Azure offers a variety of managed disk types tailored to different workloads and performance needs.
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Azure Managed Disk Types
Azure provides Standard SSD, Premium SSD, Standard HDD, and Ultra Disk managed disk types to cater to various workload requirements. Each disk type offers specific performance characteristics and price points. Standard SSD disks are suitable for a balance between performance and cost-effectiveness for general-purpose workloads. Premium SSD disks deliver high-performance storage for I/O-intensive applications and databases. Standard HDD disks offer economical storage for less demanding workloads, while Ultra Disk provides high-performance, low-latency storage for mission-critical applications.
Ultra Disks: Ideal for IO-intensive workloads like SAP HANA and top-tier databases. They offer the highest performance with up to 400,000 IOPS and 10,000 MB/s throughput.
Premium SSD v2: Suitable for production workloads requiring consistently low latency and high IOPS. These disks provide up to 80,000 IOPS and 1,200 MB/s throughput.
Premium SSDs: Designed for performance-sensitive workloads, offering up to 20,000 IOPS and 900 MB/s throughput.
Standard SSDs: Best for web servers, lightly used enterprise applications, and development/testing environments. They provide up to 6,000 IOPS and 750 MB/s throughput.
Standard HDDs: A cost-effective option for backup and infrequently accessed data, with up to 2,000 IOPS and 500 MB/s throughput.
| Ultra Disk | Premium SSD v2 | Premium SSD | Standard SSD | Standard HDD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disk type | SSD | SSD | SSD | SSD | HDD |
| Scenario | IO-intensive workloads such as SAP HANA, top tier databases (for example, SQL, Oracle), and other transaction-heavy workloads. | Production and performance-sensitive workloads that consistently require low latency and high IOPS and throughput | Production and performance sensitive workloads | Web servers, lightly used enterprise applications and dev/test | Backup, non-critical, infrequent access |
| Max disk size | 65,536 GiB | 65,536 GiB | 32,767 GiB | 32,767 GiB | 32,767 GiB |
| Max throughput | 10,000 MB/s | 1,200 MB/s | 900 MB/s | 750 MB/s | 500 MB/s |
| Max IOPS | 400,000 | 80,000 | 20,000 | 6,000 | 2,000, 3,000* |
| Usable as OS Disk? | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Source: Microsoft Learn
When to Choose which Azure Managed Disk
For high-performance IO-intensive tasks like SAP HANA and top-tier databases, Ultra Disks are the optimal choice due to their exceptional performance. They provide up to 400,000 IOPS and 10,000 MB/s throughput.
Premium SSD v2 disks, on the other hand, are well-suited for production workloads with their consistent low latency and high IOPS of up to 80,000 and 1,200 MB/s throughput.
If you have performance-sensitive workloads, the Premium SSDs offering up to 20,000 IOPS and 900 MB/s throughput are a strong contender.
For web servers, lightly used enterprise applications, and development/testing environments, Standard SSDs with up to 6,000 IOPS and 750 MB/s throughput are a reliable choice.
Finally, Standard HDDs are a cost-effective option for backup needs and infrequently accessed data, providing up to 2,000 IOPS and 500 MB/s throughput.
Ultra Disks: Use for mission-critical applications requiring ultra-high performance and low latency.
Premium SSD v2: Opt for these when you need high performance but at a slightly lower cost than Ultra Disks.
Premium SSDs: Great for applications that demand consistent performance, such as transactional databases.
Standard SSDs: Perfect for general-purpose workloads that don’t require high performance.
Standard HDDs: Choose these for archival storage or workloads with minimal performance requirements.
To learn about the high level differences of the disk types and what your best option are, please also watch the video below.
Conclusion
Consider the workload demands and costs when selecting the most suitable disk type for your applications. The Azure Calculator can assist in making an informed decision based on your requirements and budget. It’s essential to analyze the high-level differences between disk types to determine the best option for your specific use case. Each disk type serves a distinct purpose, from ultra-high performance to cost-effective solutions for general-purpose workloads. Understanding these differences ensures optimal performance and cost efficiency for your applications.
If you care about Azure Managed Disk performance, also make sure, that you always consider the Azure Latency impacted by your Azure region choice. Read my blog article here.
Additional information
If you are interested to learn more about Azure Storage Options and what options you have, take a look at the guide by TaylorTech from Microsoft “Azure Storage Options – A Guide to Choosing the right storage option”.
