How To Save Up To 40% On Azure Bill Without Buying Any Cost Management Software

I have seen many projects get shut down because of the Azure usage cost. Being a senior developer, I was asked to look over the azure usage and optimize the usage to reduce cost. In this article, we will discuss various ways for effective Azure cloud architecture cost optimization that can easily save up to 40% on Azure cost without purchasing any Cost Management Software. I'll also share some deep insights, which IT Managers doesn't care about, and which has a huge impact on Azure Bill. To know more about cloud computing, check out Computer certification course.  

Different cost management system:
1.Cloudyn
Cloudyn is an Azure cost management software that provides features like Report on cost and usage, Categorize by resource tags, Create and manage cost and usage budgets, Create alerts on cost and usage budgets, Eliminate idle cloud resources, Right-size cloud resources, Chargeback features including cost markup, redistribution, and custom charges, Customize recommendation thresholds and Categorize costs with custom meta-tags.

2. ProXcio
ProXcio contains features like cost analytics, usage analytics, filtered table views, exec dashboards, best practice reports, tag-based analytics, tag-based budgeting, budget analytics, aggregated reporting, limits data stored, limit range for analytics, CSV data import, EA Account drill down, multi-users support, no credit card required, support, cost forecasting, e-mail alerts, data export, Reports scheduling, API access, azure list price invoicing.

3. RackNap

RackNap contains features like White-Label Marketplace, Subscription Billing, Support Helpdesk, Customer Self-service Portal, CRM, Sales and Marketing, Business Intelligence, Own Catalog Management, Partner Management, Inventory Management, Core Customizations, 3rd Party Integrations, Online Training, Admin Users, Deployment Countries, Deployment Model, Services for Launch.

4. Azure Costs

All Azure Plans (incl. EA), Unlimited data retention Includes all Professional Features, Multi-Contract & User Support, Team & Enterprise Support, Subscription Based Permissions, Branding & Customizable Widgets, Azure Active Directory Support, Data Access via RESTful API

Price Comparison:
The table below compares the prices of different Azure cost management software available:

Review Azure usage and costs

Cost Analysis Vs Cost Allocation
Drill into various data segments itemized from the billing file using Cost Analysis Reports. The reports enable granular cost navigation across Azure raw billing data.
After you create a cost model, Cost Allocation reports are available. It matches the data to the usage and tag data of the Azure Account.
Cost Over Time:
Cost Over Time report displays spends over time to allow you to observe trends and detect irregularities in your deployment. It includes main cost contributors such including ongoing costs and one-time RI fees are being spent during a selected time frame.
Use Actual Cost Over Time to see cost trends over time and find irregularities in cost
Amortized Cost:
Amortized cost is that accumulated portion of the recorded cost of a fixed asset that has been charged to expense through either depreciation or amortization.
Amortized Cost Reports shows non-usage-based service fees or one-time payable costs and spread their cost over time evenly during their lifespan. For example, one-time fees might include:

• Reserved Instances purchase fees
• Azure Marketplace items
• Annual security component fees

This report displays the main cost contributors within a specified time range and includes ongoing usage costs and one-time RI fees, amortized over the term of the asset or reservation.

Custom Charges:

Enterprise and CSP often provide additional services to their customers along with their own cloud consumption. You can define these customs charges for added service and additional discounts if any. The list of customs charges doesn't show the different rates that you may be charging.

5 things to consider saving to save cost

If you are using a public cloud like Azure, it is crucial to know the ways to save cost as your bill is based on consumption. Below are the 5 tips explained to lower Azure pricing and optimize hosting costs:

1. Select Azure Reserved VM instances

What is RI (Reserved Instance)?
An Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instance (RI) is a virtual machine (VM) on the Microsoft Azure public cloud that has been reserved for dedicated use on a one- or three-year basis.
RIs require a one-time, upfront payment and offer customers a discount of up to 72% when compared to Microsoft's standard on-demand, pay-per-use VM pricing model.
Azure shows 3 options for Discount -
Pay as you go -  You only need to pay for how much you will use.

• 1 year reserved (~29% savings) – 29% discount will be given for reserving VMs for 1-year use.
• 3 years reserved (~43% savings) --43% discount will be given for reserving VMs for 1-year use.

2. Compare cost before choosing datacenter region

The different VM pricing tiers do vary in price from region to region.
It combines the pricing data for all VM instance sizes across all Azure regions.

Estimate your expected monthly bill using our Pricing Calculator and track your actual account usage and bill at any time using the billing portal. Set up automatic email billing alerts to be notified if your spend goes above an amount you configure.

3. Make use of Azure Hybrid Benefit

The most cost-effective cloud for your Windows Server or SQL Server migration which helps you-

• Save up to 80% on Windows Server with Azure Hybrid Benefit and Reserved Instances
• Save up to 55%1 on migrations to Azure SQL Database2 with Azure Hybrid Benefit
• Go at your own pace - move a few workloads or entire data centers)
• Maximise your investment in Microsoft Server Software

Now is the time to move to Azure and reap the rewards of cloud technology, including the ability to scale up or down quickly, pay only for what you use and save on compute power. Whether you are deploying new virtual machines, moving a few workloads or migrating your data centers as part of your hybrid cloud strategy, the Azure Hybrid Benefit provides big savings as you move to the cloud.

4.  Use different load calculator to identify the required load

There are few additional Database resources whose price cannot be calculated based on days and storage. It needs to specify throughput, DTU, and many additional add-ons.

Two types of calculators for databases-

1) SQL Database Calculator

https://dtucalculator.azurewebsites.net/
If you are a developer using SQL Server, you've probably heard of Azure SQL Database and you've probably been thinking about migrating your on-premise or VM-based SQL Server database(s) to Azure SQL Database. If so, you've probably asked yourself, "which service tier and performance level should I use and how many database throughput units (DTUs) am I using now?" This calculator will help you determine the number of DTUs for your existing SQL Server database(s) as well as a recommendation of the minimum performance level and service tier that you need before you migrate to Azure SQL Database. Knowing the minimum service tier will allow you to get the performance you need while minimizing your costs.

2) Cosmos Db Calculator
To help customers fine-tune their Azure Cosmos DB throughput estimations, there is a web-based tool to help estimate the request unit requirements for typical operations, including document creates, reads, and deletes.

5. Make use of BYOL (Bring Your Own License)

What is BYOL
BYOL, or “bring your own license,” is the process you can use to deploy software that you already have a license. When you BYOL, you are responsible for managing your own licenses. You are responsible for managing true-ups and renewals as required under your Volume Licensing agreement. In addition, you must submit a new verification form when you renew your agreement and when you deploy any previously unverified products.

How to go for BYOL?
As a customer using License Mobility through Software Assurance, you must complete a license verification process. Microsoft will verify the eligible license with active Software Assurance and send a confirmation once the verification process is completed.
Azure now have to Bring Your Own License (BYOL) images of Windows Server and Windows 10 directly in the marketplace.
This is what you needed to do before:

• Install Windows 10 or Windows Server on an On-Premise machine
• Sysprep the installation
• Upload the vhd to a storage account
• Create a VM (by template or script) using the custom image

This is what you need to do now to achieve the same thing:

• Create a VM (by template or script) using the new marketplace BYOL image

Hope you found this article helpful to reduce and optimize your Azure costs. Understand and manage your Azure spend effectively with the help of above 5 cost optimization strategies for Azure bill.

Hoping that the blog has helped you gain a clear understanding of How To Save Up To 40% On Azure Bill Without Buying Any Cost Management Software?

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