Implement Accelerated Networking for Azure virtual machines

Accelerated Networking is a networking capability provided in Azure to boost the network performance of virtual machines (VMs). It is based on the concept of hardware-accelerated network I/O, taking advantage of compute hardware (rather than software processing) to handle network traffic. This feature significantly decreases latency, increases throughput, and reduces the CPU utilization for processing network traffic, hence enhancing system performance. This post discusses how you can enable Accelerated Networking for your Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), particularly in the context of running SAP workloads.

To implement Accelerated Networking, your Azure environment and VMs must meet certain requirements. Firstly, your VMs must be a series that supports Accelerated Networking including D/DSv2, D/DSv3, E/ESv3, F/FS, FSv2, and Ms/Mms. Secondly, VMs must run on the supported versions of Windows or Linux operating system.

Let’s dive into the actual implementation:

Enabling Accelerated Networking During VM Creation

The ideal time to enable Accelerated Networking is while creating the VM through either Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or Azure CLI (command-line interface).

On Azure portal:

1. Navigate to the VM creation process, specify the basic settings, and continue to the ‘Networking’ tab.
2. Under ‘NIC network security group’, choose ‘Advanced’.
3. Set ‘Accelerated networking’ to ‘On’, then proceed to create your VM as usual.

Using Azure CLI, use the --accelerated-networking true parameter when creating the VM:

az vm create –resource-group myResourceGroup –name myVM –image UbuntuLTS –size Standard_DS2_v2 –accelerated-networking true

In Azure PowerShell, use `-AcceleratedNetworking` option while creating the VM:

New-AzVm -ResourceGroupName “myResourceGroup” -Location “West Europe” -VirtualNetworkName “myVnet” -SubnetName “mySubnet” -SecurityGroupName “myNetworkSecurityGroup” -PublicIpAddressName “myPublicIpAddress” -OpenPorts 80,3389 -AcceleratedNetworking

Enabling Accelerated Networking on Existing VMs

For existing VMs, Accelerated Networking can still be enabled, but the VM must be stopped (deallocated) first. This operation is irreversible.

Using Azure CLI:

1. Stop (deallocate) the VM:

   az vm deallocate –resource-group myResourceGroup –name myVM

2. Enable Accelerated Networking:

   az network nic update –name myNic –resource-group myResourceGroup –accelerated-networking true

3. Start the VM:

   az vm start –resource-group myResourceGroup –name myVM

Using Azure PowerShell:

1. Stop (deallocate) the VM:

   Stop-AzVm -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name myVM -Force

2. Enable Accelerated Networking:

   $nic = Get-AzNetworkInterface -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name myNic
   $nic.EnableAcceleratedNetworking = $true
   $nic | Set-AzNetworkInterface

3. Start the VM:

   Start-AzVm -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name myVM

Enabling Accelerated Networking significantly enhances network performance, which is critical when running SAP workloads on Azure. You will be able to achieve less latency, more packets per second, reduced jitter, and reduction in CPU utilization. Be aware of the prerequisites and constraints, and follow the provided steps to enable Accelerated Networking on your Azure VMs.

Practice Test

True or False: Accelerated networking can be used for all types of Azure virtual machines?

• False

Answer: False

Explanation: Accelerated networking is only supported on selective VM sizes.

Which option should be enabled to implement accelerated networking for Azure virtual machines?

• A. Enabling IPv6
• B. Enabling Virtual LAN
• C. Enabling SR-IOV
• D. Enabling VPN

Answer: C. Enabling SR-IOV

Explanation: Accelerated networking enables single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) to a VM which greatly improves its networking performance.

True or False: Accelerated networking can only be enabled for new VMs?

• False

Answer: False

Explanation: Accelerated networking can be enabled for existing VMs, but it requires stopping/deallocating the VM before enabling.

True or False: Implementing accelerated networking reduces the load on the CPU and improves network performance?

• True

Answer: True

Explanation: Accelerated networking minimizes latency, jitter, and CPU utilization, thereby improving throughput and network performance.

Which Azure networking feature bypasses the host and the virtual switch to speed up network traffic for VMs?

• A. Load Balancer
• B. Accelerated Networking
• C. Virtual Network Peering
• D. VPN Gateway

Answer: B. Accelerated Networking

Explanation: Accelerated Networking improves networking performance for Azure VMs by enabling a direct path from the VM to the network adapter, bypassing the host and the virtual switch.

