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Azure performance depends on two layers working together: Microsoft’s Azure Boost infrastructure removes virtualization, networking, storage, and security work from host CPUs, while the guest operating system must use suitable kernels, drivers, queues, and receive-side scaling. Accelerated Networking and, on supported newer sizes, the MANA adapter provide the fast network path; VM size limits and the workload still determine the result.
Azure Boost moves infrastructure work off the host CPU
Azure Boost offloads server-virtualization processes that were traditionally handled by the hypervisor and host operating system onto purpose-built hardware and software. The offload includes networking, storage, and security processing. That leaves more host CPU capacity available to guest virtual machines and reduces work that would otherwise compete with tenant workloads.
Microsoft’s 2025 capability figures apply only to compatible Azure Boost VM sizes, not to every Azure VM:
| Resource path | Published capability | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Network bandwidth | Up to 200 Gbps | Maximum for compatible Azure Boost sizes; an individual VM’s published limit still applies. |
| Local storage | Up to 36 GBps and 6.6 million IOPS | Capability figure for compatible Azure Boost configurations. |
| Remote storage | Up to 14 GBps and 750,000 IOPS | Capability figure for compatible Azure Boost configurations. |
These are platform ceilings and capabilities, not a guarantee that an application will reach them. Guest CPU availability, disk layout, protocol overhead, queue depth, and the VM’s own limits can produce lower measurements.
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Accelerated Networking supplies the direct network path
What it changes
Accelerated Networking uses SR-IOV and Azure SmartNIC hardware so a guest can use a direct data path to the host adapter instead of sending every packet through the host virtual switch. Microsoft describes the result as consistent, ultra-low network latency. Bypassing virtual-switch processing can reduce jitter, software interrupts, and guest CPU consumption.
Enable the feature only on VM sizes and operating-system combinations that support it. It improves the path to the adapter; it does not raise the bandwidth ceiling published for the VM size.
Where MANA fits
MANA (Microsoft Azure Network Adapter) is the newer Azure Boost network interface. Microsoft describes it as providing stable, forward-compatible drivers for both Windows and Linux. Actual MANA capabilities depend on the VM family, driver, and kernel in use.
The MANA overview lists May 26, 2026 as the earliest potential public-cloud placement for specified Intel v5 and Cobalt 100 v6 families. That date is a placement milestone for those specified families, not a promise that every region, size, or subscription has MANA.
For DPDK on MANA, Microsoft requires Linux kernel 6.14 or later, or backported Ethernet and InfiniBand drivers that provide the required support. A VM using an older kernel can therefore need an upgrade or a vendor backport before a DPDK deployment is viable.
Linux guest tuning: kernel, RSS, TCP, and queues
Start with an Azure-aware kernel
Azure Linux VMs have RSS enabled by default, and Linux kernels released since October 2017 include additional networking optimizations used by Azure. Ubuntu and SUSE publish Azure-tuned kernels. Check the running kernel with:
uname -r
An azure name in the output indicates an Azure-tuned kernel naming scheme. For other distributions, Microsoft recommends kernel 4.19 or later when possible. That general recommendation is separate from MANA DPDK, whose requirement is newer: kernel 6.14 or a suitable backport.
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Test the network controls instead of assuming one setting wins
For inconsistent large transfers, establish a baseline first and then test combinations of the controls that influence packet processing:
- TCP and UDP memory-buffer limits.
- TCP congestion-control algorithms, including BBR where the distribution and kernel support it.
- The
netdev_max_backlogreceive backlog. - NIC ring-buffer sizes inspected and adjusted with
ethtool. - Transmit-queue length set consistently through udev rules where required.
There is no universal best value. A setting that helps many small flows can hurt a single high-throughput stream, and excessive buffering can increase latency. Test the same configuration on every client and server VM in the path; changing only one endpoint can hide the real bottleneck.
Keep changes persistent and reproducible
Record the original sysctl, udev, and NIC settings before changing them. Re-test after a reboot, kernel or driver update, or any change to Accelerated Networking, because those events can alter queue creation, driver behavior, or the active interface.
Windows guest tuning: Accelerated Networking, RSS, and offloads
Use Accelerated Networking when the VM supports it
Microsoft recommends Accelerated Networking for supported Windows VM configurations. Verify support for the specific VM size and Windows image before enabling it, then confirm that the expected accelerated adapter and current driver are present.
Check and enable Receive Side Scaling
RSS distributes receive processing over multiple virtual CPUs. Check the current state with PowerShell:
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To enable RSS on every adapter, Microsoft documents:
Get-NetAdapter | % {Enable-NetAdapterRss -Name $_.Name}
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Enabling RSS resets the adapter and causes a temporary connectivity interruption. Schedule the command during a maintenance window or another period in which a brief network reset is acceptable.
