Introduction
Azure Reservations allow you to save money by committing to one-year or three-year plans for various Azure resources. By prepaying for these resources, you can receive significant discounts compared to pay-as-you-go pricing.
Key Concepts
- What are Azure Reservations?
- Definition: Azure Reservations are a way to pre-purchase Azure resources for a one-year or three-year term, which can lead to cost savings.
- Benefits:
- Cost Savings: Up to 72% savings compared to pay-as-you-go prices.
- Predictable Costs: Easier budgeting and forecasting.
- Flexibility: Ability to exchange or cancel reservations.
- Types of Azure Reservations
- Virtual Machines (VMs): Reserve VM instances to save on compute costs.
- SQL Databases: Reserve SQL Database compute capacity.
- Cosmos DB: Reserve throughput for Cosmos DB.
- Other Services: Includes App Service Environments, Azure Database for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and more.
- How Azure Reservations Work
- Purchase: Buy reservations through the Azure portal, API, or CLI.
- Scope: Apply reservations to a specific subscription or shared across multiple subscriptions.
- Usage: Automatically apply to matching resources to reduce costs.
Practical Example
Example: Reserving a Virtual Machine
-
Navigate to the Azure Portal:
- Go to the Azure Portal.
-
Access Reservations:
- In the left-hand menu, select "Reservations".
-
Select a Resource:
- Click on "Add" to create a new reservation.
- Choose "Virtual Machines" from the list of available resources.
-
Configure the Reservation:
- Scope: Choose whether the reservation applies to a single subscription or shared across multiple subscriptions.
- Region: Select the region where the VMs will be deployed.
- VM Size: Choose the size of the VM you want to reserve.
- Term: Select the term length (1 year or 3 years).
- Quantity: Specify the number of instances you want to reserve.
-
Review and Purchase:
- Review the reservation details and the estimated savings.
- Click "Purchase" to complete the reservation.
{
"type": "Microsoft.Capacity/reservationOrders",
"location": "eastus",
"properties": {
"sku": {
"name": "Standard_D2s_v3"
},
"term": "P1Y",
"quantity": 5,
"displayName": "My VM Reservation",
"appliedScopeType": "Shared",
"billingScopeId": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}"
}
}Exercises
Exercise 1: Reserving a SQL Database
- Objective: Reserve a SQL Database for a one-year term.
- Steps:
- Navigate to the Azure Portal.
- Access the Reservations section.
- Select "SQL Database" from the list.
- Configure the reservation with appropriate scope, region, and term.
- Review and purchase the reservation.
Exercise 2: Calculating Savings
- Objective: Calculate the potential savings of reserving a VM for three years.
- Steps:
- Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to determine the pay-as-you-go cost for a VM.
- Compare it with the cost of a three-year reservation.
- Calculate the percentage savings.
Common Mistakes and Tips
Common Mistakes
- Incorrect Scope: Ensure the reservation scope matches your intended usage.
- Overcommitting: Only reserve what you are confident you will use to avoid unnecessary costs.
Tips
- Monitor Usage: Regularly check your reserved instances to ensure they are being utilized.
- Flexibility: Take advantage of the ability to exchange or cancel reservations if your needs change.
Conclusion
Azure Reservations are a powerful tool for managing and optimizing your Azure costs. By understanding how to purchase and manage reservations, you can significantly reduce your cloud expenses and achieve more predictable budgeting. In the next topic, we will explore the Azure Advisor, which provides personalized recommendations to optimize your Azure resources.