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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallAzure Cobalt 100 is Microsoft-designed 64-bit Arm processor silicon for Azure datacenters, based on Arm Neoverse N2. You do not buy or install the processor: Azure exposes it through specific virtual-machine (VM) families. Those VMs are worth evaluating for supported Arm64 Linux workloads such as web services, analytics, databases, and caches—but compatibility, regional availability, and performance depend on the exact workload and SKU.
What is Azure Cobalt 100?
Cobalt 100 is Microsoft’s first-generation, in-house-designed Arm CPU for Azure cloud workloads. Microsoft says it runs at 3.4 GHz and that each VM vCPU is backed by an entire physical core. These details describe Microsoft’s processor and virtualization offering; they do not mean that a VM gives a customer exclusive access to a complete physical server.
Cobalt 100 is consumed as Azure infrastructure. It is not a retail processor, an add-in card, or a server a customer can install locally. The practical choice is whether an Azure VM running on Cobalt 100 suits the application and operating environment.
How Cobalt 100 relates to Arm Neoverse
Arm Neoverse is the underlying technology, not the name of the Azure VM. Cobalt 100 is Microsoft-designed silicon based on Arm’s Neoverse N2 design and subsystem technology. Arm describes Neoverse Compute Subsystems as a platform cloud providers can use to create tailored silicon; that does not mean Arm designed the complete Microsoft processor. Arm’s announcement discusses the Neoverse connection.
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Which Azure VM families use Cobalt 100?
Microsoft lists three Cobalt 100 VM family pairs, differentiated in part by memory per vCPU. Use the ratio as an initial way to match a workload’s memory needs, then check the individual SKU for its full specifications.
| VM families | Category | Memory per vCPU |
|---|---|---|
| Dplsv6 / Dpldsv6 | General purpose | 2 GiB |
| Dpsv6 / Dpdsv6 | General purpose | 4 GiB |
| Epsv6 / Epdsv6 | Memory optimized | 8 GiB |
These ratios do not tell the whole story. Before choosing a size, compare its vCPU count, total memory, network and storage capabilities, and suitability for the application. Current pricing, quotas, and capacity vary by SKU and region; consult Microsoft’s VM sizes overview and live regional availability information rather than relying on a dated region count.
What workloads are a good fit?
Microsoft positions Cobalt 100 VMs for scale-out, cloud-native Linux computing. Its examples include data analytics, web and application servers, open-source databases, and caches. The most promising candidates are workloads that can use Arm64 software and can be distributed across instances when demand grows.
A workload’s label alone is not enough to establish fit. Check the actual application binaries, libraries, agents, extensions, container images, and operational tools. An application may support Linux generally while a particular dependency or prebuilt image remains unavailable for Arm64.
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Can your Linux software run on Azure Arm VMs?
Microsoft’s supported guest operating-system list includes Arm64 versions of Ubuntu 20.04 and later, Debian 11 and later, AlmaLinux 8 and later, RHEL 8.6 and later, and SLES 15 SP4 and later. Image support can change, so verify the current Arm64 image selector and the requirements for your chosen VM before migration. Microsoft’s documentation also mentions Windows support in the broader VM context, but lists Windows 11 Client as not supported for these Arm64 VMs; do not assume a Windows client image is available.
Use this migration checklist before moving a service:
- Confirm the region and SKU. Check that the Cobalt 100 family and specific size you need are offered in the intended Azure region, and confirm quota and capacity.
- Validate the operating-system image. Confirm that the required Arm64 image and version are currently available for the VM.
- Audit software dependencies. Check that native binaries, container images, libraries, monitoring agents, security tools, and deployment utilities support Arm64.
- Test representative traffic and data. Benchmark the real application path, including startup, peak load, storage and network behavior, and any batch or database operations that matter.
- Compare the whole deployment. Evaluate current VM cost and measured workload performance for the same region and service requirements; include porting and operational effort.
Is Cobalt 100 faster or cheaper than previous Azure Arm VMs?
Microsoft’s 2024 general-availability announcement claimed up to 50% better price performance than its previous-generation Arm-based VMs. Arm separately reported 50–90% performance uplifts and 60–110% performance-per-dollar increases in HPC comparisons against previous-generation Neoverse N1 instances. Those are vendor-published results with specific comparison baselines—not a promise that every application will be faster or cheaper. See Microsoft’s launch announcement and Arm’s reported results.
Microsoft’s September 23, 2025 customer-results article said Cobalt systems had been live for nearly a year and were available in 29 datacenter regions at that time. It named Databricks and Snowflake as users of Azure analytics services and quoted a Temenos result of over 40% efficiency improvement relative to its 2024 benchmark exercise. These are dated, company-reported deployment and customer results, not an independent adoption survey or a general benchmark for other applications. Microsoft’s customer-results article provides that context.
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No apples-to-apples result here establishes a universal advantage over current x86 VMs or other cloud providers. Measure your workload on the candidate sizes and compare its actual cost and performance with the alternatives available to you.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How is Cobalt 200 different?
Cobalt 200 is a separate, newer generation—not a revised performance figure for Cobalt 100. In its 2026 announcement, Microsoft described Cobalt 200 VMs as an early-access offering, said they use Arm Neoverse V3 CSS, and claimed up to 50% generational performance improvement over Cobalt 100. Preview status and availability can change; check Microsoft’s Cobalt 200 announcement for current status. Do not apply its performance claim to Cobalt 100.
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