Understand Windows offload categories
Windows network-offload guidance groups features into three classes:
- Software-only: processing remains in the operating system.
- Software-and-hardware: work is coordinated between Windows and the adapter.
- Hardware-only: a capable adapter performs the operation.
Moving suitable work to the adapter can reduce CPU use, but the benefit depends on VM size, adapter support, driver versions, and traffic shape. Measure the application rather than enabling every available offload indiscriminately.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Linux and Windows use different guest controls on the same Azure platform
| Comparison axis | Linux approach | Windows approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform layer | Azure Boost supplies host offload; administrators tune the kernel, sysctl values, NIC rings, and udev queue settings. | Azure Boost supplies host offload; administrators verify Accelerated Networking, RSS, adapter properties, and driver state. |
| Network datapath | SR-IOV-backed Accelerated Networking can use supported Mellanox or MANA adapters; DPDK on MANA has its own kernel requirement. | SR-IOV-backed Accelerated Networking uses the supported virtual adapter and Windows driver for the VM family. |
| Kernel or driver prerequisite | Azure-tuned Ubuntu or SUSE kernels are available; Microsoft recommends 4.19 or later for other distributions when possible, while MANA DPDK needs 6.14 or a backport. | Use a supported Windows image and current adapter driver; the exact support matrix varies by VM size and image. |
| RSS and queue behavior | RSS is enabled by default in Azure Linux VMs; queue depth, ring sizes, backlog, and congestion control are tested with Linux tools. | Inspect RSS with Get-NetAdapterRss; enabling it resets the adapter, and queue/offload behavior follows Windows and driver settings. |
| Storage and VM ceilings | Azure Boost capability figures and the VM size’s published network, IOPS, and bandwidth limits remain the ceiling regardless of guest operating system. | |
| Operational risk | Persistent sysctl, udev, kernel, and driver changes can affect every reboot and endpoint in the data path. | RSS or adapter changes can briefly interrupt connectivity and should be scheduled. |
| Measured outcome | Judge success with end-to-end throughput, latency, CPU, disk I/O, and application metrics; no guest setting guarantees a fixed gain. | |
A validation workflow that avoids misleading gains
- Capture a baseline. Record CPU and memory use, network throughput and latency, disk I/O, and application-level metrics under a representative workload.
- Find the limiting resource. Classify the symptom as CPU, memory, networking, or I/O before changing a guest setting.
- Check the VM contract. Confirm the VM size’s published network bandwidth, storage throughput, and IOPS limits. A guest tuning change cannot exceed those limits.
- Verify the fast path. Confirm that the VM supports Accelerated Networking, that it is enabled, and that RSS, the kernel, and the network driver are in the expected state.
- Change one related group at a time. For Linux, that might be congestion control and queue settings; for Windows, RSS or a defined offload group. Apply changes consistently to every VM participating in the traffic flow.
- Re-test and retain rollback data. Repeat the same workload after each material change, reboot, kernel or driver update, or NIC-state change. Keep the previous sysctl, udev, and Windows adapter settings available for rollback.
Diagnosing inconsistent Azure VM network throughput
Throughput is below the VM’s advertised limit
- Compare the test result with the VM size’s published ceiling rather than an Azure Boost maximum.
- Check whether Accelerated Networking is supported and enabled on both ends of the transfer.
- Confirm that the test is not disk- or CPU-bound; storage limits and encryption or protocol processing can cap a network benchmark.
Latency or jitter varies during a transfer
- Verify the accelerated datapath and the active adapter driver.
- On Linux, inspect RSS, ring sizes, backlog, and queue-discipline or congestion-control combinations.
- On Windows, inspect RSS and adapter offload state, remembering that an adapter reset can briefly interrupt traffic.
One large flow improves but many flows do not
Repeat the test with the same number and size of streams used by the application. Queue depth, receive distribution, and congestion-control behavior can favor one traffic pattern over another, so a single-stream result is not a complete capacity test.
Performance changes after maintenance
Re-check the running kernel, adapter driver, RSS state, and NIC queues after reboots or updates. A driver or kernel change can alter defaults even when the VM size and application are unchanged.
A practical decision rule
Use Azure Boost and Accelerated Networking as the foundation, then tune the guest only after you know the VM’s published ceilings and have a reproducible baseline. Linux offers deeper control over kernel, congestion, backlog, ring, and transmit-queue behavior; Windows concentrates the equivalent work in RSS, adapter drivers, and supported offloads. In both cases, keep the change small, apply it across the complete data path, and accept it only when the measured workload—not a theoretical maximum—improves.
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