Hi Philip,
Your current Azure VMs (D, Ds, Dv2, Dsv2, and Ls-series) will continue operating after Reserved Instance (RI) expiration in June 2025, but you’ll lose RI discounts and transition to pay-as-you-go billing.
Will running machines be affected? No, VM retirement occurs in 2028, so your workloads remain operational after RI expiration. However:
- Costs will increase due to pay-as-you-go rates starting July 2025.
- Mandatory migration to newer VM series (e.g., Dasv5, Dsv5, Lsv3) is required before 2028.
Do you need to migrate? Yes, but timing depends on your priorities:
- Migrate now to secure RI discounts on newer VM series
- Migrate later (before 2028) to avoid downtime during retirement.
- By migrating to newer VM series, you gain access to improved price-performance ratios, broader regional availability, and the latest hardware capabilities.
- Microsoft recommends migrating to newer generations, such as: Dsv3 / Dsv4 / Dsv5 series Dasv4 / Dasv5 series Esv3 / Esv4 / Esv5 series (for memory-intensive workloads).
What necessary steps should I follow?
Please follow the steps mentioned in the document: Necessary Steps.
Will downtime be required?
It depends on how you migrate:
- Resizing an existing VM (if available) - Minimal downtime (~minutes).
- Recreating VMs on a new SKU - Requires stopping and redeploying, which can result in longer downtime.
What exactly is migrated?
- VM Configuration (CPU, memory, storage) will change based on the new instance type.
- OS Disk and Data Disks - If resizing, they remain intact. If recreating, you may need to attach them manually.
- Network Configurations -Ensure the new VM retains the same public IP, NSGs, and virtual network settings.
Hope this helps!
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