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Archive Azure VM disk on Blob storage

AH 25 Reputation points
2024-05-13T15:37:33.24+00:00

Hi ,

I have an Azure VM with several attached disks with big size more than 12TiB. The VM is currently deallocated and data on disk is not often accessed. Since the VM disk cost is quite high, I'm thinking to store those VM disks to Azure storage with archive tier to save cost.

I do calculation on the cost archiving those disk on Azure storage versus current cost and would like to have further advice if possible.

Current VM disk cost: ~CAD 1,000 / month

  • Azure storage cost (archive tier $0.00136 per GB): CAD 16.62 / month
  • Date write cost: CAD 0 (free)
  • Index (GB/month): NA
  • Read/Write operation: Not included, plan to keep archive data there for the next 5 years.

Any potential cost besides above?

Thanks in advance.

Azure Virtual Machines
Azure Virtual Machines
An Azure service that is used to provision Windows and Linux virtual machines.
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Azure Storage Accounts
Azure Storage Accounts
Globally unique resources that provide access to data management services and serve as the parent namespace for the services.
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Azure Archive Storage
Azure Disk Storage
Azure Disk Storage
A high-performance, durable block storage designed to be used with Azure Virtual Machines and Azure VMware Solution.
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  1. Marcin Policht 14,020 Reputation points MVP
    2024-05-13T16:00:39.7+00:00

    Managed disks and page blobs do not support access tiers - only block blobs do.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/access-tiers-overview

    Consider backing up the disks and deleting them.

    If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

    hth

    Marcin

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  2. Anand Prakash Yadav 6,785 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2024-05-15T08:22:21.37+00:00

    Hello Marcin Policht,

    Thank you for posting your query here!

    Adding on to the previous response, since you cannot directly transfer Managed Disks or page blobs to an archive tier, you would need to convert these disks into a format suitable for block blobs if you want to use the archive tier. Here's how you might approach it:

    · Create a snapshot of your Managed Disk. This snapshot captures the disk state at a specific point in time. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/snapshot-copy-managed-disk?tabs=portal

    · Once the snapshot is created, you can export it to a VHD file. This is done by copying the snapshot to a Blob Storage account as a page blob (VHD). https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/scripts/copy-snapshot-to-storage-account

    · Once your VHD is in Blob Storage as a page blob, you might want to convert it into a block blob to enable setting an access tier like 'Archive'. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/convert-append-and-page-blobs-to-block-blobs?tabs=azcopy

    · Finally, you can set the access tier to 'Cool' or 'Archive' depending on how frequently you expect to access the VHD. Set a blob's access tier - Azure Storage | Microsoft Learn

    Do let us know if you have any further queries. I’m happy to assist you further.

    Please do not forget to "Accept the answer” and “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members.

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