Compare on-premises Azure costs for migration

The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is one tool that you can use during a data platform modernization project to assess the cost difference the migration can make.

In your global retailer, Data Platform Modernization is expected to realize significant savings but the board of directors has asked you to estimate the savings as precisely as possible.

Here, you’ll calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of migrating to Azure by using the TCO calculator.

This exercise will take approximately 30 minutes.

Calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

  1. Open a new browser tab and navigate to Azure TCO Calculator.
  2. Under Define your workloads, delete any existing workloads in the Servers section.

Add the database workload

  1. Under Databases, select + Add database.
  2. In the Name textbox, type Accounting.

  3. In the Source section, choose these values:

    Property Value
    Database Microsoft SQL Server
    License Enterprise
    Environment Physical Servers
    Operating system Windows
    Operating System License Datacenter
    Servers 1
    Procs per server 1
    Core(s) per proc 4
    RAM (GB) 64
    Optimize by CPU
    SQL Server 2008/2008R2 Toggle to select this value

  4. In the Destination section, choose these values:

    Property Value
    Service SQL Server VM
    Disk type SSD
    IOPS 5000
    SQL Server storage 32 GB
    SQL Server Backup 32 GB

    [!NOTE] SSDs are recommended for production workloads in Azure.

Add the storage and networking workloads

  1. Under Storage, select + Add storage.

  2. In the Name textbox, type Accounting Local Disks, and then enter these values:

    Property Value
    Storage Type Local Disk/SAN
    Disk Type HDD
    Capacity 3 TB
    Backup 1 TB
    Archive 0 TB
  3. Under Networking, in the Outbound bandwidth controls, select 1 GB.
  4. At the bottom of the page, select Next.

Adjust assumptions

  1. In the Adjust assumptions section, in the Currency list, select your preferred currency.
  2. Under Software Assurance coverage (provides Azure Hybrid Benefit), select Windows Server Software Assurance coverage by enabling the toggle.

  3. Select SQL Server Software Assurance coverage by enabling the toggle.

    [!NOTE] You can use the links provided in the Software Assurance section to learn more about the assurance that is available.

  4. Under Geo-redundant storage (GRS), ensure that GRS replicates your data to a secondary region that is hundreds of miles away from the primary region isn’t enabled.

  5. Under Virtual Machine costs, ensure that Enable this for the Calculator to not recommend Bs-series virtual machines is enabled.

    [!NOTE] The B-series virtual machines don’t have the memory-to-vCore ratio of 8 that is recommended for SQL Server workloads.

  6. Under Electricity costs, in the Price per KW hour textbox, enter a realistic value for your location.

    [!NOTE] You can find approximate electricity prices at Global electricity prices. These prices are in USD ($). Convert them to an approximate value in your preferred currency.

  7. Under Storage costs, leave all the values at their defaults, or adjust them if they seem unreasonable.
  8. Under IT labor costs, leave all the values at their defaults, or adjust them if they seem unreasonable.
  9. Under Other assumption, expand each section and look at the associated costs.
  10. At the bottom of the page, select Next.

Investigate the five-year report

  1. On the View report page, note that the Timeframe defaults to 5 years.

  2. Scroll down the report and investigate the estimated breakdown of costs for on-premises systems and Azure. Make a note of this information:

    • What is the most significant cost component of on-premises?
    • What are the largest costs saving if you decide to migrate to Azure?
  3. Expand each section in turn and investigate the breakdown of costs.

Investigate the three-year report

  1. Scroll to the top of the page and then, in the Timeframe textbox, select 3 years.

  2. Scroll down the report and investigate the estimated breakdown of costs for on-premises systems and Azure. Make a note of this information:

    • What is the most significant cost component of on-premises?
    • What are the largest costs saving if you decide to migrate to Azure?
  3. Expand each section in turn and investigate the breakdown of costs.

You’ve used the Azure TCO calculator to identify cost differences between on-premises and Azure deployments for Adatum Corporation’s Accounting server and its associated databases.