This blog post series highlights the key announcements and major updates related to Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Azure Local, as officially released by Microsoft in the past two weeks.
Azure
Compute
Azure VMware Solution AV36 Node Retirement on June 30, 2028
Microsoft announces the retirement of the AV36 node type for Azure VMware Solution effective June 30, 2028. Existing AV36 Reserved Instance (RI) terms remain unchanged, but customers are advised to review their AV36 RI expiration timelines and coordinate next steps with their Microsoft account teams. To ease the transition, Microsoft will offer AV36 1-year RIs with VCF included until October 15, 2025, and AV36 VCF BYOL 1-year RIs until June 30, 2026 (requiring a portable Broadcom VCF subscription). Existing AV36 Pay-As-You-Go subscriptions will continue through September 30, 2027. This change impacts only AV36; AV36P, AV48, AV52, and AV64 remain available with AVS VCF BYOL options.
Retirement: NVv3-series Azure Virtual Machines will be retired on September 30, 2026
Microsoft will retire the NVv3-series VM sizes—Standard_NV12s_v3, Standard_NV12hs_v3, Standard_NV24s_v3, Standard_NV24ms_v3, Standard_NV32ms_v3, and Standard_NV48s_v3—on September 30, 2026. To avoid disruption, organizations should migrate workloads to newer sizes within the NV product line. Microsoft recommends NVadsA10_v5 VMs, which provide higher GPU memory bandwidth per GPU and are well suited for GPU-accelerated graphics, virtual desktops, visualization workloads, and smaller AI scenarios.
Networking
Using Server-Sent Events with Application Gateway
Azure Application Gateway now supports Server-Sent Events (SSE) in general availability, enabling real-time, server-to-client data streaming over a persistent HTTP connection. To adopt SSE, administrators must apply specific configurations on both the Application Gateway resource and the backend application so that server push updates flow reliably to connected clients.
Retirement: Azure VPN Gateway support for SSTP Protocol will be retired on March 31, 2027
Azure VPN Gateway support for the SSTP protocol will be phased out due to limited scalability and performance. Customers are advised to migrate to IKEv2 or OpenVPN, which provide significantly higher connection limits—up to 10,000 connections—and aggregate throughput up to 10 Gbps depending on the gateway SKU. Key dates include March 31, 2026, when enabling SSTP on VPN gateways will no longer be supported, and March 31, 2027, when existing SSTP-enabled gateways will no longer be able to establish SSTP connections. To avoid disruption, customers should complete migration to IKEv2 or OpenVPN before March 31, 2027.
New health check infrastructure for Azure Traffic Manager
Azure Traffic Manager has introduced new health check infrastructure designed to improve resiliency and horizontal scalability. Customers are being migrated to the new platform, which enhances the reliability of health probes. Because probes originate from updated IP addresses, environments with strict firewall controls should ensure health checks are allowed. The recommended approach is to use the AzureTrafficManager Service Tag in NSGs or Azure Firewall so rules stay current automatically. Where Service Tags are not feasible (such as custom appliances or non-Azure environments), administrators should manually update ACLs or firewall rules with the latest IP prefixes from the Azure IP Ranges and Service Tags JSON and refresh them periodically.
Storage
Azure NetApp Files Flexible Service Level
Azure NetApp Files introduces the Flexible service level, allowing independent configuration of storage capacity and throughput to optimize cost and performance without volume moves. Supported on manual QoS capacity pools, throughput can be tuned between 128 MiB/s and 640 MiB/s per provisioned TiB, with a baseline 128 MiB/s provided for every pool at no additional cost. This enables right-sizing for both capacity-heavy workloads with modest performance needs and demanding workloads—such as Oracle or SAP HANA—that require higher throughput on smaller capacity footprints. The Flexible service level is available for newly created pools only, is supported in all Azure NetApp Files regions, and works with cool access for additional savings.
Cross-tenant customer-managed keys for Azure NetApp Files volume encryption
Azure NetApp Files now supports cross-tenant Customer-Managed Keys (CMK) for volume encryption, enabling customers to manage their own encryption keys across different Azure tenancies. This capability gives SaaS providers and their end users greater control in multi-tenant scenarios by allowing end users to retain full key ownership while providers offer flexible key-management options. The feature is available in all Azure NetApp Files–supported regions, delivering secure, scalable, and compliant data protection across tenant boundaries.
Azure NetApp Files support for OpenLDAP, FreeIPA, and Red Hat Directory Server (preview)
Azure NetApp Files introduces public preview support for integrating with FreeIPA, OpenLDAP, and Red Hat Directory Server, enabling secure LDAP over TLS for NFSv3 and NFSv4.1 volumes alongside Microsoft Active Directory. This enhancement streamlines identity integration for hybrid environments and regulated industries, improving access control for NFS workloads. Key benefits include broader LDAP support, secure LDAP over TLS, seamless use with existing identity infrastructure, and greater flexibility for compliance-driven deployments. The preview is available in all Azure NetApp Files regions, with use cases spanning financial services, government, and enterprises standardizing identity across cloud and on-premises estates.
Azure Local
Conclusion
Over the past two weeks, Microsoft has introduced a slew of updates and announcements pertaining to Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Azure Local. These developments underscore the tech giant’s unwavering commitment to enhancing its cloud offerings and adapting to the ever-evolving needs of businesses and developers. Users of Azure can anticipate improved functionalities, streamlined services, and enriched features as a result of these changes. Stay tuned for more insights as I continue to monitor and report on Azure’s progression in the cloud sphere.