Azure Networking Costs: A Practical Guide

 

Azure networking refers to the network infrastructure and services provided by Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform. It enables organizations to connect their resources and workloads within the Azure environment and extend their on-premises networks to the cloud. Azure networking encompasses various services such as virtual networks, load balancers, virtual private networks (VPNs), and Azure ExpressRoute. In this article, we’ll review the costs of networking services and how to reduce them to optimize overall Azure costs.

Factors Influencing Azure Networking Costs

When considering Azure networking costs, there are several factors to take into account:

Data Transfer Costs

Azure charges for both inbound and outbound data transfer. Inbound data transfer, which refers to data sent to Azure data centers, is typically free of charge. However, outbound data transfer, which includes data sent from Azure data centers to the internet or other Azure regions, incurs costs.

To minimize data transfer costs, you can leverage Azure's data caching and content delivery network (CDN) services. These services help reduce the amount of data transferred by caching frequently accessed content closer to end-users.

Service-Specific Pricing

Different Azure networking services have specific pricing models that impact the overall networking costs. Let's explore a few key services and their associated pricing considerations:

Virtual Networks (VNets)

Virtual Networks in Azure provide isolation and segmentation of resources within your cloud environment. While the creation and management of VNets are generally free, additional costs may arise from features such as virtual network gateways, VPN connections, or Azure Firewall.

By carefully selecting the appropriate VNet features based on your requirements, you can optimize costs and ensure efficient network connectivity.

Load Balancers

Azure Load Balancers distribute incoming network traffic across multiple virtual machines (VMs) or backend services. Costs associated with load balancers depend on factors such as the number of load balancing rules, data processed, and public IP addresses used.

To save costs, consider using Azure Application Gateway, which offers more advanced capabilities for web traffic management, including URL-based routing and SSL termination.

Azure ExpressRoute

Azure ExpressRoute provides a dedicated private connection between your on-premises network and Azure data centers. Costs for ExpressRoute are influenced by factors such as the location of the connection, bandwidth, and data transfer volume.

To optimize costs, carefully evaluate your bandwidth requirements and choose the appropriate ExpressRoute circuit size and pricing plan. Consider using Azure ExpressRoute Direct for high-bandwidth scenarios, as it offers more cost-effective options for large data transfers.

Bandwidth and Throughput Requirements

Your bandwidth and throughput requirements play a crucial role in determining Azure networking costs. Higher bandwidth and throughput requirements generally result in increased costs. It is essential to assess your network traffic patterns and consider the specific needs of your applications and services.

To optimize costs, you can implement traffic routing policies, such as routing certain types of traffic through lower-cost options like Azure Virtual WAN or Azure VPN Gateway. Additionally, consider implementing traffic shaping and prioritization to allocate network resources efficiently.

Best Practices for Optimizing Azure networking Costs

Utilize Azure CDN to Cache Content Closer to Users

One of the most effective ways to optimize Azure networking costs is by leveraging the Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN). This is a globally distributed network of servers that can deliver web content and applications to users based on their geographic locations.

By caching content closer to the users, Azure CDN minimizes latency and increases site performance. This, in turn, leads to a reduction in data transfer costs. Cached content requires less bandwidth to deliver, and fewer data transfers mean lower costs.

However, it's essential to configure and manage your CDN correctly to maximize cost savings. For instance, you need to ensure that your cache settings are optimal for your specific workload. Also, regularly reviewing and updating your CDN configuration can help you avoid unnecessary costs.

Use Azure Traffic Manager to Efficiently Route Traffic

Another effective tool for optimizing Azure networking costs is the Azure Traffic Manager. This service allows you to control the distribution of user traffic to your Azure services or external endpoints.

By efficiently routing traffic, the Traffic Manager can significantly reduce latency. This not only improves user experience but also contributes to cost savings. Lower latency means faster data transmission, which can result in reduced bandwidth usage and lower data transfer costs.

Moreover, the Azure Traffic Manager can provide additional cost benefits by enabling load balancing and failover capabilities. By distributing traffic across multiple endpoints, ensures that no single endpoint becomes a bottleneck, reducing the risk of costly downtime.

Design for Cost-Effective Network Architecture

Designing a cost-effective network architecture is key to managing Azure networking costs. This involves carefully planning your network structure, choosing the right Azure services, and configuring these services optimally.

To start with, it's crucial to understand the pricing models for Azure networking services. Different services have different pricing structures, and choosing the right one for your specific needs can lead to significant cost savings.

Also, it's imperative to design your network with scalability in mind. A scalable network can handle increased traffic without requiring costly upgrades. Finally, regularly reviewing and updating your network architecture can help you identify and eliminate cost inefficiencies.

Monitor and Analyze Network Traffic to Right-Size the Bandwidth

Monitoring and analyzing your network traffic is another essential practice for optimizing Azure networking costs. By understanding your traffic patterns, you can right-size your bandwidth and avoid paying for unnecessary capacity.

Azure provides several tools for network monitoring and analytics, such as Azure Monitor and Network Watcher. These tools can give you insights into your network performance, data usage, and traffic patterns.

Implement Azure Cost Management Tools

Finally, implementing Azure cost management tools is a crucial step in optimizing Azure networking costs. These tools provide visibility into your Azure spending and help you identify cost-saving opportunities.

Azure Cost Management and Billing is a powerful tool that can help you track your Azure spending, set budgets, and forecast future costs. It provides detailed reports that can help you understand where your money is going and identify areas where you can save.

