Final month at Microsoft Construct, we shared a number of new options in Microsoft Dev Field—ready-to-code, cloud-based workstations optimized for developer use instances and productiveness. From new integrations with Visible Studio, a preview of configuration-as-code customization, and our personal rollout of Dev Field internally, there was rather a lot to share, and the response to this information was nice. At this time, I’m excited to share one other announcement—Microsoft Dev Field is now usually obtainable.
Our journey to dev-optimized digital desktops
We first introduced Microsoft Dev Field at Microsoft Construct 2022, however our journey didn’t begin there. For greater than seven years, we’ve centered on bettering developer productiveness and satisfaction with the ability of the cloud. In 2016, we launched Azure DevTest Labs, a service that allows improvement groups to create templatized digital machines (VMs) for a wide range of improvement and testing use instances.
Over time, we’ve helped many shoppers construct customized options on DevTest Labs to broaden on its core options. One use case that has been particularly well-liked is utilizing DevTest labs to create persistent, preconfigured dev environments. However constructing these customized options on prime of DevTest Labs is difficult, requiring vital effort to construct out further governance and administration options. Prospects wished a turnkey resolution.
Delivering quick, self-service dev environments within the cloud
In response, we launched Visible Studio Codespaces in 2019—preconfigured, container- and Linux-based dev environments that builders may spin up in seconds immediately from Visible Studio Code, offering builders with a quick and straightforward option to work on their apps whereas on the go.
Builders love Codespaces for its velocity and mobility, and the service nonetheless exists as we speak as GitHub Codespaces. However software program improvement requires all types of instruments. Initially, we constructed Codespaces to assist Visible Studio Code and GitHub, however prospects rapidly began asking for assist for different Built-in Growth Environments (IDEs), supply code administration, and instruments.
As a primary step, we began to broaden Codespaces to incorporate assist for Visible Studio. Nonetheless, doing so revealed extra challenges than we anticipated—primarily round enterprise-ready administration and governance. That, mixed with the truth that devs wished entry to all their instruments of their cloud surroundings, made us notice we would have liked to ship:
- Enterprise-ready safety, compliance, and price administration capabilities.
- Excessive-fidelity, cloud-based efficiency with built-in dev software integrations.
- Self-service entry to preconfigured, project-specific sources.
Primarily, the answer wanted to be a developer-optimized virtualization resolution. Microsoft already presents Home windows 365—delivering Cloud PCs, securely streaming your customized Home windows desktop, apps, settings, and content material from the Microsoft Cloud to any machine anyplace. Critically, Home windows 365 is absolutely built-in with Microsoft Intune, which permits IT admins to handle their Cloud PCs alongside their bodily units. That was precisely what we had been searching for, so we determined to make use of Home windows 365 as the inspiration for our new resolution.
Reworking the dev workstation expertise
With enterprise administration taken care of, our subsequent consideration was the underlying {hardware}. Whereas high-powered compute was an apparent want, we quickly realized that storage can even considerably influence developer efficiency. Massive builds put lots of pressure on storage drives, which turn into a bottleneck if learn or write speeds can’t sustain with the construct. To account for this, we determined to incorporate premium Stable-State Drivers (SSDs) in our product. However we nonetheless hadn’t addressed the first challenges of dev workstations—lengthy deployment instances and configuration errors brought on by complicated tasks and toolsets.
Fixing these issues would require a extra basic shift in how our service managed configurations and deployment. Devs work on all types of tasks, a lot of which require particular instruments. For these devs, a blanket, role-based configuration would require them to spend time tailoring their workstation and putting in further instruments as soon as it was provisioned. IT admins and dev leads alike wanted a option to create a number of, tailor-made configurations and allow builders to spin up a brand new workstation on-demand that will be ready-to-code for his or her present mission.
Our first step was to combine our resolution with the Azure Compute Gallery, offering a scalable option to share base photographs and handle picture variations. We then arrange a brand new administration layer that enabled groups to prepare their photographs and networking configurations by mission. Now, dev leads and IT admins may arrange a number of workstation configurations for a single mission. Admins may even outline the Azure area during which every workstation would deploy, guaranteeing a high-fidelity expertise for devs all over the world.
By preconfiguring workstations like this, we eradicated the necessity for devs to achieve out to IT each time they wanted a brand new workstation. And since we may make a number of workstation configurations obtainable for a single mission, devs weren’t locked right into a single configuration—they might choose a tailor-made workstation, spin it up, and begin coding rapidly. We even gave devs a specialised Developer Portal that gives quick, easy accessibility to their project-based workstations. Devs can even use this portal to rapidly deploy environments for any stage of improvement utilizing Azure Deployment Environments, additionally usually obtainable.
Arriving at Microsoft Dev Field
That’s how we ended up at Microsoft Dev Field—cloud-based workstations optimized for developer use instances and productiveness. Dev Field combines developer-optimized capabilities with the enterprise-ready administration of Home windows 365 and Microsoft Intune. And as we work to enhance Dev Field, we’ve continued to accomplice with different groups at Microsoft. Most not too long ago, we labored intently with the Visible Studio workforce so as to add built-in integrations that optimize the Visible Studio expertise on Dev Field. We’re additionally actively introducing configuration-as-code customization into Dev Field, which can present dev leads much more granular management to configure dev packing containers round particular duties and allow them to attach Dev Field provisioning to their current Git stream.
However earlier than we launched Dev Field, we wished to ensure it was really enterprise-ready. At Microsoft, it’s widespread to check our providers internally earlier than releasing them. On this case, that meant stress-testing Dev Field towards merchandise with repos which are lots of of gigabytes giant. This has been a difficult however helpful expertise, and our learnings have helped us velocity up the trail to normal availability. Already, there are greater than 10,000 engineers utilizing Dev Field at Microsoft, and we’ve got a number of prospects utilizing Dev Field in manufacturing environments as we speak.
Enabling the very best of Dev Field with versatile pricing
From our preliminary work with prospects, we realized rather a lot about their utilization patterns and the use instances it could actually assist. Dev Field works nice as a full-time desktop alternative, or for specialised part-time use. You’ll be able to spin up a high-powered Dev Field for a very compute-heavy activity, or a second machine to isolate an experiment or proof of idea.
Initially, we deliberate on charging for Dev Field based mostly on a pure consumption mannequin—prospects would solely pay for Dev Field when it was working, and no extra. Sadly, whereas this labored nice for part-time Dev Field use, such a mannequin left lots of variability for directors that wished to pay a standardized month-to-month value for full-time utilization.
To accommodate totally different use instances, we’ve launched a predictable month-to-month worth for full-time Dev Field utilization whereas maintaining consumption-based, pay-as-you-go pricing that costs as much as a month-to-month worth cap. This mannequin strikes a stability between the extremes of full consumption or subscription-only pricing, guaranteeing devs can optimize their spend for each full-time and part-time use instances.
Getting began with Microsoft Dev Field
Dev Field has already remodeled the developer workstations at Microsoft from inflexible, long-running desktops to project-specific, ready-to-code workstations within the cloud. We’re excited to see extra builders depart behind the challenges of bodily workstations to give attention to writing the code solely they’ll write. To see what Dev Field can do to your workforce, go to our web site or begin a proof of idea as we speak.
Should you’ve already began utilizing Dev Field, we’d love to listen to you assume. Please submit any suggestions you could have so we will preserve making Dev Field the best choice for developer productiveness.
