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Azure Compute Blog
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Using Microsoft Copilot in Azure to find the best VM size for you

Perry_Leong's avatar
Perry_Leong
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Dec 10, 2024

Selecting the right VM size can be hard, Copilot makes it easy

Co-written with Arushi Sharma, Sr. PM @ Microsoft, Azure Portal UX

Overview

Azure offers many Virtual Machine (VM) size options based on your workload needs.  Selecting precisely which VM size is best suited and optimal for your workload needs can be a challenging task. Microsoft Copilot in Azure (available through the Azure portal) can help you identify the best VM size based on your scenario needs and assess it in the context of your other configuration requirements.

Customers can share their intent and scenario, and Copilot in Azure will help guide them narrow down the right VM size amongst a vast size selection offered by Azure today. Customers are also not required to know exactly the amount of RAM/ CPU they would need, and Copilot in Azure can help them identify those VM SKU requirements based on their scenario. The size recommendations will also take the customer’s quota and offer restrictions into account and surface the most intelligent recommendations pertinently.

Please note that Microsoft Copilot in Azure is in public preview and is not a full replacement of the VM selector tool that was previously available.

 

Enabling Copilot in Azure in the Azure portal

The Copilot button should appear beside the search bar for customers that can access Azure portal. In the scenario, that a customer is unable see the button and cannot access Copilot in Azure, learn about managing access here.

 

Using Copilot in Azure to find your best VM sizes

 

 

In the Azure portal, click on Copilot on top right and ask: "Help me choose a size for my VM, or select the Help me choose the right VM size for my workload button near the top of the pane. Microsoft Copilot in Azure asks for some more information to help it determine the best options. It will ask you to select the subscription and desired region for the VM. Depending on your subscription status, it may surface a request to register with a resource provider after which it will ask specific questions about the VM requirements, questions around the use case, expected concurrent users, CPU and RAM specifications and the like. After that, it presents some options that are aligned with the available quota and lets you choose which recommended size to use for your VM.

Other sample prompts:

  • "Help me choose a size for my virtual machine"

  • "Which VM size will best suit my requirements?"

Watch a demo of size recommendation for Azure in Copilot. 

Copilot in Azure is an easy way to get started with Azure VMs and accelerates your time to deployment by intelligently recommending VM sizes available that are right for your needs. Learn more about Copilot in Azure in the documentation

Updated Dec 16, 2024
Version 6.0

23 Comments

  • Scottbills's avatar
    Scottbills
    Copper Contributor

    Thanks for providing the steps to enable but there is no chance I'll get enough permissions to be able to enable it in my companies tenant.  I guess to could setup my own but seems like to ton of work.

  • alejandrozb's avatar
    alejandrozb
    Copper Contributor

    BIIIIIIIIG miss by Microsoft. As part of an Indirect Provider, we handle estimates for multiple resellers, and we need to select the proper VM with the variable the VM Selector Tool already has. If our Partner Center Azure profiles could use the tool without inputting a subscription it could work... But no... My billing scope has no subscriptions and now I would need to enter our demo tenant EVERY SINGLE TIME I need to find the VM I need from the entire Azure available sizes... 
    Appalling.

  • MikeMorrison's avatar
    MikeMorrison
    Copper Contributor

    The virtual machines selector is retiring in January 2025!
    We have a large number of our team that use this site often, especially with migrating customers who don't yet have an Azure SUB and are just starting the migration from AWS/GCP etc.., or even been on the cloud yet.  

    RE: Please note that Microsoft Copilot in Azure is in public preview and is not a full replacement of the VM selector tool that was previously available.   <- that's the problem, the selector tool has been very beneficial in bringing in new business. And we do an extreme amount of Azure business.  

    I'm thinking we might need to build a customer accessible chat front-end that calls this in one of our Azure tenants so our pre-Azure customers can build-out a spec. 

    FYI -Would help to have some insights on upcoming Copilot in Azure pricing.  

  • PeterBgAT's avatar
    PeterBgAT
    Copper Contributor

    This is one of the worst ideas - forcing users to use an extremely ineffective solution (which mostly brought me back to the "pricing calculator") instead of keeping a working solution. 

    PLEASE bring back the basic option. 

    For everyone else: Use this link as long as its available: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/vm-selector/

  • i got this reply...."Sorry, Copilot encountered an error and unable to process your request at this moment. Please try again later."

  • SCollins's avatar
    SCollins
    Brass Contributor

    This is a hot garbage change.  What was easy to have quick selector tool to pick through the different configurations while consulting with customers, is now requiring login access to a tenant with a subscription, and to ask Co-pilot questions that so far, are not returning any useful results, is not making this process easy.   Maybe this should be reconsidered. 

    • RGaskins's avatar
      RGaskins
      Copper Contributor

      The OP needs to join the comments and give their explanation of this decision to remove a useful tool. The calculator is already missing enough key elements for accurately estimating cost. This is taking a step back in estimating Azure. What are architects supposed to do when we don't have access to what is needed?

    • DanLee's avatar
      DanLee
      Copper Contributor

      Surprised that Microsoft didn't take into consideration how much the old tool was utilized for sales, account management, and business development to find a quick estimate when a client wanted a ball park figure for something. Now we're stuck taking extra steps and time to find a general answer.

    • Lightfish's avatar
      Lightfish
      Copper Contributor

      Has the same problem. Microsoft plz bring back the old tool that worked!!!

  • hunn's avatar
    hunn
    Copper Contributor

    I agree to the previous speakers and I have one more concern.
    Regarding data privacy topics, we in our company are not allowed to use Copilot. So, I no longer have any tool (from Microsoft) to check the best size for my workload. That's very disappointing. Perhaps it is better to move directly to another Hyperscaler which are much more focused on their customer needs.

  • PAK-Man's avatar
    PAK-Man
    Brass Contributor

    I'm not in IT so I don't have direct access to anything in the Azure tenant for my company (or any other organization) but I am responsible for high-level architecture of technical projects and generating cost estimates for projects in order to get approvals before those projects begin. This Copilot system requires I select a subscription first but I can't even see our list of subscriptions to select one (and that's on purpose). Losing access to this tool is going to be really annoying.