would you choose one over the other?

Thank you again and we greatly appreciate you showing interest in helping us out.
Abi

VMs for an ArcGIS Enterprise Standard license.

B Series:
VM Size	Type	vCPUs	RAM (GiB)	Data disks	Max IOPS	Temp storage (GiB)	Premium disk
816ms	General purpose	16	64	32	4320	128	Supported
D Series:
VM Size	Type	vCPUs	RAM (GiB)	Data disks	Max IOPS	Temp storage (GiB)	Premium disk
D16_v3	General purpose	16	64	32	25600	128	Supported

[MarceloMarques]

VM sizes - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

You will need to analyze your VM workload to decide which VM type is best for your case, and the cost associated with that particular VM type.

B-series burstable - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

read the part about credits, it might not be a good fit for you.

I usually go with the General Purpose D-series.

D3 is old you can consider using D4 or D5 but make a price comparison.

Dv3 and Dsv3-series - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

In your case CPU utilization is fine but Memory utilization is high.

Hence you can also consider the Memory Optimized Series.

Azure VM sizes - Memory - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

How to decide???

Create an excel spreadsheet, list the chosen types and calculate the price, then make a comparison, then decide based on cost and performance.

Pricing Calculator | Microsoft Azure

I hope this helps.

[AbiDhakal]

@MarceloMarques

We may already be having the Memory Optimized Series. I'm not sure as I do not have access to the VM at the moment. Is there a way I can know what kind of VM we have from the Server machine itself?

For our ArcGIS Enterprise Standard right now we are leaning towards the D16_v3 option, but you say that is an old version, right?

Thank you,
Abi

[MarceloMarques]

Is there a way I can know what kind of VM we have from the Server machine itself?

Answer: Better if you reach out to your Azure Administrator.

For our ArcGIS Enterprise Standard right now we are leaning towards the D16_v3 option, but you say that is an old version, right?

Answer: Yes, chose the new ones if available in your Azure region.

Dv4 and Dsv4-series - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

Dv5 and Dsv5-series - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn

[AbiDhakal]

@MarceloMarquesThank you!

[AbiDhakal]

@MarceloMarques
I have another question.
You know I have been working on getting a new VM because my present VM is insufficient. What happens if I reserve the present VM's IP address and put it on the new VM. Will I still have to do ArcGIS Enterprise Migration? Or, will a snap shot of the present VM be enough to put ArcGIS Enterprise on the new VM?

Thank you,
Abi