GPU Cloud Provider · Redmond, Washington, USA
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure, with its vast selection of cloud services, offers competitive AI and computing solutions tailored for large scale machine learning and data analysis. They lead with advancements such as the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 clusters, featuring Blackwell Ultra GPUs and innovative networking technologies like NVIDIA InfiniBand.
GPUs
1
Founded
2010
Countries
25
Data Centers
40
Uptime SLA
99.9%
Team Size
10,000+
GPU Marketplace
NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIeOn-Demand
Company Profile
Company TypeHyperscaler
Provider TypeHyperscaler
Founded2010
HeadquartersRedmond, Washington, USA
Legal EntityMicrosoft Corporation
FundingPublic (MSFT)
Total RaisedNot applicable (publicly traded)
Team Size10,000+
Infrastructure
GPU FleetNVIDIA H100 SXM, NVIDIA H100 NVL, NVIDIA A100 80GB SXM, NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe, NVIDIA V100, NVIDIA T4, AMD MI300X, NVIDIA A10
Network FabricNVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand
Connectivity800 Gbps per GPU cross-rack
StorageHigh-performance storage solutions suitable for AI workloads
Data Center TierTier 3+ / Tier 4 equivalent; ISO 27001, SOC 1/2/3 certified; custom-built hyperscale facilities
Bare MetalYes, via Azure Bare Metal Infrastructure and ND/NC series VMs with dedicated GPU access
AvailabilityGA (General Availability)
EnterpriseStartupResearchGovernmentIndependent Software Vendors
Compute & Deployment
On-DemandYes
Spot / InterruptibleYes (Azure Spot VMs, up to 90% savings vs on-demand, eviction-based)
Reserved InstancesYes (1-year and 3-year Reserved VM Instances with significant discounts)
Bare MetalYes (Azure Dedicated Host for isolated physical servers; BareMetal Infrastructure for select workloads)
VM-BasedYes (N-series, ND-series, NC-series GPU VMs)
Container-BasedYes (Docker and containerd via Azure Container Instances and AKS)
KubernetesYes (managed K8s via Azure Kubernetes Service - AKS)
Serverless GPUYes (Azure Container Apps and Azure ML managed endpoints support serverless GPU inference)
Spin-Up Time2-5 minutes for standard GPU VMs; longer for ND/H100 series due to capacity constraints
TerraformYes (official HashiCorp-registry provider: hashicorp/azurerm)
GPU Hardware
Latest GenH100 SXM, H100 NVL, ND H100 v5
Legacy SupportA100, V100, T4, A10
Multi-GPU NodesYes (up to 8x per node)
Max GPUs/Node8
NVLinkYes (NVLink 4.0 on H100 SXM nodes)
InfiniBandYes (NDR 400Gbps on ND H100 v5 series)
PCIe vs SXMBoth PCIe and SXM
HGX PlatformYes (HGX H100 8-GPU on ND H100 v5)
Liquid CoolingSelect SKUs
Pricing Model
Per HourYes (primary billing unit)
Per MinuteYes (per-second billing, minimum 1 minute)
SubscriptionYes (monthly/annual Reserved VM Instances)
Reserved DiscountUp to 72% off with 3-year commitment (1-year ~40% off)
Spot DiscountUp to 90% off on-demand with Azure Spot VMs
Public PricingYes
Hidden FeesIP address charges ($0.004/hr for dynamic public IP), load balancer fees, Azure Monitor/diagnostics charges
Egress Charges$0.0875/GB for first 10TB/month (outbound to internet), free between Azure regions in same zone
Pay-as-you-goYes
Credit SystemYes (Azure credits via Visual Studio subscriptions, free trial, and MACC committed spend)
Performance & Scaling
Multi-Node TrainingYes (up to 1000+ nodes with NCCL and MPI via Azure CycleCloud and HPC clusters)
Max Cluster SizeNot disclosed (thousands of GPUs possible via Azure CycleCloud and NDv5/HBv4 HPC clusters)
Elastic ScalingYes (add/remove nodes dynamically via Azure VMSS and CycleCloud autoscaling)
Auto ScalingYes (policy-based auto-scaling via Azure Machine Learning compute clusters and VMSS)
InfiniBandYes (HDR InfiniBand 200Gbps on NDv4; NDR 400Gbps on NDv5 series with RDMA)
NVSwitchYes (on NDv4 A100 SXM4 and NDv5 H100 SXM5 nodes)
SLA99.9%
Perf IsolationYes (dedicated bare metal available via Azure Dedicated Host and HPC VM series)
Noisy NeighborYes (bare metal on Dedicated Host; partial on standard multi-tenant VMs)
Developer Experience
OnboardingSelf-service via Azure Portal with guided setup; enterprise onboarding with dedicated account managers and solution architects
