Deploying Microvellum on an Azure Virtual Machine (VM)
Selecting the correctly sized virtual machines (VM) in Azure depends on several factors, such workload requirements, budget, and performance requirements. It may be necessary to work closely with an IT professional with experience working in Azure to deploy Virtual Machines capable of running Microvellum and other applications in a cloud-based system.
Below is a list of potential factors to consider when selecting the right VM sizes to run Microvellum and your applications:
Selecting the Right-Sized Virtual Machines in Azure
- Identify Your Current Workload:
- Current Compute Capability: Determine the number of CPUs and the amount of RAM you are currently using for all Microvellum and other application for each of your servers and workstations.
- Current Storage: Assess how much and what type of storage (Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD) you are currently using for servers, workstations, and file storage.
- Current Network: Determine your current network bandwidth and latency.
- Special Situations: Determine your current GPU capabilities, high IOPS storage, or other specific features.
- Current Database: Determine the following:
- Database Size: The version of SQL (SQL Server 2019, etc.), current size of the database, and expected growth based on past metrics.
- Concurrency: Number of concurrent users and transactions.
- Performance: Current IOPS, CPU, and memory used.
- Identify Workload Requirements You Would Like to Improve
- Compute Requirements: Determine if the number of CPUs and the amount of RAM you are currently using is sufficient or if you would like to increase the number of CPU’s or amount of RAM for each of your servers and workstations.
- Storage Requirements: Determine if you need more storage or better performance and then decide how much and what type of storage (Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD) you would like to use to improve performance of your servers, workstations, and file storage.
- Network Requirements: Determine if your current network bandwidth and latency meets your needs or determine what improvements you would like to see.
- Special Requirements: Determine if you would like to improve performance in GPU capabilities (Hardware Acceleration for AutoCAD, etc.), high IOPS storage, or other specific features.
- Database Requirements: Determine if you need to improve Database Size, Concurrency, or performance.
- Understand VM Families:
Azure VMs are categorized into different families based on their intended use case - General Purpose (B, Dsv3, Dv3): Balanced CPU-to-memory ratio. Suitable for web servers, small to medium databases, and development/test environments.
- Compute Optimized (Fsv2, Fs): High CPU-to-memory ratio. Ideal for batch processing, web servers, and application servers.
- Memory Optimized (Es, Ev3, M): High memory-to-CPU ratio. Best for relational databases, large caches, and in-memory analytics.
- Storage Optimized (Ls, Lsv2): High disk throughput and IOPS. Suitable for big data, SQL, and NoSQL databases.
- GPU (NC, NV, ND): Specialized VMs with GPU capabilities. Used for machine learning, AI, and graphics rendering.
- High Performance Compute (H): High throughput and low latency network. Ideal for high-performance computing workloads.
- Use Azure VM Sizing Tools:
- Azure Pricing Calculator: Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate costs and compare different VM sizes.
- Azure Advisor: After the setup of Azure, this tool provides recommendations on VM sizes based on your current usage.
- Azure Migrate: For larger scale setups this tool can help assess and right-size VMs based on on-premises workloads.
- Review Performance Benchmarks:
- Azure VM Performance Benchmarks: Review performance benchmarks and case studies for different VM sizes to understand how they perform under various workloads.
- Budget Constraints:
- Balance performance needs with budget constraints by selecting a VM size that provides the best value for money.
- Reserved Instances: Consider using reserved instances if you have predictable workloads, as they offer significant cost savings over pay-as-you-go pricing.
- Evaluate Different Sizes:
- Pilot Testing: Deploy Microvellum and your application on different VM sizes in a test environment to determine which size meets your performance and cost requirements.
Example Deployment
The following Microvellum setup was successfully deployed and evaluated in Azure as of June 27th, 2024. Machine sizes are only an example. Your actual machine size may vary based on availability in Azure at a given time, workload, budget, and performance requirements.
