Azure Blob Storage: Cost Implications for Soft-Deleted Data in Hot and Cool Tiers

Question

I have enabled soft-delete for 60 days on my Azure storage account. I deleted 50 GB of blobs in the Hot tier and another 20 GB in the Cool tier. How will the charges be applied to the deleted data storage? Will the first 50 GB be charged at the Hot tier rate and the next 20 GB at the Cool tier rate? Or will the entire 70 GB be charged uniformly?

Answer 1

Hi Nikhil K M,
Greetings & Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum! Thanks for posting your query!
When you enable soft-delete for Azure Blob Storage, the charges for the soft-deleted data are applied based on the tier the data was in before deletion. This means:

• The 50 GB of blobs that were in the Hot tier will be charged at the Hot tier rate.
• The 20 GB of blobs that were in the Cool tier will be charged at the Cool tier rate.

So, the charges will not be uniform for the entire 70 GB; they will be based on the respective rates of the Hot and Cool tiers
For more information:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/access-tiers-overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/soft-delete-overview#pricing-and-billing

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Answer 2

Hi Nikhil K M - Thanks for reaching out on Q&A Forum.

The pricing shall depend on the tier your data is residing.

The 50GB data that has been deleted from Hot Tier, so the capacity charging of the data in hot tier tends to get reduced accordingly.

The 20GB which was deleted from Cool Tier, the capacity charging of Cool Tier shall reflect accordingly.

Since you mentioned you have soft delete data enabled for 60 days, that means that you will still be charged for capacity for another 60 days until the retention is expired. Post that only the capacity charges for reduced capacity shall come into effect.

Hope that helps!

If there are any queries. let me know and will be glad to assist.

Please do not forget to "Accept the answer” and “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members