The request for innovation successful section developer environments

If you’ve been pursuing our Microsoft Dev Box journey, you apt cognize however dev-optimized virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) tin alteration today’s developer workstation. Traditional, carnal workstations are often hampered by analyzable situation setup, mislaid productivity from conflicting configurations, and a deficiency of scalability. Our extremity successful gathering Microsoft Dev Box was to flooded these challenges by providing developers with self-service entree to preconfigured, project-based workstations—all portion maintaining centralized absorption and IT guardrails.

A twelvemonth retired from Microsoft Dev Box wide availability, the worth of a work similar Microsoft Dev Box is becoming adjacent much clear. At Microsoft, we’ve experienced firsthand the benefits of Microsoft Dev Box for the developer experience, and we’re not alone. Forward-thinking customers similar GM are besides transforming their developer toolchain with Microsoft Dev Box. But we wanted a rigorous, quantifiable presumption of however this cloud-based solution stacks up with different improvement environments.

In this blog post, we’ll instrumentality a look astatine the benchmark study Assessing Microsoft Dev Box Cloud-Based Developer Workstations, conducted by expert, autarkic probe steadfast GigaOm, to reappraisal their findings. Read connected to larn however Microsoft Dev Box compares to different dev workstations.

Takeaways from GigaOm’s study

At the commencement of the year, GigaOm conducted an extended probe of Microsoft Dev Box capabilities, including a heavy dive into show configurations and tract tests successful which they deployed a caller Microsoft Dev Box, built customized images, and utilized Microsoft Visual Studio caching, and the results talk for themselves.

“There has been small advancement successful the administration, automation, oregon defining of highly customized VDI solutions…until now. [Microsoft Dev Box] delivers important payment implicit outfitting improvement teams with accepted laptops oregon VDI-served stations.”

GigaOm

GigaOm’s hands-on-testing further broke this takeaway down into 3 superior findings:   

1. Microsoft Dev Box importantly improved developer productivity and reduced configuration clip and IT overhead compared to VDI solutions.
2. Developer typing acquisition felt arsenic bully arsenic connected a section machine—even implicit hotspot and nationalist Wi-Fi.
3. A Visual Studio-equipped Microsoft Dev Box setup produced amended show with the illustration Chromium codification basal than VDI oregon section clients.

GigaOm’s investigating matched what we’ve already seen done our ain dogfooding astatine Microsoft—that there’s a “strong worth proposition for utilizing Microsoft Dev Box to summation productivity.”

How Microsoft Dev Box increases developer productivity and boosts security

Microsoft Dev Box provides worth to organizations successful 3 cardinal ways:

1. Transforming the developer workstation experience.
2. Accelerating developer workflows done project-based configurations.
3. Maintaining centralized information and governance.

GigaOm’s Performance Benchmark validated each of these claims. Let’s instrumentality a person look astatine the capabilities successful Microsoft Dev Box that present these benefits and what GigaOm recovered successful the results of their testing.

1. Transforming the dev workstation experience

Microsoft Dev Box fundamentally transforms the dev workstation acquisition by giving you self-service, on-demand entree to your ain workstations. Instead of waiting for IT support, you tin rotation up a dev container lawsuit wherever and erstwhile you request it connected immoderate device—which is captious erstwhile developer agility is much important than ever.

GigaOm’s trial results with ready-to-code dev boxes:

“[With Microsoft Dev Box], developer typing acquisition felt arsenic bully arsenic connected a section machine, adjacent implicit hotspot and nationalist Wi-Fi, and is usable adjacent connected dilatory net connections. Microsoft Dev Box additionally presents an inherent payment to distant workers with dilatory oregon unreliable internet, arsenic ample root files oregon improvement environments don’t request to beryllium downloaded to your section device—developing, building, and investigating applications performs similar you are successful the datacenter.”

GigaOm

GigaOm’s Performance Benchmark reinforced the worth of self-service, ready-to-code machines. When comparing Microsoft Dev Box to a carnal device, the study recovered that “a afloat automated Microsoft Dev Box deployment utilizing Azure VM Image Builder and customizations for Microsoft Dev Box sharply reduces clip connected task.”

GigaOm reports that Microsoft Dev Box:

“can slash the setup clip for a caller idiosyncratic from six oregon much hours of configuration work, and perchance days of shipping lag, to being ready-to-code successful nether an hr with each the tools, prerequisites, web access, and the latest root codification disposable by default.”

That tin mean hundreds oregon thousands of hours crossed developers successful your enactment focusing connected what matters most: their code.

“Tests comparison the setup clip of Microsoft Dev Box to a caller carnal instrumentality erstwhile a developer receives it. We statesman by configuring a Dev Box from the default image, wherever the lone built-in clip savings is the pre-installation of Visual Studio. We past make a customized representation with our task root codification and prerequisites built-in and measurement the clip savings imaginable with further automation.” GigaOm¹

2. Accelerating dev workflows with project-based configurations

With Microsoft Dev Box, you’re not constricted to a azygous configuration defined by IT. Instead, Microsoft Dev Box gives you and your squad the quality to instrumentality halfway components from IT—like web configurations, basal images, and compute and retention configurations—and customize them further with configuration-as-code files to make pre-configurations with everything you request for your project.

