My VM is described in Azure variously as "A Series Basic Windows" and "A0" and "Windows (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter)". It costs about $13/month.
Awhile back, Azure said I'd have to migrate to a newer OS. Haven't heard anything about it since. My needs are quite basic. Scarcely any activity. Wonder if/when I'll be forced to upgrade, and what the cost will be, and how to contain the cost?
The size of the VM that you use is determined by the workload that you want to run. Azure offers a wide variety of sizes to support many types of uses.
Azure charges an hourly price based on the VM’s size and operating system type.
For pricing estimations of the VM, I recommend to use Azure Calculator. Here's the link for it. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/
Related
Recently we have upgraded our SSAS resources. Currently our SSAS is on Azure VM costing us based on this VM type 'Standard E32-8s_v3'.
I am looking for a way to save more cost by selecting a better option.
What can be a good option to save cost and at the same time have better efficiency.
what factors/ differences can be considered if we go to Azure analysis services instead of SSAS on Azure VM.
Our SQL server is also on Azure VM.
We have our reports on Power BI report server and SSRS.
Data is coming from different resources like SAP, external parties etc using SSIS.
Can you please Advice/ Suggest a better options for our data architecture.
Thank you.
Your VM is 8 cores and 256GB RAM.
One factor in pricing you haven’t mentioned is SQL licensing. You didn’t specify whether you are renting the SQL license with the VM or bringing your own license and what that costs. I’m going to assume you are renting it. With Azure Analysis Services the license is included in the price.
In Azure Analysis Services 100QPU is roughly equivalent to 5 cores. So 200QPU (an S2) would be an equivalent amount of CPU and a similar price but only has 50GB RAM.
To get the equivalent amount of RAM the S8 would get you close (200GB RAM) but for substantially more cost.
If you have one large model which (at least during peak usage or processing) uses most of the 256GB RAM then it may be tough to move to Azure Analysis Services for a similar price. If you have several models on that one server then you could split them across several smaller Azure Analysis Services servers and it may be a reasonable price for you. Or you could scale up for processing when RAM is needed most and scale down for the rest of the day to save cost.
I'm trying to setup a collection of Azure workstation VMs for a small organisation (3 staff and increasing).
My prior experience with Azure is focused on web servers. I'm familiar and comfortable with the resources required for discrete VMs (VM, managed disk, network interface, public IP, DNS).
On the face of it, Azure Virtual Desktop looks like a potentially attractive option for scalability. But I've just followed the Getting Started process, and I have ended up with around 25 new resources spread across three new resource groups.
It is not clear what each of them do or what each of them cost. I am experiencing difficulties with trying to connect with the test user created as part of this process.
I understand that AVD is probably targeted at large organisations where this complexity may be warranted and navigable.
But with limited time to pursue this, I'm suspecting that the best option for constructing this small network may be to stay with the resources that I am familiar with.
Would appreciate feedback on the following:
It seems that discrete VMs can only be provisioned with a flavor of Windows Server, and desktop versions of Windows (ie, 10, 11) are only available via AVD. Is there any downside to using Windows Server (compared to a desktop version) as the platform for a workstation? The workload apps here are primarily development-focused: Office, Visual Studio, SSMS etc.
A copy of Office will be needed on each VM. AVD has a bundled option for this, but I believe it can also be provisioned separately per VM via the Microsoft Account/Office 365 pathway. Any licensing pitfalls there that I should be aware of?
If each staff member is to be allocated their own separate VM, we would want them to call that VM up and shut it down as needed, to avoid wasted compute expense for the majority of the daily cycle. But without granting them access to the Azure portal account. Is there a mechanism than can help with this?
Yes you can, but we do have multiple advantages and disadvantages.
It depends on operating system of the server but it is not that good idea.
Performance Degradation - Server should works as SERVICE PROVIDER and use it as workstation can consume its resources and cause degradation of its performance.
In some of the Windows server OS case it may be a good idea because of Windows Workstation OS versions supports only a limited number of processors (less then server version).
One is needed to disable IE enhanced security and few other available in the below link
Add windows features once the OS is installed etc.