The CPU and memory required for processing interrupts on VMs can be decreased by implementing …

• A. Load balancer
• B. Virtual network peering
• C. VPN gateway
• D. Accelerated networking

Answer: D. Accelerated networking

Explanation: Accelerated Networking helps decrease interrupts by having the VM communicating directly with the network adapter.

True or False: You cannot enable Accelerated Networking on the VMs that are part of the availability set.

• True

Answer: True

Explanation: All VMs in an availability set or a VM scale set should be stopped/deallocated to enable Accelerated Networking.

What is maximum bandwidth of Azure VM with accelerated networking?

• A. 10 Gbps
• B. 20 Gbps
• C. 30 Gbps
• D. 40 Gbps

Answer: C. 30 Gbps

Explanation: For VMs with Accelerated Networking enabled, Azure offers up to 30Gbps of networking throughput.

True or False: Accelerated Networking supports both Windows and Linux distributions.

• True

Answer: True

Explanation: Accelerated Networking is supported on many general purpose and compute-optimized instance sizes for both Windows and selected Linux distributions.

Which command can be used to check whether Accelerated Networking is enabled on a VM or not?

• A. Get-AzVM
• B. Check-AzVM
• C. Verify-AzVM
• D. See-AzVM

Answer: A. Get-AzVM

Explanation: The “Get-AzVM” PowerShell command can be used to check if Accelerated Networking is enabled on a VM or not.

Accelerated networking is only applicable to which of these?

• A. Data disks
• B. Operating system disks
• C. Network interface cards
• D. Virtual private networks

Answer: C. Network interface cards

Explanation: Accelerated networking improves the networking efficiency of network interface cards (NICs) in Azure VMs.

Interview Questions

What is Azure Accelerated Networking?

Azure Accelerated Networking is a network performance improvement feature provided by Azure. It directly connects a VM’s NIC to the host’s virtual switch for lower latency, reduced jitter and increased throughput, using hardware-defined network virtualization.

How does Accelerated Networking work in Azure?

Accelerated Networking enables Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) to a VM, which bypasses the host from the datapath, reducing latency, jitter, and CPU utilization for more efficient networking.

Which sizes and series of VMs support Accelerated Networking?

Azure Accelerated Networking supports most general purpose and compute-optimized instance sizes with 2 or more vCPUs. These supported series are: D/DSv2, D/DSv3, E/ESv3, F/FS, FSv2, and Ms/Mms.

How can Azure Accelerated Networking benefit SAP workloads?

Azure Accelerated Networking can improve network performance for SAP workloads by reducing latency, jitter, and CPU utilization. This can make SAP applications respond more quickly and consistently, facilitating better business processes and decision making.

How do you enable Accelerated Networking during the creation of a virtual machine in Azure?

While creating a VM, under the Networking tab, choose to create a new NIC and enable Accelerated Networking there.

Can Accelerated Networking be enabled on existing VMs?

Yes, it can be enabled on existing VMs. But the VM should be stopped/deallocated before enabling.

Is there any cost associated with using Azure Accelerated Networking?

No, Azure Accelerated Networking is available at no additional cost.

Does Azure Accelerated Networking support all operating systems?

Azure Accelerated Networking supports widely used Operating Systems like Windows Server 2008 R2 and later, all supported versions of Linux with Azure-tuned kernel starting from kernel version 4.4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 Gen1, etc.

Does changing the size of a VM affect Accelerated Networking?

Yes, if you resize the VM to an instance that does not support Accelerated Networking, it would be disabled.

How can I verify if Accelerated Networking is enabled on a virtual machine or not?

You can use Azure Network Watcher’s Effective Security Rules operation or PowerShell or Azure CLI to check if Accelerated Networking is enabled for a NIC or not.

Is Azure Accelerated Networking compatible with SAP Netweaver workloads?

Yes, Azure Accelerated Networking is fully supported and recommended for use with SAP Netweaver workloads to optimize network performance.

Are there any prerequisites for enabling Azure Accelerated Networking?

The VM must be a supported size for Azure to enable Accelerated Networking and the VM should not have been previously created with Accelerated Networking disabled.

Are there any performance monitoring tools available for Azure Accelerated Networking?

Yes, Azure Network Watcher can be used to monitor and diagnose network performance issues, including those related to Azure Accelerated Networking.

Can Azure Load Balancer and Application Gateway use Accelerated Networking?

No, Azure Load Balancer and Application Gateway services do not currently support Accelerated Networking.

Is it possible to use Azure Accelerated Networking with a VM scale set?

Yes, Accelerated Networking can be enabled for all virtual machines in a VM scale set. But all VMs in the set must be stopped/deallocated before enabling.