Describe cost management in Azure Flashcards
What are the primary differences between the Pricing Calculator and the TCO Calculator in Azure?
The Pricing Calculator estimates the cost of provisioning resources in Azure, while the TCO Calculator compares the cost of running on-premises infrastructure versus running the same infrastructure on Azure. The Pricing Calculator focuses on Azure costs, whereas the TCO calculator compares on-premise to Azure.
Describe three factors that can impact the cost of an Azure resource.
Factors that can impact costs of Azure resources include the resource type, the level of consumption, and the geographic location of the resource. Resource type influences cost with varied options and settings, consumption directly correlates with costs, and location impacts pricing due to differing regional costs.
How does the pay-as-you-go model work in Azure, and how can reserved capacity lead to cost savings?
The pay-as-you-go model in Azure charges you for the resources you consume during a billing cycle, allowing for maximum flexibility. Reserving capacity allows you to commit to using a set amount of cloud resources in advance, typically one or three years, receiving discounts on those “reserved” resources.
Explain how resource tags can be used for cost management and optimization.
Resource tags enable you to group resources for cost reporting, allocate internal cost centers, track budgets, and forecast estimated costs. They allow for a more detailed view of expenses, enabling informed spending decisions and cost optimization.
What is the purpose of the Microsoft Cost Management tool, and how does it help in Azure?
The Microsoft Cost Management tool helps to check Azure resource costs, create alerts based on resource spend, and create budgets for automated resource management. It offers cost analysis features to explore and analyze spending patterns.
What are the three types of alerts that are available within the Cost Management tool?
The three types of alerts in the Cost Management tool are Budget alerts, which notify you when spending exceeds a defined limit; Credit alerts, which notify you when Azure credit monetary commitments are consumed; and Department spending quota alerts which are tied to organization-level spending thresholds.
How does the geographic location of a data center affect Azure costs?
The geographic location of a data center affects costs due to variations in power, labor, taxes, and fees, which makes the deployment of the same resources vary in different regions. Network traffic is impacted with more expensive costs when moving data between distant zones.
In addition to basic compute and storage costs, what other expenses can be incurred when using Azure Marketplace solutions?
When using Azure Marketplace solutions, you pay not only for the Azure services consumed but also for the third-party vendor’s services or expertise, which may have its own billing structures.
How can you use budgets within Azure Cost Management and what actions can budget alerts trigger?
Budgets in Azure Cost Management allow you to set spending limits for subscriptions, resource groups, and service types. When a budget alert level is reached, it can trigger an alert and notify the appropriate personnel or automate actions to suspend or modify resources.
Explain how moving to the cloud shifts costs from CapEx to OpEx.
Moving to the cloud shifts costs from capital expenses (CapEx) of building and maintaining infrastructure to operational expenses (OpEx) of renting resources, allowing for more flexibility and cost management.