Reference: https://www.quora.com/Can-I-use-Windows-Server-as-I-would-use-Windows-Desktop-i-e-Win-10-7-8
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_it_possible_to_use_a_server_as_a_workstation
Options: Enable Hyper V on server and add multiple Workstation.
https://support.auvik.com/hc/en-us/articles/212801986-How-to-enable-Microsoft-Hyper-V-on-Windows-Servers-and-Workstations
A copy of Office will be needed on each VM. AVD has a bundled option for this, but I believe it can also be provisioned separately per VM via the Microsoft Account/Office 365 pathway. Any licensing pitfalls there that I should be aware of?
Office version with license can be installed manually and via application packaging. There will not be any challenges.
If each staff member is to be allocated their own separate VM, we would want them to call that VM up and shut it down as needed, to avoid wasted compute expense for the majority of the daily cycle. But without granting them access to the Azure portal account. Is there a mechanism than can help with this?
Automation is available to stop vm if not running in azure
Reference : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/automation-solution-vm-management-config
maybe I should start that I am pretty new with Azure and I want to apologize in advance if my question is stupid. I am currently looking into the option to move my WordPress website to Azure. However, as I was looking through the pre-configured templates, I am quite confused and would be really thankful if someone can explain this for me. (Thank you in advance).
The template, which was created by WordPress for WordPress is using "App Service" model with a tier plan S1 (which comes with 100 total ACU & 1.75GB memory) and according to rough estimate it should be around 75 USD per month.
However, an alternative template created by Cloud Infrastructure Services is using a virtual machine model with a tier plan Standard_B1ms (which comes with 1 vcpu & 2 GiB memory) and according to rough estimate it should be around 36.83 USD per month.
I am quite struggling to understand the difference between the two options and more particular why one is using "App Service" and the other "Virtual Machine". In addition, what are the benefits and disadvantages to use one over the other. For example, when it comes to spikes in website traffic, the need to upgrade to higher tier, reliability, etc. Furthermore, I am not sure what 100 total ACU means. Is this supposed to be more powerful than the output that comes from a 1 core v-cpu? If yes, how much more? Last but not least, would like to hear your general opinion on hosting WordPress website on Azure, as well as, which of the two options would you go with and why? Thank you in advance!
ACU is a made-up measure for estimating the amount of computing power you receive. The ACU is a type of estimator since certain processors have turbo boost and some don't. DTUs for Azure SQL are similar, where DTU is a made-up statistic that combines IOPS, CPU, and RAM.
Azure App Service as "Build, deploy, and scale web apps on a fully managed platform". It's a Platform as a service and hence would be managed in the containers or any operating system can be used. Use the fully managed platform for your operating and monitoring activities to meet stringent, enterprise-grade performance, security, and compliance requirements.
Azure Virtual Machine It provides on-demand, high-scale, secure, virtualized infrastructure. It provides the flexibility of virtualization for a wide range of computing solutions, including development and testing, application execution, and datacenter expansion. It's the flexibility of open-source software set to your specifications.
Hence, Azure App service has lots of advantages as it has got tools with which it can be integrated. Scaling up is an ability using both the services and if you have an fix budget then you can opt Azure Virtual Machines then resize it anytime.
Here, is the Pricing Calculator which might help you to calculate the exact expenditure according the resources you choose.
I would definitely suggest to go for Azure App Service as it has a wide range of advantages.
If I spin up a pay-as-you-go VM with Windows Server/10, then the license is included in the price.
But if I buy a reserved VM, would I then need to buy a normal license for either Windows Server or Windows 10 in addition to the cost for the reserved VM?
https://portal.azure.com/?l=en.en-us#create/Microsoft.Reservations
I see this when filling out the create reserved VM page. (As I am doing this for a volunteer organisation, I need to make sure that I know what the costs are to avoid any surprises.)
I did find a link about Software costs but I don't understand how to calculate software meters.
https://learn.microsoft.com/bs-latn-ba/azure/billing/billing-reserved-instance-windows-software-costs
As per the azure documentation the reservation discounts are for the infrastructure only. You are charged for windows and other software. If you have the azure hybrid benefit then you get the windows charges covered .
Check the table for the row "Windows VMs with additional software "
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/billing/billing-understand-vm-reservation-charges
I run my own uk based hosting and web design company.
We have about 10 physical servers in a DC in the UK and host about 300 or so web sites, email servers and web applications. They are all on a windows server platform with a few linux VM's.
