What is "Optimized for" column in Azure reservation

Question

Hello,

When we search and add reservation recommendations using Azure reservations, I see the column "Optimized for" has "Not Supported" in it for most of the Azure services.

I am curious to know what this column is actually

Is it just for those services which support instance size flexibility such as VMs ?

What are other Azure services for which column "Optimized for" might have some value other than "Not Supported" in it?

Snap after downloading RI recommendation from cart.

Appreciate your Insightful response.

Thank you!

Answer 1

Hello, @Anil Kumar !

What is optimization for Azure Reservations?

From a VM standpoint, optimization in Azure Reservations refers to whether you want to prioritize flexibility within the same VM size group or confidence that VM instances will be available when you want to spin them up:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/reservations/manage-reserved-vm-instance#change-optimize-setting-for-reserved-vm-instances

• Instance size flexibility: Applies the reservation discount to other VMs in the same VM size group.
• Capacity priority: Designates data center capacity as most important for your deployments. This option offers additional confidence in your ability to launch the VM instances when you need them.

In your screenshot, it shows Azure App Service Isolated Plan, which allow you to run apps in your dedicated virtual networks. While I am more familiar with VM requirements than App Service offerings (and we can remove the VM tag to get App Service specialists to weigh in if you would like), it appears seems that either the VM size variance or the lack of capacity priority is not supported which would make sense for an isolated managed service plan.

Additional reading:

• Save costs with Azure App Service reserved instances
• How reservation discounts apply to Azure App Service

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