A common solution to performance problems is to simply throw more hardware into the mix. Bigger, faster servers and more memory are an easy fix. The problem is that’s also an expensive fix. Since many businesses switch to cloud to save costs, simply choosing a more powerful, more expensive instance is often not the appropriate response to performance problems. Instead, there are other approaches to addressing performance issues that allow you to tailor the solution to the problem.

When you’re experiencing performance issues in Microsoft Azure, take a look at these tools that offer fixes tailored to the problem.

• Proximity placement groups. When virtual machines need resources that are located in other regions, this can create network latency that impacts performance. Proximity placement groups allow companies to keep virtual machines physically close together, minimizing these effects. In addition, you may want to deploy resources in multiple regions to keep them closer to their end users.
• Azure Traffic Manager. The impact of latency can also be reduced by using Azure Traffic Manager to direct users to services in the nearest data center. Traffic Manager can also help reduce the impact of outages; reduce the Time to Live setting and users will be directed away from failed endpoints sooner.
• ExpressRoute. Eliminate the impact of using the shared public network on performance by connecting directly to Azure. ExpressRoute’s private connections offer increased security as well as speed and reliability.
• Azure Advisor. Azure Advisor reviews your Azure infrastructure configurations and usage metrics to generate recommendations that can improve performance while reducing cost. Advisor’s guidance can improve the performance of virtual machines by identifying where managed disks would be beneficial. Azure Advisor can provide advice for improving App Services and integrates with SQL Database Advisor to address database performance problems.

Once you’ve exhausted the Azure’s advice, you can also start looking for performance problems in the usual places: application and database designs. Conventional applications that are migrated using the lift and shift model may not be able to take advantage of cloud features that enhance performance, such as automatic scalability.

A final approach to improving performance in Microsoft Azure is to seek assistance from experienced Azure professionals. Prescient Solutions is a Microsoft Partner and provides complete Azure services to businesses in the Chicago and Schaumburg areas. From initial analysis that scopes out your Azure environment, through overseeing the migration, and managing your running cloud environment, Azure services from Prescient Solutions ensure an optimized, high-performing cloud environment. Contact us to learn more.