In addition to Azure Cost Management and Billing, several third-party tools can help you manage your Azure costs. These tools can provide additional features, such as cost allocation and chargeback, which can be particularly useful in multi-departmental or multi-tenant environments.

In conclusion, managing Azure networking costs can be a complex task, but by following these best practices, you can effectively optimize your costs and get the most value from your Azure investment. Remember, the key to cost optimization is understanding your usage patterns, choosing the right services and configurations, and regularly reviewing and updating your setup.

Author Bio: Gilad David Maayan

 

 Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer who has worked with over 150 technology companies including SAP, Imperva, Samsung NEXT, NetApp and Check Point, producing technical and thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership. Today he heads Agile SEO, the leading marketing agency in the technology industry.

 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladdavidmaayan/

Replay - Colasoft's MAC Scanner

 

Very effective way to find out the MAC and IP addresses on your subnet when devices have firewalls blocking icmp or pings is to run an arp scan.

In this video i used Colasoft's MAC SCANNER you can find this at https://www.colasoft.com/mac_scanner/

We Know What Causes That

 

Dr. Franz H. Messerli, a recognized expert in hypertensive cardio-vascular disease, has published over 600 papers and written 20 books. In 2012, in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Messerli wrote a short article about Nobel prizes and chocolate consumption. His research uncovered a strong linear correlation (r=0.791, P<0.0001) between the number of Nobel laureates a country produced per capita and the average chocolate consumption. He noted a possible link between dietary flavonols in chocolate and the reversal of age-related cognitive impairment. In order to think more clearly, he suggested, people everywhere should eat more chocolate.

While the article was intended as a funny reminder not to allow correlations to lead to false claims, not all of Messerli’s colleagues appreciated the humor. Many complained that the New England Journal of Medicine would publish such a thing, rushing to discredit the idea that eating chocolate would lead to more Nobel prizes. One even noted that there was a strong correlation between the number of IKEA stores and Nobel Prizes in a country, although offering no suggestions as to why that might be. If you’ve ever assembled IKEA furniture, you might have some ideas on this.

Food correlations are popular because we all eat. If eating chocolate in search of a Nobel Prize is not your thing, perhaps getting a doctorate in Civil Engineering piques your interest. Data shows a correlation (r=0.958) between the per capita consumption of mozzarella cheese and the number of CE PhD’s awarded. Since mozzarella is a key ingredient of pizza, this may explain its legendary popularity with graduate students.

Some of us are old enough to remember another popular correlation - the so-called “Hemline Index”. Economist George Taylor is often given credit, but while his 1929 thesis on post-war economic growth connected it with skirt length, he never proposed a general theory. As recently as 2010, economists Marjolein van Baardwijk and Philip Hans Franses of the Erasmus School of Economics examined this urban legend in light of hemline data from 1921-2009.

The accepted premise was that in prosperous times, people feel good and skirts get shorter, while empty bank accounts spoil the fun and cause hemlines to drop. The researchers were focused on the historical periods where the theory didn’t appear to hold. Their data analysis indicated that the economy leads the skirt length by about 3 years, although the conclusions were somewhat confounded by the weather. Even a full bank account doesn’t necessarily prompt a woman to wear a mini-skirt in the winter.

Not all researchers spend their working hours munching on pizza and chocolate while studying women’s skirts, although I’m not ruling out the possibility of finding data to support that conclusion. The Internet offers plenty of strange correlations, many of which should (but don’t always) fail the common-sense test.

As a kid growing up, I always looked forward to summers – you got 3 months off school and could do pretty much whatever you wanted while your parents provided free room and board. The other great thing about summers was that as the temperatures rose, the ice cream truck began making its daily rounds through our neighborhood. My Dad would grumble about how the ice cream truck’s wares were overpriced, so he would always lay in a summer stock of ice cream in our freezer. Confirmation bias notwithstanding, I just know that hot weather and ice cream sales have a strong positive correlation.

Mention hot weather to anyone in law enforcement, and I doubt if ice cream is the first thing that comes to mind. It is a proven fact that hotter weather begets higher crime rates – violent crimes in particular. Causation theories on this abound – increased levels of hostility and aggression, more social encounters that could turn violent, teens out of school with little to do and no supervision – people might even be fighting over ice cream.

It's easy to see how the comparison of two simple data sets, widely available on the Internet, can lead to some crazy theories. Comparing crime rates to ice cream sales would show a positive correlation, leading one to believe that eating ice cream makes one prone to criminal acts. Similarly, rising utility bills from increased air conditioner use would appear to make us more violent, at least until we identify the third variable – temperature. You get the idea.

At one time or another, most of us have been introduced to the Birthday Paradox. The basic idea is that if you have 23 or more people gathered together – like at a cocktail party or in a classroom – the odds are better than 50-50 that two will share the same birthday. The math is straightforward, although the result is quite counterintuitive. Someone inevitably points out that all birthdays are not equally likely, which is true, but has little effect on the outcome.

If you’re curious, the month with the most birthdays is August. Counting back 9 months puts us into the holiday parties, cold weather and cozy fires of December, a perfect setting for starting a baby.

And we know what causes that.

Author Profile - Paul W. Smith - leader, educator, technologist, writer - has a lifelong interest in the countless ways that technology changes the course of our journey through life. In addition to being a regular contributor to NetworkDataPedia, he maintains the website Technology for the Journey and occasionally writes for Blogcritics. Paul has 50 years of experience in research and advanced development for companies ranging from small startups to industry leaders. His other passion is teaching - he is a former Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Paul holds a doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology, as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.