Storage
NVMe vs HDD: choosing the right storage profile
Compute plans default to NVMe SSD; Storage VM plans use HDD with NVMe cache. Here is when to pick each.
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Compute plans (General, CPU Optimized, High Memory) are backed by NVMe SSD by default. The Storage VM family is backed by HDD storage with an NVMe cache layer — ideal for backups, archives, and large datasets that don’t require NVMe-grade IOPS.
Pick NVMe when
- Your workload is latency-sensitive (databases, queues, real-time APIs).
- You need high random-read IOPS (search indices, OLTP databases).
- Disk capacity stays under ~640GB.
Pick Storage VM (HDD) when
- You need multi-TB capacity at a low cost-per-GB (1TB to 8TB tiers).
- Workload is sequential and tolerates HDD seek latency (backups, archives, logs, video).
- NVMe cache layer is sufficient for your hot working set.
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