Azure FinOps Mastery: Microsoft's Hidden Cost Optimization Gems

Managed Disk Rightsizing:

• Identify oversized disks with less than 50% utilization
• Switch to Standard SSD from Premium SSD when performance isn't critical
• Use managed disk reservations for predictable workloads

Azure Blob Storage Tiering Recipe:

1. Analyze access patterns using Storage Analytics
2. Use Hot tier for frequently accessed data
3. Switch to Cool tier for monthly access (30% cheaper)
4. Move to Archive tier for rarely accessed data (80% cheaper)
5. Implement lifecycle policies for automatic transitions

When to Use RIs vs Savings Plans:

• RIs: Specific, long-running VMs and databases
• Savings Plans: General compute workloads with changing requirements

RI Management Best Practices:

1. Purchase in 6-month cycles to allow for business changes
2. Focus on VM reservations first (highest savings potential)
3. Consider Premium SSD disk reservations for additional savings
4. Add Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and SQL Server

Qualification requirements:

• Active Software Assurance on Windows Server or SQL Server licenses
• Documentation of on-premises license ownership
• Proper activation through the Azure Portal

Implementation steps:

1. Inventory existing licenses and Software Assurance status
2. Calculate potential savings for your workloads
3. Activate through Azure Portal for eligible VMs
4. Monitor usage and ensure compliance

Azure Scale Sets Best Practices:

• Conservative scale-out: CPU > 70% for 5 minutes
• Aggressive scale-in: CPU < 30% for 2 minutes
• Predictive scaling for known traffic patterns
• Warm-up periods to prevent thrashing

Advanced auto-scaling strategies:

1. Event-driven scaling with Azure Functions
2. Schedule-based scaling for predictable workloads
3. Multi-resource metrics for comprehensive decisions
4. Integration with AKS for containerized workloads

Tag Enforcement Strategy:

• Use Azure Policy to enforce tagging compliance
• Implement tag-based access controls with RBAC
• Set up automated tagging with Azure Functions
• Create cost allocation reports filtered by tag combinations

Department Chargebacks Made Simple:

1. Generate cost reports by CostCenter and Project tags
2. Allocate shared costs (VNet, Azure AD, monitoring) proportionally
3. Create simple dashboards showing each team's monthly spend
4. Include optimization recommendations specific to each department

Implementation Strategy:

• Use Azure Monitor custom metrics to track business-specific KPIs
• Create custom dashboards in Azure Monitor or Power BI
• Implement automated reporting with regular distribution
• Use predictive analytics with Azure Machine Learning

Advanced Monitoring Techniques:

1. Correlate cost data with operational events using Log Analytics
2. Create custom alerts based on business logic
3. Monitor cost per transaction for unit economics
4. Track application-specific cost patterns for optimization

Optimization Strategies:

• Identify high-volume data sources with KQL queries
• Configure Basic Logs for debugging and troubleshooting data
• Implement log data volume caps for predictable spending
• Use sampling for high-volume Application Insights telemetry

Advanced Log Management:

1. Implement intelligent log filtering at the source
2. Use log aggregation and summarization techniques
3. Implement tiered retention policies for cost optimization
4. Pre-aggregate metrics before sending to Azure Monitor

Key benefits:

• Built-in cost thresholds and quotas
• Automatic VM shutdown
• Artifact-based environment creation
• Usage monitoring and reporting

Implementation best practices:

1. Set up auto-shutdown policies
2. Limit VM sizes available to developers
3. Implement spending quotas per lab and user
4. Use custom images for faster provisioning

Quick wins for immediate savings:

• Use burstable instances for variable workloads
• Implement spot instances for batch processing (up to 90% savings)
• Rightsize container memory and CPU allocations
• Set up automatic cleanup of completed containers

Advanced ACI Optimization:

1. Implement intelligent scheduling for off-peak hours
2. Use container groups effectively to share resources
3. Optimize container images to reduce startup time
4. Leverage Azure Functions for event-driven scaling

Kubernetes cost management:

• Use Virtual Node with ACI for burst capacity
• Implement cluster autoscaling with proper min/max settings
• Use node pools with spot VMs for stateless workloads
• Enable Azure Monitor for Containers to track usage

Advanced AKS Optimization:

1. Implement resource quotas at the namespace level
2. Use HPA and VPA for optimal resource allocation
3. Implement cluster-level policies using Azure Policy for AKS
4. Optimize container images for size and efficiency