Pay as you go:-

Azure PAYG

1 Year Reserved Instance (RI)

Azure RIs 1

3 Year RI

Azure RIs 2

Over a 3 year term therefore, a PAYG VM instance would cost circa £4955, whereas the 3 year reserved instance works out to be just over £2140, a worthwhile saving when multiplied by several instances. Some of the main considerations around RI’s are as follows:-

  • Reserved instances are purchased with a single up front payment for a one year, or three year commitment.
  • You are able to reserve instances under an EA
  • You can assign reserved instances can be assigned at the enrolment or subscription level.
  • You can exchnage or cancel a reserved isntance
    • An exchange allows you to recieve a pro-rata refund based on the unused amount, which applies fully to the purchase price of a new Azure Reserved VM Instance.  (There are some restrictions placed on exchanges)
    • A cancellation terminates the agreement, you’ll recieve a pro-rata refund based upon the remaining term as well as a 12 percent early termination fee.
  • Reserved instances isnt available for the following:-
    • Classic VM’s
    • Cloud Services VM’s
    • A-Series, AV2- Series or G Series
    • Dev/Test Subscriptions
    • Supressed Core VM’s
    • Any Promotional VM

This information and more is published on Microsofts website with a detailed FAQ here.

If there are any unanswered questions or you want to know more about Reserved Instances in Azure then feel free to get in touch.

 

Mike Starnes

Mike has worked in the IT Industry for over 20 years. If he's not talking technology, he'll be reading, playing football or trying to embarrass his daughters.