Scale-out workloads demand the best combination of performance and price to bring down the cost of delivering applications, all while providing an excellent user experience. We are excited to announce a new virtual machine (VM) family, Tau VMs, coming to Google Cloud. Tau VMs extend Compute Engine’s VM offerings with a new option optimized for cost-effective performance of scale-out workloads. 

T2D, the first instance type in the Tau VM family, is based on 3rd Gen AMD EPYC^TM processors and leapfrogs the VMs for scale-out workloads of any leading public cloud provider available today, both in terms of performance and workload total cost of ownership (TCO). The x86 compatibility provided by these AMD EPYC processor-based VMs gives you market-leading performance improvements and cost savings, without having to port your applications to a new processor architecture. 

As illustrated below, Tau VMs offer 56% higher absolute performance and 42% higher price-performance (est. SPECrate2017_int_base) compared to general-purpose VMs from any of the leading public cloud vendors.

What our customers and partners are saying

Snap
“At Snap, it is critical for our business to continue improving our scale-out compute infrastructure for key Snapchat capabilities like AR, Lenses, Spotlight and Maps,” said Cody Powell, Senior Engineering Manager, Snap Inc. “We were impressed when we tested Google Cloud’s new Tau VMs with Google Kubernetes Engine. While it’s early days, we believe we can gain double digits in infrastructure performance improvements for key workloads—enabling us to do more with less and invest even more in new features for our amazing Snapchat community.”

Twitter
“High performance at the right price point is a critical consideration as we work to serve the global public conversation,” said Nick Tornow, Platform Lead, Twitter. “We are excited by initial tests that show potential for double digit performance improvement. We are collaborating with Google Cloud to more deeply evaluate benefits on price and performance for specific compute workloads that we can realize through use of the new Tau VM family.”

DoiT
“DoiT partners with leading cloud vendors who are focused on growth and cost optimization,” said Yoav Toussia-Cohen, CEO, DoiT International. “In our preliminary testing of Google’s new Tau VMs with the Coremark benchmark, we were thrilled to see the incredible performance at 50% better than a comparable ARM-based offering from another leading public cloud. With Tau VMs, Google Cloud has set a new bar for price-performance, making the cloud even more accessible to digital-native companies. We are excited to bring Google’s Tau VMs to our joint customers.”

Designed for demanding scale-out workloads 

Tau VMs bring the benefit of Google’s long-standing experience engineering platforms for scale-out workloads to our customers. They come in multiple predefined VM shapes, with up to 60vCPUs per VM, and 4GB of memory per vCPU. They offer up to 32 Gbps networking bandwidth and a wide range of network attached storage options, making Tau VMs ideal for scale-out workloads including web servers, containerized microservices, data-logging processing, media transcoding, and large-scale Java applications. 

Google Kubernetes Engine support

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is the de facto standard for organizations looking for advanced container orchestration, delivering the highest levels of reliability, security, and scalability. GKE supports Tau VMs on day 1, helping you optimize price-performance for your containerized workloads. You can add Tau VMs to your GKE clusters by specifying the T2D machine type in your GKE node-pools. 

Pricing

Tau VMs will be priced to support significant TCO and price-performance improvements for your cloud applications. A 32vCPU VM with 128GB RAM will be priced at $1.3520 per hour for on-demand usage in us-central1. 

Coming soon to a Google Cloud region near you

If you are interested in trying out T2D VMs when they become available in Q3 2021 please sign-up here.

If you’re looking to migrate and modernize your Microsoft and Windows workloads, Google Cloud is your premiere destination. No matter what migration strategy you’ve selected or what value you’re looking to achieve, with Google Cloud you’re able to:

• simplify your migration and modernization journey
• reduce your on-prem footprint and increase agility
• optimize license usage to reduce costs
• modernize to reduce single-vendor dependencies
• rely on enterprise-class support backed by Microsoft

Whether you’re looking to migrate applications running on Windows virtual machines, adopt Windows containers in Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), convert SQL databases to Cloud SQL, or something else, Google Cloud offers you the first-class experience you need. 

