Octobits Blog – Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is the solution for delivering virtual desktops and applications to your team from the cloud.
However, we must take a moment to discuss the Microsoft Azure VDI pricing in detail. Why?
Your Microsoft Azure VDI pricing will depend on your setup and usage. Yes, it can be tricky to get your head around the pricing for AVDs at first.
Azure VDI Pricing Model
The Azure VDI, or Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), is priced based on what you use.
This means you’re charged mainly for the resources you use, rather than paying a fixed amount upfront.
This model gives you the flexibility to scale your virtual desktop environment up or down based on what you need, and you only pay for what you use.
The idea behind this model is that you don’t have to pay anything upfront, and there are no long-term commitments.
You can change how much you use it as your business needs change.
The pricing for Azure VDI is made up of two main parts: user access rights and infrastructure costs.
The licensing model decides what user access rights you get.
If your company already has eligible Microsoft 365 or Windows licences, you won’t be charged anything extra to access Azure VDI.
These licences include Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Business Premium, and others.
If you don’t have these licences, you can get per-user access pricing, which is great for external users.
The other part is the infrastructure costs, which cover things like virtual machines (VMs), storage, and network bandwidth.
VM costs are often the biggest expense, but there are ways to cut back on them. For example, you can use strategies like autoscaling, reserved instances, and spot pricing.
Autoscaling automatically adjusts the number of active VMs based on demand, which helps cut costs during off-peak times.
You can save up to 72% by committing to a one- or three-year plan with reserved instances, compared to pay-as-you-go models.
For more info on Databricks, have a look at “Microsoft Azure Databricks Pricing Optimisation to Keep Your Wallet Happy.”
How to Calculate Microsoft Azure VDI Costs
It’s not as straightforward as looking at a single price tag to calculate the cost of Azure VDI.
Simply put, it’s more like putting a puzzle together – you get the full picture by choosing the right pieces.
The key to this calculation is understanding both the infrastructure costs and the user licensing fees.
The first thing you need to do is use the Azure Pricing Calculator.
This handy tool lets you input how you think you’ll use it, including the number and type of virtual machines (VMs) you’ll need, your storage requirements, and the expected network bandwidth.
The number of users accessing the system, how many hours they’ll be using the system, and how many of them will be using it at once are also taken into account.
Next, you need to think about the licensing costs. If you’re giving your employees access to Azure VDI, the cost is usually included in your Microsoft 365 or Windows licences.
However, if you’re letting external users (like clients or partners) access your Azure VDI resources, you’ll need to pay per-user access pricing, which is billed monthly based on the number of unique users.
Finally, you’ll need to think about your infrastructure costs. In Microsoft Learn, we’ll take a look at how the cost is broken down further into a few different parts.
The biggest expense is usually the VMs themselves, with the price depending on the instance types you choose and how you use them.
You’ll also need to think about storage costs for things like user profiles and operating system images.
On top of that, you’ve got to think about network bandwidth costs, especially for data transfers.
Pricing Components of Azure VDI
The virtual machines (VMs) that power your virtual desktops are typically the most substantial cost factor. The flexibility of Azure’s pricing models, allowing you to choose between:
- Pay-as-you-go for short-term or unpredictable needs
- Reserved instances for significant discounts on long-term commitments
- Spot pricing for workloads that can tolerate interruptions in exchange for even lower costs.
Storage is another big part of the pricing for Azure VDI. The cost here depends on the type and size of storage you choose.
Your Azure VDI costs will also depend on the network bandwidth you choose.
The charges mainly apply to data transfers out of Azure data centres, that is, data moving from there to other places.
Keeping track of all the data flowing into and out of your Azure VDI environment is the best way to keep costs down.
You can usually get away with free inbound data transfers, but it’s worth knowing about any exceptions for specific services.
Finally, the choice of identity management solution can also affect your costs.
If you use Microsoft Entra ID with Active Directory Domain Services, you might have to pay extra for the domain controller VMs and the stuff that goes with them, like compute, storage, and networking.
To learn more about Cloud, please refer to “Cheat Sheet to Microsoft Azure Cloud Pricing & It’s Cost Management Tool.”
Cost Optimization Strategies
One of the best ways to keep costs down is to use autoscaling. With autoscaling, you can be sure that the number of active virtual machines (VMs) will change based on what’s needed at the moment.
If you know how much you’ll be using, reserved instances and savings plans can be a real game-changer.
Also, you can get a lot more for your money if you commit to one- or three-year reserved instances than if you pay as you go.
Similarly, Azure savings plans let you save money by committing to a specific hourly cost for compute resources.
Another key way to keep costs down is to make sure you’re using your storage and bandwidth as efficiently as possible.
It’s also a good idea to do regular cost reviews using tools like Azure Cost Management.
This approach lets you see where you’re spending money, find ways to cut costs, and make data-driven decisions to keep your costs down.
Finally, to get the most out of your Azure virtual desktop investment, using Octobits as a license management platform could be a great move.
Octobits lets you track your VDI usage in real time, find ways to cut costs, and get tips on how to spend your money more wisely.
But at Octobits, we don’t just monitor costs. We analyse them in detail, implement tailored solutions and provide ongoing support.
We appreciate that transparency is as important to you as it is to us.
That’s why we’re happy to offer you a free trial of Octobits until December 2024, so you can see the difference for yourself.
Or, if you’d prefer, we can arrange a one-on-one meeting over coffee or tea. We’d love to discuss your specific Databricks challenges in more detail.
In Closing
Organisations can save money by implementing strategic cost optimisation techniques. These techniques also guarantee enhanced scalability and performance of IT infrastructure.
At the same time, Octobits will be your supporting system, providing you with valuable insights.
Octobits provides your organisation with the data and knowledge you need to make informed decisions about Microsoft Azure VDI pricing.
