Financial Operations

Convert Your Linux Workloads While Cutting Costs with Azure Hybrid Benefit

Anders Jönsson

Tags: Cloud Management; FinOps; Linux Optimization

Convert Your Linux Workloads While Cutting Costs with Azure Hybrid Benefit

FinOps Article

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, enterprises are increasingly pursuing hybrid and cloud-first strategies to boost innovation and growth. Simultaneously, managing expenditure efficiently is paramount. Enter Azure Hybrid Benefit, a program designed to provide savings on Windows and SQL server licenses. However, many are unaware that this advantageous program extends into the realm of Linux, offering impressive cost reductions and operational enhancements for Linux workloads.

In this article, we will delve into how Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux empowers organizations to modernize their IT infrastructure, enhance cost-efficiency, and sustain seamless operations in a hybrid cloud environment. Furthermore, we’ll examine the intricacies of how Linux entitlements differ from those applicable to Windows Server and SQL licenses, revealing how this offering can maximize your subscription investments.

Leveraging Existing Licenses for Cloud Migration

With increasing pressure to optimize budget allocations, enterprises leveraging existing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) licenses can experience cost savings of up to 76% when paired with three-year Azure Reserved Instances. This offering brings substantial benefits, particularly for businesses aiming to migrate Linux workloads to Azure or optimize their existing deployments:

  • Seamless Conversion: Converting existing pay-as-you-go Linux VMs to bring-your-own-subscription billing is straightforward, involving no downtime or need for redeployment.
  • Cost Reduction: Only VM compute costs are incurred, as software licensing fees for eligible Linux VMs are eliminated.
  • Automatic Maintenance: Microsoft oversees image maintenance, updates, and patches, thus reducing operational overhead for converted RHEL and SLES images.
  • Unified Management: Integration with Azure CLI ensures consistency in the user interface across all Azure VMs.
  • Simplified Support: A unified support mechanism between Azure, Red Hat, and SUSE facilitates efficient problem resolution.

For those with eligible RHEL or SUSE subscriptions, activation of Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux on Azure is as simple as enabling your Red Hat products for Cloud Access via Red Hat Subscription Management.

A Practical Use Case: Enhancing Operations with Azure Hybrid Benefit

To illustrate the value provided by Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux, consider the scenario of a burgeoning SaaS company, Contoso. Having initially deployed its applications on Azure VMs under a pay-as-you-go model, Contoso soon scaled its operations significantly with a large fleet of Linux-based VMs.

Facing surging demand and recognizing the potential to optimize costs, Contoso negotiated improved Red Hat subscriptions directly with the vendor. Instead of opting for disruptive workload migrations or costly downtime, Contoso leveraged Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux VMs to strategically apply their existing Red Hat subscription seamlessly on Azure. This move effectively reduced licensing costs while preserving service continuity.

By harnessing Azure Hybrid Benefit, Contoso successfully merged cost-efficiency with scalability, ensuring continued growth and uninterrupted service delivery to its customers.

Understanding Linux License Entitlements Compared to Windows or SQL

It’s essential to understand how Linux entitlements diverge from Windows Server or SQL Server under Azure Hybrid Benefit. Unlike the traditional Windows-based workload management involving SQL Server databases and .NET applications, Linux users tend to embrace modern, cloud-native architectures. They frequently work with containers, Kubernetes, and DevOps pipelines, often aligning their strategies with open-source tools and automation frameworks.

Linux workloads frequently consist of enterprise applications, including SAP and Kubernetes-based applications. With a propensity for hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, Linux users can integrate Azure with varied cloud service providers effectively.

In conclusion, Azure Hybrid Benefit offers substantial advantages for organizations aspiring to streamline their cloud strategies and manage costs more effectively. By broadening this benefit to include Linux, Microsoft has unlocked pathways for organizations to modernize infrastructure, reduce cloud expenditures, and maintain unfaltering hybrid operations. Organizations equipped with existing RHEL and SLES subscriptions can capitalize on notable cost savings, seamless VM conversions, automated upkeep, consolidated management, and simplified support.

Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux doesn’t merely promise flexibility and efficiency; it empowers organizations to extract maximum value from their subscription investments whilst accelerating their growth within a hybrid and cloud-first paradigm. Whether migrating workloads or operating within hybrid environments, leveraging this benefit strategically aids in meeting and exceeding strategic objectives with confidence.

To further explore how Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux can be optimized to your advantage, visit: Explore Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux VMs - Azure Virtual Machines | Microsoft Learn.