But we don’t want you to take our word for it. Try it out yourself with our new online Microsoft and Windows on Google Cloud Demo Center without any commitment or friction.

The demo center uses hands-on guided simulations to walk you through several scenarios for solving business critical challenges with Google Cloud’s Microsoft and Windows solutions. Because these are all simulated, you’ll see how it works without any deployment, configuration, or commitment. It’s a seamless way for you to see exactly how Google Cloud can help you.

Run dedicated hardware and optimize with sole tenant

Sometimes you might want to run your workloads on dedicated hardware (with oversubscription options) for compliance, licensing, and management. Google Cloud provides sole-tenant nodes that allow you to easily deploy your virtual machines onto dedicated machines to avoid “noisy neighbor” issues, address regulatory or licensing constraints, and optimize inter-VM communications.

Plus, the CPU Overcommit option allows oversubscribing sole-tenant node resources by up to 2x, therefore helping save on per-physical core licensing for many licensed workloads like SQL Server.

Learn how to set up a sole tenant group and node.

Optimize license costs with premium images & custom VMs

One of the easiest ways to optimize your cloud experience with virtual machines (VM) is to pick the right VM image. Google Cloud provides premium license-included VM images that are thoroughly tested and optimized, including SQL Server options with pay-as-you-go licensing. These are great for workloads that don’t need to run all the time or when you do not have spare licenses for bring your own license (BYOL). 

Explore some Windows & SQL images and learn how CPU/Memory options can help optimize deployment and save on licensing.

Modernize your databases with Managed SQL Server

Sometimes you need to manage your SQL Server instance to achieve certain business or operational goals. But more often, managing SQL Server deployments can be undifferentiated: backups, high-availability, updates, and patching are just some of the many things you have to take care of when going the do-it-yourself route. One way to modernize your database tier is to migrate to a managed service like Cloud SQL, which is a fully managed Relational Database service for SQL. 

Explore the process of creating an instance in just a few clicks!

Extract apps from VMs and move to containers in GKE with Migrate for Anthos

Many Windows workloads running on virtual machines such as Internet Information Services (IIS) are ideal candidates for migrating to containers without major changes like rewriting or rearchitecting. However, doing this migration manually can be tedious, which is why Migrate for Anthos can help easily re-platform a .NET app running on IIS into a container-based app. 

Simulate intelligently extracting, migrating, and modernizing applications to run natively on containers in GKE and Anthos clusters.

Move .NET applications to GKE on Windows without code changes

When you’re looking to go fully cloud native, you can leverage Windows containers in GKE without rewriting your .NET applications. Simply create clusters with Windows nodes and deploy containerized Windows workloads in a few clicks, even alongside Linux containers. These deployments reduce operational overhead with features such as auto-upgrade, auto-repair, and release channels. 

Learn  how easy it is to build a GKE cluster with a Windows node and deploy an app. 

Now that you’ve gotten a feel for what’s available, go check out the Demo Center. You can also visit us at Windows and Microsoft on Google Cloud to learn more.

Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Eileen Murphy, Senior Director of Special Projects, and Andrew Nault, Director of Business Development, both from Iroquois Healthcare Association Workforce Investment Organization (IHA WIO). The health association represents 44 hospitals in 32 counties in New York State, providing advocacy, cost-saving initiatives, and business solutions. IHA WIO has provided its participating long-term care organizations with more than 5,000 Chromebooks to support 80 organizations in several ways, including training staff, connecting nursing home residents to their families, and helping administrative staff work safely from home.

Since early 2020, clinicians and staff at IHA WIO participant organizations have had to adapt to constant change—everything from implementing pandemic safety protocols to helping nursing-home residents stay in touch with families. We’re proud of the wonderful work they’ve done and continue to do.

