Why Azure Backup?
I believe most people think that Cloud-based backup, like Azure Backup, is an open door to expensive, runaway costs. My own experience tells me that’s not the case.
Azure Backup from Microsoft is a scalable data protection solution that functions equally well for both cloud-based platforms and on-premise servers and workstations. Azure Backup provides 99.9% uptime for both backups and restore, and it does it encrypted. Since you only pay for what you use, you don’t need to overspend in the anticipation of future needs and useful life.
Azure Backup vs. Traditional Methods
Traditional backup generally involves tapes, an expensive and troublesome tape library device, backup software, support agreements, and frequently an off-site tape rotation service. The second, and more current, solution offered by many vendors is more hybrid. It includes a purpose-built on-premises backup device, a hardware support agreement, and a cloud support agreement for cloud storage.
The Azure solution has no Capital Investment and small operating costs. The flexibility of Azure backup means that you only pay for what you use. The cost of backup storage depends on:
- Your backup frequency
- The size of your data
- How long Azure stores the backup data
- How much data compression is applied
- How much new data is backed up each pass
| Traditional | Hybrid | Microsoft Azure | |
| Tape Library (capital expense) | $$$$ | ||
| Physical Backup equipment (capital expense) | $$$ | ||
| Backup Software & Annual Support | $$ | ||
| Annual Hardware Maintenance Agreement | $$ | $$ | |
| Consumables (tapes) | $ | ||
| Cloud Data Storage | $ | $ | |
| Cloud Software Management | $ | ||
| Off-site Storage | $ |
Total Cost of Ownership
The only way to truly understand your backup costs are to look at the Total Cost of Ownership (TC) over a number of years. Traditional and Hybrid backup have both an upfront capital cost and annual recurring costs over their useful life. Azure Backup is purely consumptive, meaning that all of your expenses are operational, and you don’t pay for unused capacity.
To better understand the cost of Azure Backup, Microsoft has created the Azure Backup calculator. This tool can give an estimate of your monthly Azure costs.
If you’re confused or need a more specific estimates and information, let PEI’s Azure team help. We’ll help you understand all of your options and costs.
Tim Krueger, PEI
