How to Save Up to 80% on Azure with Azure Hybrid Benefit

Azure Hybrid Benefit is a cost-saving feature that allows you to use your existing on-premises licenses to run workloads on Azure.

A workload is a set of applications or services that share a common purpose or goal.

By using Azure Hybrid Benefit, you can reduce the cost of running your workloads on Azure by up to 80%.

How Azure Hybrid Benefit works for different products

Azure Hybrid Benefit applies to several products, such as Windows Server, SQL Server, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Depending on the product, you can use different ratios of on-premises licenses to Azure virtual machines (VMs). This means that you can use fewer licenses to cover more VMs on Azure, resulting in lower costs.

• For Windows Server, you can use one license to cover two VMs with up to eight cores each. This is equivalent to a 1:16 ratio of licenses to cores. For example, if you have 10 Windows Server licenses, you can use them to run 20 VMs with up to eight cores each on Azure

• For SQL Server, you can use one license to cover four VMs with up to four cores each. This is equivalent to a 1:16 ratio of licenses to cores. For example, if you have 10 SQL Server licenses, you can use them to run 40 VMs with up to four cores each on Azure

• For Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can use one subscription to cover eight VMs with up to four cores each. This is equivalent to a 1:32 ratio of subscriptions to cores. For example, if you have 10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscriptions, you can use them to run 80 VMs with up to four cores each on Azure.

How to identify and enable Azure Hybrid Benefit

To identify the potential savings of using Azure Hybrid Benefit, you can use the Azure Advisor Cost Optimization workbook. This workbook analyzes your Azure usage and recommends how to optimize your costs by applying Azure Hybrid Benefit. You can view the recommendations for your entire subscription or for specific workloads. You can also use the Azure Pricing Calculator or the Hybrid Benefit Savings calculator to compare the prices of VMs with or without Azure Hybrid Benefit.

To enable Azure Hybrid Benefit, you have two options: you can do it manually in the Azure portal or you can automate it using infrastructure as code tools such as Azure Resource Manager templates, PowerShell, or CLI. You can also switch between pay-as-you-go and Azure Hybrid Benefit pricing at any time without having to redeploy your VMs.

For SQL Server, there is an additional option called centrally managed Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server. This option allows you to manage and apply Azure Hybrid Benefit for all your SQL Server VMs from a single place. You can use the Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server blade in the Azure portal to view and update the license type of your SQL Server VMs. You can also use tags to group and filter your SQL Server VMs by license type.

Conclusion and next steps

In conclusion, Azure Hybrid Benefit is a great way to leverage your existing on-premises licenses and save money on running your workloads on Azure. I recommend that you review your current usage and see how you can take advantage of this feature. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.

More information on Azure Hybrid Benefit

For more information on Azure Hybrid Benefit, you can refer to the following Microsoft documentation:

• Summary on Azure Hybrid Benefit
• Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server | Microsoft Learn
• Explore Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows VMs - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn
• Azure Hybrid Benefit - Azure SQL Database & SQL Managed Instance | Microsoft Learn
• Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux virtual machines - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn
• Reduce costs and increase SQL license utilization using Azure Hybrid Benefit | YouTube
• Understand and optimize your Azure costs with the new Azure Cost Optimization workbook. - Azure Advisor | Microsoft Learn
• Pricing Calculator | Microsoft Azure
• Azure Hybrid Benefit - Hybrid Cost Calculator | Microsoft Azure

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