How to use Azure Blob Storage Reserved Capacity

Use Azure Blob Storage Reserved Capacity

Introduction to Azure Blob Storage

What is Azure Blob Storage?

Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based object storage service provided by Microsoft Azure. It allows users to store and manage large amounts of unstructured data, such as text, images, videos, and documents. With its high availability, durability, and global reach, Azure Blob Storage provides an ideal solution for businesses and individuals to store and access data securely.

Types of Azure Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage offers three types of storage tiers to accommodate various use cases and performance requirements:

1. Hot Tier: Designed for frequently accessed data, providing low latency and high throughput.
2. Cool Tier: Optimized for less frequently accessed data with slightly higher latency and lower costs.
3. Archive Tier: Intended for long-term storage of data that is rarely accessed, offering the lowest storage costs but higher retrieval times.

Azure Blob Storage Reserved Capacity

What is Reserved Capacity?

Reserved Capacity is a pricing feature available for Azure Blob Storage that allows users to reserve storage space for a specific period. By committing to a certain amount of storage for one or three years, users can benefit from significant cost savings compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. Reserved Capacity is available for both block blobs and append blobs, making it suitable for various use cases.

Benefits of Reserved Capacity

Cost Savings

One of the primary advantages of using Reserved Capacity is the potential for cost savings. By committing to a long-term reservation, you can receive discounts of up to 38% for a one-year reservation and up to 60% for a three-year reservation compared to pay-as-you-go pricing.

Scalability

With Reserved Capacity, you can scale your storage usage as needed without worrying about unexpected costs. The reservation covers your base storage requirements, while any additional usage beyond the reservation is billed at standard pay-as-you-go rates.

Simplified Management

Reserved Capacity simplifies the management of your Azure Blob Storage costs. By knowing your long-term storage commitments, you can more accurately forecast and budget for your storage expenses.

How to Set Up Reserved Capacity

Selecting the Right Reservation Tier

Before purchasing Reserved Capacity, it’s essential to assess your storage needs and determine the appropriate tier for your reservation. Consider factors such as access frequency, data retention requirements, and performance needs when making your decision.

Purchase and Manage Reservations

To purchase Reserved Capacity, navigate to the Azure portal and select the desired reservation tier. Follow the guided process, specifying the storage account, reservation size, and commitment period. After completing the purchase, you can manage your reservations through the Azure portal by viewing, modifying, or canceling them as needed.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a storage reservation in Azure:

Step 1: Sign in to the Azure portal Sign in to the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com) using your Microsoft account credentials.

Step 2: Access Azure reservations In the left-hand menu, click on “Cost Management + Billing” and then select “Reservations” from the options.

Step 3: Add a new reservation Click on the “+ Add” button at the top of the Reservations page.

Step 4: Choose a reservation type Select “Blob Storage (Classic)” or “Blob Storage (GPv2)” as your reservation type, depending on your storage account type.

Step 5: Configure the reservation details Fill in the required information for your reservation:

• Subscription: Choose the subscription you want the reservation to apply to.
• Resource group: Optionally, select a resource group to scope the reservation.
• Location: Choose the Azure region where the storage account is located.
• Storage account: Select the storage account you want the reservation to apply to.
• Term: Choose between a 1-year or a 3-year commitment.
• Tier: Select the storage tier (Hot or Cool) that you want to reserve.
• Size: Specify the amount of storage capacity you want to reserve (in terabytes).

Step 6: Review and purchase Review your reservation details and confirm the cost. If everything is correct, click “Purchase” to complete the reservation process.

Step 7: Manage your reservation After purchasing your reservation, you can manage it through the Reservations page in the Azure portal. You can view, modify, or cancel reservations as needed, keeping in mind that there might be cancellation fees or other limitations based on the terms of your reservation.

Remember that it’s essential to monitor your reserved storage usage to optimize costs and adjust reservations as needed. Use Cloud Storage Managers built-in monitoring reports to track your storage consumption and make data-driven decisions.

Monitor Reserved Capacity Usage

It’s crucial to monitor your Reserved Capacity usage to ensure you’re optimizing your storage costs. Azure provides built-in monitoring tools that allow you to track your reserved storage consumption, compare it with your actual usage, and adjust your reservations accordingly.

Use Cloud Storage Manager to see how much Azure Storage you are using, get insights in to what storage accounts are being used, and where you can minimise your Azure Costs.

You can use our Azure Storage Estimator below to give you an estimate of your Azure Costs.

The Azure Storage costs provided are for illustration purposes and may not be accurate or up-to-date. Azure Storage pricing can change over time, and actual prices may vary depending on factors like region, redundancy options, and other configurations.

To get the most accurate and up-to-date Azure Storage costs, you should refer to the official Azure Storage pricing page: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/storage/

Best Practices for Using Reserved Capacity

Assessing Storage Needs

Before committing to Reserved Capacity, perform a thorough analysis of your storage requirements. Estimate your storage growth over time and consider any potential changes in data access patterns. This will help you select the appropriate reservation tier and commitment period for your needs.

Combine with Other Azure Services

Maximize the benefits of Reserved Capacity by combining it with other Azure services. For instance, you can use Azure Functions to automatically manage and process data stored in Azure Blob Storage or integrate Azure Blob Storage with Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) to improve content delivery and reduce latency.

Combine with Other Azure Services

Conclusion

Azure Blob Storage Reserved Capacity offers a cost-effective solution for businesses and individuals looking to store large amounts of data in the cloud. By committing to a long-term reservation, users can benefit from significant cost savings, scalability, and simplified management. To fully utilize Reserved Capacity, it’s crucial to assess your storage needs, select the right reservation tier, and monitor your usage. Combining Reserved Capacity with other Azure services can further enhance your storage capabilities and optimize costs.