How to Configure Virtual Machine Sizes
Updated: September 7, 2011
[This topic provides preliminary content for the beta release of the Windows Azure extra small instance feature.]
When you create your service model, you can specify the size of the virtual machine to which to deploy an instance of your role, depending on its resource requirements. The size of the virtual machine determines the number of CPU cores, the memory capacity, and the local file system size that is allocated to a running instance.
The following table describes the options that are available for each virtual machine size:
| Virtual Machine Size | CPU Cores | Memory | Disk Space for Local Storage Resources in Web and Worker Roles | Disk Space for Local Storage Resources in a VM Role | Allocated Bandwidth (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ExtraSmall |
Shared |
768 MB |
19,480 MB (6,144 MB is reserved for system files) |
20 GB |
5 |
|
Small |
1 |
1.75 GB |
229,400 MB (6,144 MB is reserved for system files) |
165 GB |
100 |
|
Medium |
2 |
3.5 GB |
500,760 MB (6,144 MB is reserved for system files) |
340 GB |
200 |
|
Large |
4 |
7 GB |
1,023,000 MB (6,144 MB is reserved for system files) |
850 GB |
400 |
|
ExtraLarge |
8 |
14 GB |
2,087,960 MB (6,144 MB is reserved for system files) |
1890 GB |
800 |
|
Note |
|---|
| For the VM role, disk space for local storage resources is smaller than for a web role or worker role because the operating system requires more disk space. In the Web and Worker roles the system files include 4 GB for the Windows pagefile and 2 GB reserved for the Windows dumpfile. |
To specify the virtual machine size for your role, edit your service definition file, and set the vmsize attribute of the WebRole, WorkerRole, or Role element to ExtraSmall, Small, Medium, Large, or ExtraLarge. For more information, see Windows Azure Service Definition Schema.
<WebRole name="WebRole1" vmsize="Small"> … </WebRole>
|
Note |
|---|
| The ExtraSmall virtual machine size is only available by using Windows Azure SDK version 1.3 or later. |
 Tip |
|---|
| If you are using Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio, you can also set the virtual machine size in the Properties pages for the role. |
See Also