FrameworksOptimized for major AI frameworks, details not explicitly mentioned
SDK LanguagesPython, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, .NET, Go, Ruby, PHP, C++
CLI ToolingFull Azure CLI (az) with Azure ML CLI v2, Azure Developer CLI, Cloud Shell, VS Code extension, and REST API
JupyterNative via Azure Machine Learning Studio (JupyterLab and Jupyter Notebook integrated)
TemplatesLLM Fine-tuning, PyTorch Training, TensorFlow Training, Stable Diffusion, ONNX Inference, Horovod Distributed Training, Azure ML Pipelines
Model MarketplaceAzure AI Studio with model catalog including OpenAI models, Meta Llama, Mistral, HuggingFace integration, and Azure Marketplace
DocumentationComprehensive docs with tutorials, API reference, quickstarts, architecture guides, and Microsoft Learn training platform
API FeaturesCLI, SDK, REST API
Security & Compliance
SecurityHardware-rooted security, Built-in compliance and security standards
ComplianceBuilt-in security and compliance standards
ISO 27001 / ISO 27017 / ISO 27018 certifiedSOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3 compliantFedRAMP High authorizedHIPAA/HITECH compliantStrategic partner and cloud provider for OpenAI60+ global regionsNVIDIA DGX Cloud partnerFortune 500 customer base
Data Center Locations
Coverage
CountriesUnited States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Chile
CitiesBoydton VA, Chicago IL, San Antonio TX, Seattle WA, Phoenix AZ, Des Moines IA, Quincy WA, Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, London, Cardiff, Stockholm, Oslo, Geneva, Zurich, Madrid, Warsaw, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Busan, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Toronto, Quebec City, Mexico City, Santiago
Multi-Region FailoverYes (automatic and manual failover via Azure Traffic Manager and Availability Zones)
Latency TiersUltra-low (<1ms intra-DC within Availability Zones), standard cloud latency across regions, ExpressRoute for dedicated low-latency connectivity
North AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificMiddle EastAfricaSouth America
Compliance Regions
EU Data ResidencyYes (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Dublin, Paris, Stockholm, Oslo, Geneva, Zurich, Madrid, Warsaw) — EU Data Boundary program available
US Gov CloudYes (FedRAMP High authorized) — Azure Government regions in Virginia, Texas, Arizona; Azure Government Secret and Top Secret for classified workloads
India RegionYes (Pune, Chennai, Mumbai)
Datacenter Locations
Key Strengths
Deep OpenAI partnership with exclusive model access
Azure Arc enables true hybrid/multi-cloud GPU workloads
Tightest integration with Microsoft 365, Teams, and enterprise software ecosystem
ND H100 v5 series with InfiniBand networking for large-scale distributed training
Azure AI Studio as unified platform for model development and deployment
Known Limitations
Complex pricing and billing can be difficult to predict
GPU availability in specific regions can be constrained without reservations
Higher cost compared to specialized GPU cloud providers for pure ML workloads
Steep learning curve for Azure-specific tooling and IAM model
Support quality varies by tier; enterprise-grade support requires paid plans
Additional Information
Support Options
["24/7 support through multiple channels including online resources and direct customer service"]
Community
Microsoft Tech Community forums, Stack Overflow presence, GitHub (microsoft org), Azure Developer Discord, Microsoft Q&A platform, extensive MVP and partner ecosystem
Green Energy
Committed to 100% renewable energy by 2025; carbon negative by 2030; water positive by 2030
PUE Rating
1.18 average globally (as reported in sustainability reports)
Core Proposition
Deeply integrated AI and GPU cloud platform with tight Microsoft ecosystem ties (Azure OpenAI, Teams, Office 365), offering the broadest global compliance coverage and enterprise SLAs among hyperscalers.
Notable Customers
OpenAI
Boeing
BMW
Coca-Cola
LinkedIn
GitHub
KPMG
Walmart
Payment Methods
Credit CardWire TransferAzure MarketplaceEnterprise AgreementMicrosoft Customer AgreementCloud Solution Provider
Last updated March 2026. Information subject to change.