Cloud generations drive down prices

Cloud providers need to deliver the newest capability to stay relevant. Few enterprises will accept working with outdated technology just because it's consumable as a cloud service. However, existing cloud instances don’t migrate automatically. Similarly to on-premises server infrastructure, users need to refresh their cloud services regularly.

Typically, cloud operators prefer product continuity between generations, often creating nearly identical instances. A virtual instance has a “family”, which dictates the physical server’s profile, such as more computing power or faster memory. A “size” dictates the amount of memory, virtual processors, disks and other attributes assigned to the virtual instance. The launch of a new generation usually consists of a range of virtual instances with similar definitions of family and size as the previous generation. The major difference is the underlying server hardware’s technology.