Question about "Azure Spot Placement Recommender" api results

Question

Hello, Engineer.

In the results, the Score includes "RestrictedSkuNotAvailable" and "DataNotFoundOrStale".

Could you please explain the meaning and difference between these two results?

Answer 1

When using the Azure Spot Placement Recommender API, the response includes a score field that helps assess the likelihood of successful spot VM allocation in a particular region or zone for a given SKU (VM size). The values like "RestrictedSkuNotAvailable" and "DataNotFoundOrStale" are qualitative indicators that describe why a placement recommendation might not be favorable.

RestrictedSkuNotAvailable : This means the specific VM SKU (size/type) is restricted or not available in the region/zone you’re querying.

The restriction might be due to internal policies, regulatory compliance, or subscription limits.

It can also happen if the SKU is not onboarded for that region/zone or temporarily unavailable.

Example Scenarios:

Trying to request a GPU VM in a region where it's restricted.

Your subscription doesn’t have access to that SKU in the selected region.

Action to take:

Try a different region or a different VM SKU.

Check if your subscription is allowed to use that SKU (can contact Azure support or check via CLI with az vm list-skus).

DataNotFoundOrStale : means the recommender API doesn’t have fresh or complete data for that VM SKU in the region/zone you queried.

Data might be outdated or missing due to telemetry gaps.

No recent spot VM activity to base recommendations on.

Action to take:

Wait and retry later.

Try another zone/region where data is available.

• Consider using this as a signal to avoid automated placement decisions in this area for now.