Query! Need suggestion

Question

Hello Everyone,

Harsh this side. We are planning to organize a 48 hour , 2 rounds CTF in our college online fest.

For this purpose, we need a server and decided to go with Azure $100 Credits. There will be around 500 participants in the event. And we are using CTFd for backend and user registration, we are using virtual machine, having 4 cores, 16 gb ram, static ip, and 60 ssd standard storage.

Currently, we 2 team members were doing all configuring the server, so there is no bandwidth.

We would like to know, will the $100 credit enough for the event or we will need more?

What happen if credits were exhausted during the round 1, will server stop immediately or will continue.?

Can we somehow get some free credits for some days.?

Or any other tip, like some other server provider or anything else , please let me know.

Also, one last thing, After the completion of event can we somehow get the virtual machine copy like iso image or like a backup, so that we can have reference for future events.

Thank you all in advance

Wish us a g

Answer 1

Hello Harsh Khandal

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Q&A platform.

Whether USD 100 in Azure credits can support a VM with 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, managed disks, and a public IP depends strictly on:

• VM SKU and region
• Disk type and size
• Public IP SKU
• Number of runtime hours

Azure does not provide flat or bundled pricing for this scenario. The only supported and accurate way to calculate this is by using the Azure Pricing Calculator with the exact configuration.

Reference: https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/calculator/

For free, student, or promotional Azure credit subscriptions, Azure does not guarantee continued service once the credit balance reaches zero.

When credits are exhausted:

• Azure may stop or suspend running resources
• The subscription can become disabled
• Resource behavior depends on the subscription offer type

There is no documented grace period guarantee for credit‑based subscriptions.

https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/subscription-disabled

Azure supports monitoring credit consumption through Cost Management + Billing only.

Azure does not support exporting a running VM as an ISO image.

Supported and documented options are:

• Managed disk snapshots
• Azure Backup

Create a snapshot of a managed disk https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/snapshot-copy-managed-disk

Azure VM Backup overview https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/backup/backup-azure-vms-introduction

Azure free or promotional credits do not include a guaranteed grace period; when credits are exhausted, subscriptions or resources may be stopped or disabled based on the offer type.

If you have any other queries, please do let us know.

Thanks,

Suchitra.

Answer 2

Hi @Harsh Khandal ,

the price for a VM is related to the Azure region you are using.

You can use the Azure Price Calculator (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/) to calculate the price estimation for a VM.

For instance:

• Azure Region East US
• VM SKU including the Windows OS: D4ads v5 (4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM)
• 1x 64 GB Premium SSD
• 1x static public IP
• The price for 100 hour VM usage is about 55 US$
• You have to deallocate the VM if not in use!

It's possible to download the Azure disk: Download a Windows VHD from Azure

If the Azure credits are consumed the VM will be deallocated and the subscription will be disabled. There might be a short delay between 0 credits and deallocation but I would not count on this.

Source: You reached your spending limit

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Regards

Andreas Baumgarten