VM Metrics - Network In/Out Billable(Deprecated) differences with Network In/Out Total?

Question

I was digging in metrics and noticed that "Network Out Billable(Deprecated)" and "Network Out Total" had difference by an order of magnitude of over a quarter of a million times. 120GiB vs  390Kib

Also, Network Out Billable (Deprecated) seems to match my bandwidth charges in billing.

What is Network In/Out Billable (Deprecated)? Why is it (Deprecated)? And why does it seem to give me more precise than Network In/Out Total? (I Assume it is because of the billing charge reflecting that cost) See graph:

 

Answer 1

Hello @Emilien Panis ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform. Thank you for reaching out & hope you are doing well.

I understand that you would like to know the difference between the metrics Network In/Out Billable (Deprecated) and "Network Out Total". You would also like to know why the deprecated metric is giving more precise usage than Network In/Out Total metric.

What is Network In/Out Billable (Deprecated)?

Network Out Billable (Deprecated): The number of billable bytes out on all network interfaces by the Virtual Machine(s) (Outgoing Traffic) (Deprecated).

Refer: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/reference/supported-metrics/microsoft-compute-virtualmachines-metrics

Why is it (Deprecated)?

It is deprecated as a new metric "Network Out Total" was created in its place with some additional improvements.

And why does it seem to give me more precise than Network In/Out Total?

I checked internally and found that there is an ongoing bug with the "Network In/Out Total" metric.

In Accelerated Networking enabled VMs, some of the egress flow packets/bytes are not being counted in Network Out Total Metrics. When Accelerated Networking is enabled, VFP (Virtual Filtering Platform) is not incrementing outbound packets and bytes for the original port in VM that originated the packets, and this is why you see very less usage in the "Network Out Total" metric.

If you are using an Azure VM with Accelerated Networking enabled, then your VM metric "Network Out Total" is affected by the above bug.

The Product Group team is actively working on the issue. A fix is being developed for all VFP (Virtual Filtering Platform) versions to ensure that the egress flow packets/bytes are counted in Network Out Total Metrics. We don't have an ETA to share yet, but the fix should be deployed soon.

And if you still need further clarification or assistance with this issue, it would be better to create a support request. So, if you have a support plan, I request you file a support ticket, else please do let us know, we will try and help you get a one-time free technical support.

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

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