During the pandemic, our use of Chrome OS and Chrome devices was expanded and changed to meet the needs of organizations dealing with an unprecedented event. Chrome devices were used to not only train staff but to enable remote work, as well as to connect residents to their friends and families during long periods of isolation. In the morning, a Chromebook could be in a managed guest session mode, helping a grandmother virtually attend her grandkids’ birthday party; at lunch, a nursing assistant  could log in to her latest continuing education classes on that same Chromebook. 

That evening, the Chrome OS devices could be found at check-in desks, helping visitors fill out a COVID-19 survey. All it took to change a device’s purpose were a few clicks in the Google Admin console, all of which could be done remotely.

Chrome OS for training

Most of our 5,000 Chrome OS devices came from a New York State grant to provide continued education training for long-term care organizations and its employees. We wanted to offer online classes, which meant we’d have to give people the technology to access that training. Our partner, CDW, recommended Chrome OS for us because it’s an operating system built for the cloud. In addition, devices running Chrome OS are easy to use, easily shared, and cost-effective.

Best of all, Chromebook Enterprise came with all the enterprise capabilities of Chrome OS unlocked. This allowed us to use the Google Admin console to manage our entire Chromebook Enterprise fleet remotely. We were able to set up one high-level organizational unit across IHA, with almost 80 organizational units for facilities and groups.

To support training, Lenovo helped us create a five-minute video that we added to our HealthStream learning platform so staff could learn the basics of using Chromebooks. This video was created because we didn’t realize there were people who have never touched a laptop before. The video and Chrome OS ease of use made it possible to get the folks who needed the most help up to speed quickly.

Chrome OS for connecting residents to loved ones 

Once the pandemic began and people could no longer visit nursing home residents, the staff for one of our facilities asked about using a training Chromebook for video calls between residents and families. We loved this idea as it was still in line with our mission: to enable the workforce to provide higher-quality care.

With the Admin console, the process was easy. We changed the managed guest session to auto load, and changed what is populated on startup. With help from healthcare staff, residents were able to choose from several video apps including Google Meet, Zoom, and Facebook.

Chrome OS for remote workers

When office and administrative staff had to work remotely, Chromebooks again came to the rescue. Since staff could access all their work applications via Citrix—like Outlook, office phone systems, and other public documents—we placed the remote-work laptops in managed guest session mode and loaded the Citrix app at startup. All the employees had to do was connect to Wi-Fi and log into Citrix, and they were ready to work.

With our training program still running and virtual remote ability on the rise, we realized we would need more Chromebooks. CDW informed us that Chrome OS device supply was running low, but they located 1,000 Chromebooks for us and sent them to our home office in Clifton Park, New York.

Normally, the job of configuring and shipping 1,000 laptops would strike fear into the hearts of the IT team. Not this time: With zero-touch enrollment, all of the Chromebooks were enrolled in our high-level organizational unit before the boxes arrived at our Clifton Park office. We created a list of Chromebook serial numbers for each IHA location getting a shipment, then packed up the boxes. We never had to open a Chromebook box, or even turn the devices on before preparing them for use by employees.

Chrome OS for telehealth and clinic kiosks

There were more Chromebook transformations to come. In the interest of keeping residents and medical professionals safe, we enabled Chromebooks for non-urgent telehealth sessions. Doctors and nurses could see and talk to nursing home residents, using the same video conferencing apps that residents used to talk to loved ones. In these cases, we had PointClickCare, our electronic medical records app, loaded at startup on doctors’ Chromebooks.

We even turned a few Chromebooks into guest kiosks at IHA member hospitals that have walk-in clinics. If the clinics required visitors to fill out a COVID-19 screening form, the Chromebook, in kiosk mode, was stationed at the front desk. Once visitors submitted the form, a new blank form appeared, ready for the next visitor without any data stored on the device. 

Chrome OS for whatever’s needed next

What’s amazing is that we could help people in all these different ways in just a few minutes—without visiting a nursing home, getting someone to ship laptops back to us, or loading software. Chromebooks are so versatile that sometimes they’re used in various modes several times a day. One user can log in, while another user can use managed guest sessions to login as a guest user. No matter what changes come to our healthcare association in the future, we’ll be ready.