I now have a Windows Azure account, I have set up a medium windows 2008 server within my azure account and want to start using it to maybe host and migrate some of my web sites and services onto my azure account and new server. With the view that maybe I could move ALL my services over and get rid of the need for any of my physical servers in the DC.
My question that I am still really struggling with how much this will really cost me on an ongoing basis.
The billing area, doesnt really tell me much as it simply shows my bill as £0.00. It shows my usage but I am really struggling to compare the resources I am currently using compared to how its billed in azure? It doesnt even show me what it would have cost me if I werent ona trial.
I dont want to move web hosted sites over if its going to cost me more than hosting in my current DC.
I was thinking of moving many sites onto the new server i have set up as its a better spec than a few of my current servers, so would see a big benefit, I even considered setting up a much larger Server in my Azure account but again unsure as to the real cost of that box its hard to compare.
Do I simply need to look at the calculator and select the number of servers i wil deploy, select how much storage I need and bandwidth? Or do I need to look at the items in the billing area as well - such as:
Compute units,Storage Transactions,Data Transfer Out,Data Transfer In
When I set up the server it didnt ask me for how much storage I wanted it just set it up with about 150GB avaialble in the actual server.
Any advice as I really see this as something i want to use over the next 12 months, but not if once i have finally migrated stuff its going to cost me more than my normal hosting and i have to move stuff all back at the end of the 12 months.
Cheers
Because you're using Windows Azure Virtual Machines, you should first use the virtual machine pricing calculator. This calculator only displays the costs that are relevant for your scenario except for the storage transaction cost. Here is a breakdown of the costs you'll have to consider:
Virtual Machines
The Virtual Machine cost appears on the bill as compute units. Throughout the Windows Azure Virtual Machine preview, the cost per core per hour is $0.08. Once VMs reach general availability, the cost will be $0.115 per core per hour for Windows VMs and $0.085 for Linux VMs. Using the calculator, you can see that a medium instance uses two cores and will therefore be billed at $0.16 per hour during the preview period. You will have to use your best judgement to determine how many virtual machines you'll need and how large they should be.
Storage
You will have to pay for the data actually used within your VHDs. Let's assume you have one virtual machine with one VHD attached. If the size of the VHD 200GB, but only 100GB is used, you will have to pay for 100GB per month.
Bandwidth
Microsoft now only charges for egress data transfers (data going out of the data center). With this pricing change, the Data Transfer In section of the billing area will always be 0.00. Hopefully, you already have a good idea about your current outbound data usage. If so, you can calculate your bandwidth cost by simply moving the bandwidth slider to the correct spot.
Storage Transactions
If you scroll down to the Transactions section of this blog post, you'll see how storage transactions are counted. Basically, you count one transaction per write operation and possibly one transaction per read operation depending if the data is cached or not. The cost of storage transactions are negligible because you only have to pay one cent per 100,000 transactions. That's why storage transactions are left out of the calculator.
HTH
To answer such question in an input box has limitation to express in details. The cost calculator is there to give you an estimate of upper limit about what the cost will be if your usage are under selected limit. Based on my personal experiences if you choose higher limits of usage and keep the usages within your forecast limits, there will be no hidden charges. But the reality could be far different because you may not estimate the usages correctly at first and this could change the cost later.
For moving a traditional web hosting solution to Windows Azure, latest release of Windows Azure Virtual Machine is best fit as this requires minimum migration complexity. So the VM size you will choose will have fixed resources (compute, local storage, network bandwidth, disk I/O etc) and the cost will be fixed as long as you are under limit so there will not be unseen charges.
Windows Azure Storage is pay as you go (ranges ~$0.012/GB depend on usage limit) and there is no limit. When moving from traditions web hosting to Cloud environment, due to application architecture design, I have seen less Cloud storage usage and more VM storage so it may not cost a lot.
The place you will see cost variation is data egress/ingress and it is difficult to forecast as it is all depend on application usage, so this is something you will have to account as variable cost.
You can also contact Windows Azure Virtual Machine Forum where dedicated Windows Azure Virtual Machine resources are available to answer your such questions.
Finally One thing I would also add that Windows Azure Virtual Machines are still in preview mode so it would be best to bring some of your business to Windows Azure VM as trial and testing purpose because now matter what you think you may encounter problems (because it is preview release) and this could case service disruption.