Understanding Azure Backup Cost and Options

Azure Backup cost can be a complex and daunting topic, but understanding the basics can help you make informed decisions for your organization.

Azure Backup offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which means you only pay for the storage and retrieval of your backups.

The cost of Azure Backup is calculated based on the amount of data stored and the number of backups performed.

Storage costs start at $0.0225 per GB per month for Standard storage, and $0.05 per GB per month for Premium storage.

You can also use Azure Backup with existing Azure storage accounts, which can help reduce costs.

Azure Backup also offers a free tier for small-scale backups, which includes up to 5 GB of storage and 500 GB of backup data.

Azure Backup cost can be estimated using a detailed pricing estimator available for download. You can use this estimator to calculate your costs for budgeting or cost comparison purposes.

The Azure Backup cost estimator sheet allows you to estimate costs for various workloads, including Azure VMs, on-premises servers, SQL in Azure VMs, SAP HANA in Azure VMs, and Azure file shares.

To estimate costs for backing up Azure VMs or on-premises servers, you'll need to provide parameters such as the size of the VMs or servers, the number of servers with that size, and the expected amount of data churn.

For SQL servers in Azure VMs, you'll need to provide parameters such as the size of the SQL servers, the number of SQL servers with that size, and the expected compression for your SQL servers' backup data.

You can also estimate costs for backing up SAP HANA servers in Azure VMs by providing parameters such as the total size of the SAP HANA databases, the number of SAP HANA servers with that size, and the expected size of log backups.

To estimate costs for backing up Azure file shares, you'll need to provide parameters such as the size of the file shares, the number of storage accounts hosting the file shares, and the expected amount of data churn.

Azure Backup pricing is based on the size of the backed-up data before compression and encryption. For SQL Server on Azure VMs, the size of the databases configured for backup determines the billing.

Here's a breakdown of the pricing for SQL Server on Azure VMs:

Azure Backup also offers a pricing calculator that allows you to estimate your expected monthly costs for using any combination of Azure products.

You have the flexibility to choose between locally redundant storage (LRS), zone redundant storage (ZRS), or geo-redundant storage (GRS) for your backups when using on-premises servers with Azure Backup.

Azure Backup uses Blob storage for storing your backups, and charges for storage are separate from the cost of Azure Backup Protected Instances. The cost of storage is $- per GB, regardless of the storage option you choose.

Here's a breakdown of the costs for on-premises server backups:

Estimating costs for on-premises server backups is a crucial step in planning your backup strategy. You'll need to know the size of the VMs or on-premises servers you're trying to back up, the number of servers with that size, and the expected amount of data churn on these servers.

To give you a better idea, let's consider the storage options available for on-premises server backups. You can choose between locally redundant storage (LRS), zone redundant storage (ZRS), or geo-redundant storage (GRS) for your backups. Each of these options has its own pricing, which we'll cover next.

Here's a breakdown of the storage costs for on-premises server backups:

Note that Archive tier support is not available for on-premises server backups, which means you'll need to choose between Standard Tier and one of the storage options above.

You can back up your SAP HANA database on Azure VMs using Azure Backup, which supports scale-up deployments only. The size of the backed-up data determines the billing, and currently, backup is only supported for a single SAP HANA server in an Azure VM.

The cost of Azure Backup for SAP HANA DBs on Azure VMs is a flat rate plus storage consumed, regardless of the database size. In the East US region, a 1.2 TB database would cost a flat rate of $- plus storage consumed.

To estimate the costs of backing up SAP HANA servers, you'll need to know the total size of the databases, number of SAP HANA servers, expected size of log backups, and daily data churn. You can also choose your backup policy and optionally modify regional pricing or apply discounted rates.

The cost of Azure Backup for SAP HANA on Azure VMs via Snapshot is $- plus storage consumed for instances 5 TB or less, and $- for each 5 TB increment plus storage consumed for instances over 5 TB. For example, a 12 TB database in one instance would cost $- plus storage consumed, with an additional $- for each of the two 5 TB increments.

Azure Backup offers various durable storage options, including locally redundant storage (LRS), geo-redundant storage (GRS), and zone-redundant storage (ZRS).

You can store backups in these options to ensure data redundancy and availability. Locally redundant storage (LRS) stores backups within a single region, while geo-redundant storage (GRS) stores backups across multiple regions for disaster recovery.

Azure Backup also supports auto-scaling, reliable storage accounts managed by Azure Backup, isolated from customer tenants to provide additional security.

