Windows Azure compute-intensive instances A8 and A9 generally available

Microsoft has made available new virtual machine sizes generally available. Called A8 and A9, these new "compute intensive instances" support virtual machines that have up to 16 cores and 112 GB of RAM. Networking is based on 40 Gbps Infiband connection, so it's fast for large-scale applications (such as video editing or 3D rendering) that need to communicate between multiple virtual machines

At this writing, the price for the most-performing A9 virtual machine costs USD $4.90 per hour, which translates into around $3650 per month. Initially, these new virtual machines sizes are available on US North Central and Europe West regions.