If you haven’t heard or weren’t aware, make sure you review which VM SKUs you are using. This can actually save you money.
If you are still using the Azure D Series Promo VM SKUs, you are now paying the same price as the D series v2 VMs. Microsoft announced the Promo SKUs last year as a way to test out their newest VM sizes at a discounted rate. Per the documentation, “All deployed Dv2_promo VMs will benefit from their promotional pricing until 6/30/2018 at which point prices will revert to match Dv2 pricing.” I’ve found some of our customers are still using the Promo SKUs, which means they are paying more for their VM runtime cost than they should be.
For example, now that the promo has expired, the D2_v2_Promo is priced at the same price as the D2_v2 SKU, which is $0.25 / hr, or $183.96 / month (24x7) compared to the D2_v3 which is $0.19 / hr, or $137.24 / month (24x7). That means you can immediately save ~$50 / month on the dual core VM. The price reductions are even more significant for the larger D series VMs. The v3 hardware is newer and faster than the v2 hardware, so why wouldn’t you move to the faster hardware for less cost? Not only does it have faster hardware and a lower cost, but you also have more RAM. Remember the D2_v2 VM is a dual vCPU with 7 GB RAM. The D2_v3 VM is a dual vCPU with 8 GB of RAM. The D11_v2 VM sizes and higher are now provided in the E series VMs. These VMs have more RAM for each size than the D_v2 and their cost is just a little bit more per hour.
D2_v2_Promo Now Priced as D2_v2
$0.25 / hr or $183.96 / month (24x7)
VS
D2_v3
$0.19 / hr or $137.24 / month (24x7)
So, during your next maintenance cycle, please take a look at your VM sizes. The v3 series hardware does not offer a single vCPU size, but for dual core and above VM sizes, the v3 series is the way to go.
Have questions? Feel free to contact MyCloudIT or email support@mycloudit.com.
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Tags: Microsoft Azure
