Hi Folks, I am working on a project for leveraging Azure ARC SQL PayG License for On-premise SQL Servers as there is no on-premise SQL License. I have total 4 Nodes on-premise in which 2 (128Vcore) is for DC & 2 is DR (128Vcore). Its in active-passive mode meaning only DC Servers are writing SQL Transactions. My query is as below - If i enable PayG License (Enterprise) for all the 4 Nodes than will azure bill me for all the 4 Nodes i.e 256 Vcore or it will automatically detect DR Nodes and instead bill me for 128Vcore. Do i need to enable PayG License for DR Node or i only have to enable for DC. What is the ideal way in this case ? and how the billing will happen in this scenario as customer is expecting billing only for 128Vcore referring to MS License Terms which are applicable on-premise.

Azure ARC for SQL - Payg License for DR

Faizaan Merchant 45

Hi Folks,

I am working on a project for leveraging Azure ARC SQL PayG License for On-premise SQL Servers as there is no on-premise SQL License. I have total 4 Nodes on-premise in which 2 (128Vcore) is for DC & 2 is DR (128Vcore). Its in active-passive mode meaning only DC Servers are writing SQL Transactions.

My query is as below -

If i enable PayG License (Enterprise) for all the 4 Nodes than will azure bill me for all the 4 Nodes i.e 256 Vcore or it will automatically detect DR Nodes and instead bill me for 128Vcore.
Do i need to enable PayG License for DR Node or i only have to enable for DC.

What is the ideal way in this case ? and how the billing will happen in this scenario as customer is expecting billing only for 128Vcore referring to MS License Terms which are applicable on-premise.

Pranay Reddy Madireddy 780 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-11-07T13:22:12.3633333+00:00

Hi Faizaan Merchant

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.

To use PAYG licensing, your SQL Server instances need to be connected to Azure Arc. This lets you manage them through Azure and pay based on usage.

The PAYG model charges you for the virtual cores (vCores) used by your SQL Server instances. The billing is done per minute but billed every hour.

If you enable PAYG licensing for all four nodes (2 DC and 2 DR), you'll be charged for all 256 vCores (128 vCores per DC and DR node), unless the setup is changed to only charge for the active nodes.

Since your DR nodes are passive and only the DC nodes are actively processing transactions, you may not need to enable PAYG for the DR nodes if they're not in use. However, check Microsoft's licensing terms, as the DR nodes might still be billed if they're connected to Azure, unless managed differently.

The best approach is to enable PAYG licensing only on the DC nodes where transactions are active. For the DR nodes, set them up so they aren't charged unless used during a failover. This way, you'll be billed for just 128 vCores as expected.

For reference, please review this documentation: - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/manage-license-billing?view=sql-server-ver16
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/manage-configuration?view=sql-server-ver16&tabs=azure

If you have any further queries, do let us know.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and "Upvote it".
Pranay Reddy Madireddy 780 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-11-08T19:43:39.1566667+00:00

Hi Faizaan Merchant
If you had a chance to see my comment to your question. If it was helpful, please click "Upvote" on my post let us know Thank you...!
Faizaan Merchant 45 Reputation points

2024-11-11T05:57:34.07+00:00

Hi @Pranay Reddy Madireddy ,

Thank you for taking out time and sharing insights, however even I have the same understanding but still i wanted some MS reference document on this use case which could give us concrete answer on this. As a work around and sticking to license terms this is only ideal way out but still wanted to check on arc configuration perspective.

This is partially answered in terms of approach to be followed, but something concrete is expected.

Thank You

Faizaan M
Pranay Reddy Madireddy 780 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-11-11T18:40:39.32+00:00

Hi Faizaan Merchant
For reference, please review this documentation: -
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/manage-autodeploy?view=sql-server-ver16
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/hybrid/azure-arc-sql-server
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/connect?view=sql-server-ver16&tabs=windows
thanks
Pranay
Pranay Reddy Madireddy 780 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-11-12T17:59:21.7166667+00:00

Hi Faizaan Merchant
If you had a chance to see my comment to your question. If it was helpful, please click "Upvote" on my post let us know Thank you...!
Faizaan Merchant 45 Reputation points

2024-11-15T13:44:23.4333333+00:00

Hi @Pranay Reddy Madireddy ,

Still doing R&D on this. Will keep you posted on this.

Regards

Faizaan M
Pranay Reddy Madireddy 780 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-11-19T16:10:35.3033333+00:00

Hi Faizaan Merchant
If you had a chance to see my comment to your question. If it was helpful, please click "Upvote" on my post let us know Thank you...!

Share via

Azure ARC for SQL - Payg License for DR

Your answer