Cost Breakdown per Backup Instance in Azure Backup

Question

Dear Microsoft Support Team,

I would like to clarify whether it is technically possible to isolate and track costs for a single backup instance within an Azure Backup Vault (Recovery Services Vault or Backup Vault).

Currently, in Cost Analysis, when filtering by:

Service name = Backup

• Resource = bv-test

the reported costs represent the entire vault. We are looking for a way to identify and monitor the costs of a specific instance as we are using on instance to backup 20 containers used for X and another instance in the same vault to backup 10 other containers used for Y . Thank You! BR Ed

Answer 1

Hello Ibrovic Edis (BCC.HR), it sounds like you're trying to find a way to isolate and track costs for individual backup instances within an Azure Recovery Services Vault, but you're currently seeing costs aggregated at the vault level. Here’s what you can do and some insights based on your query:

Current Limitation

At the moment, Azure Backup does not provide a direct method to break down costs by individual backup instances within a vault. The costs reported in the Cost Analysis are for the entire vault, which means all instances under that vault share the same reported charges.

Possible Workarounds

1. Cost Analysis Audit: While you can’t filter costs by individual backup instances, you can monitor backup storage usage on the vault dashboard. This may give you some indication of which instances contribute more to your storage space and costs.
2. Backup Reports: Set up Azure Backup reports that can help you monitor and gauge backup usage and possibly correlate it with costs. While this won't give you a direct financial breakdown, it can help identify which instances may be using more resources.
3. Azure Cost Management: You could potentially set custom tags to your backup resources. However, as you mentioned, tagging instances isn't available for backup instances specifically, limiting this approach.
4. Pricing Estimator: Utilize the Azure Backup pricing estimator to understand projected costs based on individual instances and their specific configurations.

Future Considerations

Keep an eye on Azure updates. Microsoft occasionally rolls out enhancements to their services, including better granularity in cost management features.

Hope this helps clarify the situation! If you need more specific guidance or have other queries, feel free to ask.

References:

• Azure Backup Pricing
• Azure Backup Pricing Estimator
• Optimize Azure Backup service cost
• Enable and Understand Costs for Azure VM Backup

Answer 2

Currently, Azure Backup does not provide a built-in feature to isolate and track costs for individual backup instances within a Recovery Services Vault or Backup Vault. The cost analysis tools in Azure typically report costs at the vault level, meaning that costs associated with all backup instances within that vault are aggregated.

To monitor costs for specific backup instances, you may need to implement a tagging strategy or use Azure Cost Management features to categorize resources more granularly. However, this may not provide a precise breakdown per instance as you desire.

For detailed cost estimates and to understand the pricing structure better, you can refer to the Azure Backup pricing documentation.

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References:

• Estimate and understand Azure Backup pricing
• Overview of Azure Blob backup
• About Azure Files backup
• Obtain Insights using Backup center
• Estimate and understand Azure Backup pricing
• Estimate costs for backing up SAP HANA servers in Azure VMs