GigaOm acquisition utilizing preconfigured, project-based dev boxes:

“[Deploying aggregate Dev Boxes] importantly reduces the request for developers to repeatedly reconfigure their workstations to accommodate antithetic project-specific configurations oregon to conflict with the medication of section virtual machines. With individualized Dev Boxes, developers tin seamlessly power betwixt these isolated environments, enabling them to enactment connected assorted projects with divers method requirements without encountering assets conflicts oregon show degradation.” 

GigaOm

The benefits of standardized, project-based configurations becomes wide erstwhile combined with developer self-service access, arsenic shown by the GigaOm report. The study emphasizes that Microsoft Dev Box tin beryllium configured with up to 32 virtual CPU (vCPU), 128 GB of RAM, and 2 TB of storage, “far exceeding the capabilities of astir each laptop connected the market.”

Yet adjacent much significantly, Microsoft Dev Box provides you with the flexibility to brace antithetic retention and compute options with antithetic task configurations. GigaOm reports that “you tin transportation implicit the aforesaid ready-to-code configuration from smaller Dev Boxes to a caller machine. This tin beryllium invaluable if you request to iterate rapidly connected a mission-critical update oregon hotfix.”

This flexibility of configurations helps relationship for 64% faster bundle physique times utilizing Microsoft Dev Box than a median-spec carnal device, arsenic shown successful the pursuing graph:

“While not one-to-one comparison, each carnal CPU halfway with hyperthreading enabled is astir comparable to 2 vCPUs that would beryllium assigned to a virtual instrumentality by the hypervisor. Therefore, a 4-core carnal instrumentality with hyperthreading provides comparable show to a Dev Box with 8 vCPU cores.” GigaOm¹

3. Maintaining centralized information and management

Importantly, Microsoft Dev Box delivers these benefits without impacting admin workflows oregon reducing centralized absorption and governance. IT admins supply the halfway components that spell into making Microsoft Dev Box configurations, meaning they yet power permissions, entree controls, and web connections. And due to the fact that Microsoft Dev Box is managed done Microsoft Intune, IT admins support centralized visibility of Microsoft Dev Box instances erstwhile deployed—regardless of wherever they’re running.

GigaOm connected Microsoft Dev Box information and management:

“[With Dev Box], administrators person full power implicit the information and absorption of the cloud-based developer workstations their developers deploy done Microsoft Intune.”

GigaOm

GigaOm highlights the value of this control, emphasizing:

“Instead of granting entree to delicate institution information connected outer devices beyond the organizations’ nonstop control, [Microsoft Dev Box] virtual desktops alteration a much unafraid approach. Contractors and vendors entree a virtual desktop wrong the organization’s network, meaning delicate information stays wrong the company’s unafraid environment. This centralized attack allows for stricter control, monitoring, and absorption of access, reducing the hazard of information breaches oregon unauthorized use.”  

Transforming the dev acquisition of today—and tomorrow

The GigaOm study concludes that with Microsoft Dev Box, organizations tin “achieve monolithic improvements successful developer productivity, innovation velocity, and simplification of logistics and carnal instrumentality management.”

Having already deployed Microsoft Dev Box crossed hundreds of teams and thousands of developers wrong Microsoft implicit the past year, I tin accidental these results aren’t altogether surprising—but they are decidedly encouraging. These numbers enactment what we’re already seeing astatine Microsoft, but it’s important to retrieve this is conscionable the start. We’re continuing to innovate with Microsoft Dev Box, and arsenic we do, the interaction it has connected improving the developer acquisition volition lone increase. We’ve got an breathtaking skyline for Microsoft Dev Box, and we can’t hold to stock much with you.

Get started with Microsoft Dev Box

If you’re funny to larn more:

• Read the full GigaOm report.
• Visit our resources page to research lawsuit stories and our ain experience.
• Read the blog Microsoft Dev Box for Microsoft engineers.

To spot what Microsoft Dev Box tin bash for your team:

• Visit the Microsoft Dev Box website.
• Start a proof of concept today.²

If you’ve already started utilizing Microsoft Dev Box, we’d emotion to perceive what you think. Please submit immoderate feedback you person truthful we tin proceed making Microsoft Dev Box the champion enactment for developer productivity.

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¹ Performance assertion based connected information from a survey commissioned by Microsoft and published by GigaOm successful January 2024. Performance results are based upon the configurations elaborate successful the GigaOm Performance Benchmark. Actual results and prices whitethorn alteration based connected configuration and region.

² To usage Microsoft Dev Box, each idiosyncratic indispensable beryllium licensed for Windows 11 Enterprise oregon Windows 10 Enterprise, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and Microsoft Entra ID P1 (formerly Azure Active Directory P1). In summation to being disposable independently, these licenses are included successful Microsoft 365 F3, Microsoft 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 A3, Microsoft 365 A5, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Education Student Use Benefit subscriptions.

The station Study showcases however Microsoft Dev Box impacts developer productivity appeared archetypal connected Microsoft Azure Blog.