Launched in 2013, Canva is a free online design platform with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design. Featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface and a vast range of templates ranging from presentations, social media graphics, posters, apparel to videos, plus a huge library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, video footage and audio clips, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful. The Canva team is located across the globe with offices in the United States, China, the Philippines and Australia.

A long-term user

“To empower our team to undertake deep work, we have a recurring weekly Calendar invitation that keeps an entire day free of meetings across the business.” – Jeff Lai, Internal Infrastructure Specialist, Canva

A business that enables collaboration, innovation, and creativity is a natural fit for Google Workspace, an integrated suite of secure, cloud-native collaboration and productivity applications. Canva is a long-term user of the application suite and Jeff Lai, Internal Infrastructure Specialist, says “being a global business from day one, the company wanted to ensure any technology we used would be able to grow and scale with us.

“Google Workspace certainly met the brief. For example, creating new Google Workspace instances is very easy, you simply connect them to your domain and away you go.”

Canva has 1,850 Google Workspace licenses to cover its approximately 1,200-strong workforce, plus service accounts and shared accounts. The application suite covers the organization’s communication, connectivity and productivity needs, with enough storage to enable the business not to have to pay for supplementary storage services or deploy storage in-house. Canva’s team of designers, developers, marketers, investors and advisers uses Google Workspace for tasks such as scheduling meetings, emailing and chatting to internal and external parties, storing files and tracking activity on spreadsheets.

“Google Workspace is like air and water to us,” says Jeff. “it is part of the natural environment of our workplace.”

Reviewing licensing

With Google Workspace enabling Canva’s global workforce model, the business is exploring ways of further leveraging the features available through the application suite; Jeff reveals Canva is exploring the use of enterprise-class licenses that provide additional reporting and auditing capabilities.

Near-100% availability

“We expect Google Workspace to continue to play a key role in our operations and in supporting an increasingly international workforce.” – Jeff Lai, Internal Infrastructure Specialist, Canva

Supporting a distributed model with an increasing number of employees based outside Australia also requires Canva to use collaboration and productivity tools available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Google Workspace applications help the business drive continuous improvement from the bottom up, as well as the top down. Canva uses Forms to capture — in what Jeff describes as ‘no-judgement’ fashion — new ideas, callouts of broken processes, or areas of improvement. These comments and suggestions go directly to founders and senior management for action.

Furthermore, Google Workspace enables Canva to run a continuously productive working environment. “To empower our team to undertake deep work, we have a recurring weekly Calendar invitation that keeps an entire day free of meetings across the business,” says Jeff.

Growth example of ‘new normal’

Canva’s team believes the organization’s accelerated growth is indicative of the ‘new normal’, as more teams realize the need for a more scalable, more collaborative, more affordable and more user-friendly design platform.

Organizations of all sizes are doubling down on building a reliable remote workplace, and are turning to modern productivity and collaboration platforms like Canva to ensure they remain flexible and scalable.

Google Workspace and other Google Cloud products and services also enable Canva to increase the value of its own platform. The business uses Translation API to translate non-English searches into English, allowing it to display appropriate images and other elements.

Furthermore, the Canva editing tool enables users to pull files from Drive to be refined, while the platform also integrates with Google Maps and YouTube to give end users the ability to easily create items such as online brochures with these products integrated into them. Finally, Canva for Education — a tailored product to support student learning — integrates with Google Classroom, helping educators efficiently manage progress and connect with students at school, from home or on the go.

With Google Workspace, Canva is ideally positioned to continue growing its user base and build on the success of a platform that has thousands of templates and fonts, and millions of stock photos, icons and illustrations. Jeff says the business remains focused on the same goal as its founders had right at the start — making design accessible to everyone. “We expect Google Workspace to continue to play a key role in our operations and in supporting an increasingly international workforce,” he says.