- SQL 2022 Standard on Windows Server 2022 (SQL preloaded)
- VM Family Used: E-Series (Memory Optimized)
- Machine Size: E4bds v5
- Processor: Intel Xeon Platinum 8370C 2.8GHZ (32 Cores)+
- CPU: 4 vCPUs, 32 GiB memory
- OS Disk Type: Premium SSD
- Microvellum Product Installed: Microvellum Server (Optional, not needed unless purchased)
- Windows 11 Pro (Microvellum Production Order Entry and Processing Only)
- VM Family Used: D-Series (General Purpose)
- Machine Size: D4s v3
- Processor: Intel® Xeon® 8171M 2.1GHz (32 Cores)
- CPU: 4 vCPUs, 16 GiB memory
- OS Disk Type: Premium SSD
- Microvellum Product Installed: Microvellum Production (GPU not needed due to no drawing).
- Windows 11 Pro (GPU based VM)
- VM Family Used: N-Series
- Machine Size: NV4as v4
- Processor: AMD EPYC 7v12 64-core processor (64 Cores)
- CPU: 4 vCPUs, 14 GiB memory
- Graphics Card: AMD Radeon Instinct MI25
- OS Disk Type: Premium SSD
- Microvellum Product Installed: Toolbox OEM and Standard.
Note: We do not recommend running Microvellum in Production from a local machine connected to Azure due to performance degradation and potential data loss.
Best Practices
- Consult an IT Expert: Work with an IT professional experienced in Azure to implement best practices for security, infrastructure, network configurations, firewalls, VPN Setup, storage and backup, Active Directory integration, etc.
- Documentation: Keep detailed documentation of your Azure setup for future reference and troubleshooting.
Related Articles
Recommended Hardware/Software Configuration for Virtual Server
Some of our Users benefit from setting up virtual servers. It is possible to set up multiple virtual servers on a single physical server. Each virtual server may be set up with a separate operating system and software. Some blogs have described this ...
Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 22.0304
The following release notes apply to Microvellum Foundation Library, Build 22.0304 Please make sure you are selecting the correct specification group when drawing products. There are specification groups for both metric and imperial. Additions: Added ...
Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes: 2021-2024
This document catalogs all versions of the Microvellum Foundation Library released between the years of 2021-2024. This encompasses builds 20.1201 to 24.1127 (current). To download the Foundation Library in one of the builds listed in this document, ...
Microvellum Server System Requirements
These are the minimum estimated system requirements to run Microvellum Server. Individual situations may vary based on your specific needs and the amount of SQL data stored. This article lists the system requirements for Microvellum Server. For SQL ...
Microvellum Glossary
Listed below are common terms related to Microvellum, our software products, and the woodworking industry. Use the table of contents to quickly jump to a section of the glossary by letter of the alphabet. # 2D & 3D Drawing (Software Feature) The 2D & ...
Recent Articles
Toolbox Release Notes | Build 24.1.1206.641
The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 24.1.1206.641 MV Server Nesting Fix There was a reported issue occurring when users attempted to remotely process work orders using a nesting station on MV Server. When attempting to process the work ...
Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 24.1127
The following release notes apply to Microvellum Foundation Library build 24.1127. Additions Added a new Soffit product to the Upper Cabinet Accessories category. Added the Top Filler (Ceiling Scribe) option to Upper and Tall cabinets. (Corner ...
Toolbox Release Notes | Build 24.1.1125.641
The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 24.1.1125.641. IRIB Setmill Location Fix Fig. 1: Setmill being moved to the start of the route (top) rather than at the center of a straight line, as intended (bottom). There was an issue reportedly ...
Toolbox Release Notes | Build 24.1.1105.641
The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 24.1.1105.641 Nesting Fix Fig. 1: The fatal error that would occur during processing. There was reportedly an issue that occurred when clients attempted to process a work order using the nesting ...
Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 24.1025
The following release notes apply to Microvellum Foundation Library build 24.1025. Additions Added new global variable “Remove Stop Dado On Bottom Edge” for wood drawer boxes. Check this option to run the dado through at the bottom of the sub front ...