Pools

On this page What is a Pool? Pool Types Configuration Options Managing Pools Best Practices Related Concepts

What is a Pool?

A pool is a collection of compute nodes (virtual machines) that Azure Batch uses to run tasks. Pools define the target compute environment, including VM size, OS image, scaling behavior, and networking.

Pool Types

Azure Batch supports several pool types to match workload requirements:

  • Dedicated: Standard VMs that you pay for regardless of utilization.
  • Low‑priority: VMs offered at a discounted rate, pre‑emptible when capacity is needed elsewhere.
  • Spot: Similar to low‑priority but with dynamic pricing and higher pre‑emptibility.

Configuration Options

Key pool properties you can configure:

{
  "id": "myPool",
  "vmSize": "Standard_D2_v3",
  "targetDedicatedNodes": 5,
  "targetLowPriorityNodes": 0,
  "maxTasksPerNode": 4,
  "osFamily": "WindowsServer",
  "cloudServiceConfiguration": { "osFamily": "6" },
  "containerConfiguration": { "type": "DockerCompatible" },
  "networkConfiguration": { "subnetId": "/subscriptions/.../subnets/mySubnet" }
}

Managing Pools

Typical lifecycle operations:

Create a pool

az batch pool create \
    --id myPool \
    --vm-size Standard_D2_v3 \
    --target-dedicated-nodes 5 \
    --image canonical:UbuntuServer:18.04-LTS:latest

Resize a pool

az batch pool resize \
    --pool-id myPool \
    --target-dedicated-nodes 10

Delete a pool

az batch pool delete --pool-id myPool

Best Practices

  • Use autoscaling to match demand and reduce cost.
  • Prefer low‑priority or spot for fault‑tolerant workloads.
  • Set maxTasksPerNode based on node memory and CPU.
  • Enable deallocation timeout to gracefully handle pre‑emptions.