Powering Azure Cosmos DB with AMD EPYC | Andrew Ruffin | Azure Cosmos DB Conf 2026
Andrew Ruffin (Senior Product Manager at AMD) gives a short sponsor session at Azure Cosmos DB Conf 2026 about the hardware layer behind Azure Cosmos DB and why it still matters even with a managed database abstraction.
Full summary based on transcript
What the session is about
- The talk frames Azure Cosmos DB as a managed service where developers typically don’t think about underlying infrastructure, but argues that hardware “physics” still affects real-world performance and cost.
Azure Cosmos DB on AMD EPYC
- Azure Cosmos DB is described as running on modern AMD EPYC processors across Azure regions globally.
- The session mentions nearly 10 years of AMD EPYC presence in Azure, “generation over generation.”
Performance and cost claims
- The sponsor spot claims up to 35% more performance and performance-per-dollar with the newest v7 EPYC generation.
- It connects CPU performance improvements to database efficiency, specifically:
- More performance per Request Unit (RU)
- Better ability to support Cosmos DB’s scaling and elasticity features
AMD ↔ Microsoft partnership angle
- The talk describes a hardware/software “feedback loop” between AMD and Microsoft, aimed at optimizing performance per dollar per watt.
Links mentioned
- AMD EPYC product page: https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/server/epyc.html
- Cosmos DB Conf 2026 playlist: https://aka.ms/CosmosConf26Playlist
- Cosmos Conf Challenge (DP-420 voucher): https://aka.ms/CosmosDBConfChallenge
- Post-event survey: https://aka.ms/CosmosConf2026Survey
- Conference website: https://aka.ms/azurecosmosdbconf