Optimizing Azure Costs with Recommendations
Effectively managing and optimizing cloud costs is a crucial aspect of any successful Azure deployment. This comprehensive tutorial will guide you through the process of identifying and acting on cost optimization recommendations provided by Azure Advisor, helping you reduce your Azure expenditure.
Unlocking Cost Savings with Azure Advisor
Azure Advisor, a powerful tool integrated with Cost Management, analyzes your resource utilization and identifies areas where you can optimize your spending. By reviewing the cost optimization recommendations, you can uncover opportunities to resize underutilized virtual machines, purchase Azure Savings Plans, and more.
Viewing Cost Optimization Recommendations
To access the cost optimization recommendations, navigate to the desired scope in the Azure portal, such as a subscription or management group. Then, select the “Advisor recommendations” option to view the list of recommendations.
The recommendations are categorized by their potential impact, with high-impact recommendations like buying Azure Savings Plans or resizing virtual machines offering the greatest savings potential. Review the details for each recommendation, including the “Potential yearly savings” estimate, to prioritize your optimization efforts.
Resizing Underutilized Virtual Machines
One of the most common recommendations is to resize or shut down underutilized virtual machines. Azure Advisor identifies VMs with low CPU utilization and network usage, indicating that they may be overprovisioned. By resizing these VMs to a more cost-effective size, you can achieve significant savings without compromising performance.
To act on this recommendation, select the “Right-size or shutdown underutilized virtual machines” option and choose a VM candidate for resizing. Review the VM’s utilization metrics, then select the appropriate resize option from the available VM sizes. Once you’ve selected the new size, initiate the resize action, and Azure will handle the process, ensuring the VM is successfully resized.
Verifying the Optimization Actions
After taking the recommended actions, such as resizing a virtual machine, you can verify the success of your efforts. Azure will provide a notification when the resizing operation is complete, and you can review the updated VM details to confirm the change.
Continuous Cost Optimization
Optimizing cloud costs is an ongoing process, and Azure Advisor’s recommendations can help you stay on top of it. Regularly reviewing and acting on these recommendations can lead to substantial savings, allowing you to make the most of your Azure investment.
For more information on Cost Management best practices, be sure to check out the Cost Management best practices article.