HANA on Azure VMs offers a scalable and reliable backup solution for SAP HANA databases. You'll need to estimate costs based on the total size of your databases, number of servers, and backup policy.

The total size of your databases is a crucial factor in estimating costs. This includes the sum of full backup sizes for each database, as reported by SAP HANA. For instance, if you have 12 TB of database in one instance, the cost would be calculated based on the size of each 5 TB increment.

You'll also need to consider the number of SAP HANA servers with the above size. This will impact your overall costs, as you'll be charged for each server accordingly. For example, if you have 1.2 TB of database in a single HANA instance, the cost will be a flat rate of $- plus storage consumed.

The expected size of log backups and daily data churn on these servers are also important factors to consider. These will impact your storage costs and overall backup strategy. You can choose from different backup policies to suit your needs, and even modify regional pricing or apply discounted rates if available.

Here's a breakdown of the costs for backing up SAP HANA servers in Azure VMs:

For instance, if you have 12 TB of database in one instance, the cost would be $- plus storage consumed. You would be charged $- for each of the two 5 TB increments and $- for the remaining 2 TB data.

In addition to Azure Backup, you can also use Managed disk snapshots for Instant Restore functionality. Pricing for this option can be found on the Azure website.

To estimate the costs of backing up SQL servers running in Azure VMs using Azure Backup, you'll need to consider several parameters. These include the size of the SQL servers, the number of servers, expected compression rates, log backup sizes, and daily data churn.

The size of the backed-up data before compression and encryption determines the billing for using Azure Backup for SQL Server on Azure VMs. This means you'll need to calculate the size of each instance based on the databases configured for backup.

If you have a database instance smaller than or equal to 500 GB, the cost will be $- plus storage consumed. For larger instances, you'll be charged $- for each 500 GB increment plus storage consumed.

Here's a breakdown of the costs for different instance sizes:

For example, if you have 1.2 TB of data in one instance, you'd be charged $- plus storage consumed, with $- for two 500 GB increments and $- for the remaining 200 GB data.

Azure Backup uses Blob storage for storing your backups, and charges for storage are separate from the cost of Azure Backup Protected Instances. By default, all backup data protected by Azure Backup goes into the Standard tier, but you can move backups with long-term retention to the Archive tier for reduced costs.

Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers an enterprise-class backup solution that retains backups for up to 10 years.

You have the flexibility to choose between locally redundant storage (LRS), zone redundant storage (ZRS), or geo-redundant storage (GRS) for your backups in the Standard tier.

The cost of Azure Backup for PostgreSQL depends on the size of your instance, with a flat rate of $- per GB for LRS and ZRS, and $- per GB for GRS.

You can choose between the Standard and Archive tiers for your PostgreSQL backups, with the Archive tier offering lower costs for long-term retention.

Here's a breakdown of the storage costs for PostgreSQL backups in the Standard tier:

With the flexibility to choose between different storage options and tiers, you can tailor your PostgreSQL backup solution to meet your specific needs and budget.

If you start protecting a machine to Azure in the middle of the month, you won't have to pay the full protected instance price. Usage is prorated based on the number of days in a month that an instance has been protected.

Increasing the retention of your backed up data and storing more data with Azure Backup will only impact your storage bill, not the software price for protected instances. You'll still be charged per the backup storage rates listed above.

You'll continue to pay for both Protected Instances and Storage as long as your data is retained with Azure Backup, even if you stop protection. Your Protected Instances bill will be based on the size from the last successful backup before you decided to stop protection.

Azure Backup agent needs to be upgraded to the latest version to take advantage of the new pricing. Using an older agent will adversely impact the size of protected instances being billed.

Here's a breakdown of the pricing for protected instances:

Note that these prices are subject to change and may not reflect the current pricing. Be sure to check the official Azure documentation for the most up-to-date information.

You have three options for storing backups: locally redundant storage (LRS), geo-redundant storage (GRS), and zone-redundant storage (ZRS).

Locally redundant storage, also known as LRS, is a cost-effective option for storing backups. It's priced at $- per GB in the Standard tier.

Geo-redundant storage, or GRS, offers an additional layer of protection by storing backups in multiple regions. In the Standard tier, it's priced at $- per GB.

Zone-redundant storage, or ZRS, stores backups within a single region but across multiple availability zones. This option is also available in the Standard tier and costs $- per GB.

Here's a summary of the storage options:

Remember to check the support matrix for the features supported by Azure Back up for Azure Database for PostgreSQL servers.