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Azure Data Lake Storage pricing

Scalable, secure data lake for high-performance analytics

Azure Data Lake Storage is the world’s most productive Data Lake. It combines the power of a Hadoop compatible file system with integrated hierarchical namespace with the massive scale and economy of Azure Blob Storage to help speed your transition from proof of concept to production.

  1. Is fully integrated with the Azure Blob Storage platform; Every Blob Storage capability (Azure Active Directory Integration, At Rest Encryption, High-availability and disaster recovery, Automated Lifecycle Policy Management, Storage Account Firewalls, etc.) can be used by Azure Data Lake Storage.
  2. Is optimised for leading cloud analytic engines.
  3. Is tightly integrated with all elements of the Azure Big Data Analytics stack to deliver fast insights.
  4. Allows analytics data to coexist with object data in the same store with no programming changes or data copying.
  5. Performs faster than other data stores thus making your analytics workloads run faster and lowering your TCO.

Explore pricing options

Apply filters to customise pricing options to your needs.

Prices are estimates only and are not intended as actual price quotes. Actual pricing may vary depending on the type of agreement entered with Microsoft, date of purchase, and the currency exchange rate. Prices are calculated based on US dollars and converted using London closing spot rates that are captured in the two business days prior to the last business day of the previous month end. If the two business days prior to the end of the month autumn on a bank holiday in major markets, the rate setting day is generally the day immediately preceding the two business days. This rate applies to all transactions during the forthcoming month. Sign in to the Azure pricing calculator to see pricing based on your current programme/offer with Microsoft. Contact an Azure sales specialist for more information on pricing or to request a price quote. See frequently asked questions about Azure pricing.

Azure Data Lake Storage usage is calculated in binary Gigabytes (GB), where 1 GB = 230 bytes. This unit of measurement is also known as Gibibyte (GiB), defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Similarly, 1 TB is 240 bytes, i.e. 1,024 GBs.

General Purpose v2 provides access to the latest Azure storage features, including Cool and Archive storage, with pricing optimised for the lowest GB storage prices. These accounts provide access to Data Lake Storage, Block Blobs, Page Blobs, Files, and Queues.

Azure Data Lake Storage provides the choice of organising data in two different ways. With hierarchical namespaces option, customers can organise their Data Lake into structured directories, folders and files. With flat namespaces, customers can operate their Data Lake as an unstructured blob store. Regardless of the two options, customers will pay for the same storage price as per the table below. However, with the hierarchical namespace option, customers will be charged for additional meta-data associated with the folder and directory structure as part of the bill.

Data storage

Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A N/A
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
N/A N/A

Storage Capacity Reservations

Not available 1-year reserved 3-year reserved
Azure Storage Reserved Capacity Hot Cool Archive Hot Cool Archive
100 TB / month $- $- $- $- $- $-
1 PB / month $- $- $- $- $- $-
Not available 1-year reserved 3-year reserved
Azure Storage Reserved Capacity Hot Cool Archive Hot Cool Archive
100 TB / month $- $- $- $- $- $-
1 PB / month $- $- $- $- $- $-
Not available 1-year reserved 3-year reserved
Azure Storage Reserved Capacity Hot Cool Archive Hot Cool Archive
100 TB / month $- $- $- $- $- $-
1 PB / month $- $- $- $- $- $-
Not available 1-year reserved 3-year reserved
Azure Storage Reserved Capacity Hot Cool Archive Hot Cool Archive
100 TB / month $- $- N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available
1 PB / month $- $- N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available
Not available 1-year reserved 3-year reserved
Azure Storage Reserved Capacity Hot Cool Archive Hot Cool Archive
100 TB / month $- $- N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available
1 PB / month $- $- N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available
Not available 1-year reserved 3-year reserved
Azure Storage Reserved Capacity Hot Cool Archive Hot Cool Archive
100 TB / month $- $- N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available
1 PB / month $- $- N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available

Transaction

Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) $- $- $- $- $-
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive
Write Operations* (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Read Operations** (every 4 MB, per 10,000) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Scanned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available
Query Acceleration - Data Returned (per GB) N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered write operations: AppendFile, CreateFilesystem, CreatePath, CreatePathFile, FlushFile, SetFileProperties, SetFilesystemProperties, RenameFile, RenamePathFile, CopyFile.

**The following API calls are considered read operations: ReadFile, ListFilesystemFile.

Cool, Cold and Archive early deletion

In addition to the per-GB, per-month charge, any blob that is moved to the Archive tier is subject to an Archive early deletion period of 180 days. Additionally, for general-purpose v2 storage accounts, any blob that is moved to the Cool tier is subject to a Cool tier early deletion period of 30 days. Any blob that is moved to the Cold tier is subject to a Cold tier early deletion period of 90 days. This charge is prorated. For example, if a blob is moved to the Archive tier and then deleted or moved to the Hot tier after 45 days, the customer is charged an early deletion fee for 135 (180 minus 45) days of storage in the Archive tier.

Other Operations and Meta data Storage meters

Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 $- $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** $- $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free $- $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free $- $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available Free N/A Not Available
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available Free N/A Not Available
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 $- $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** $- $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free $- $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) $- $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free $- $- $- $- $-

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available Free $- $-

  • $-

  • $-
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available Free Free Free Free
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- $-

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available Free N/A Not Available
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.
Premium Hot Cool Cold Archive

  • Iterative Read Operations (per 10,000)*

    • Archive High Priority Read (per 10,000)
 N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Iterative Write Operations (100’s)** N/A Not Available $- $- $- $-
All other Operations (per 10,000), except Delete, which is free N/A Not Available $- $- $- N/A Not Available

  • Data Retrieval (per GB)

    • Archive High Priority Retrieval (per GB)
 N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available $- N/A Not Available
Data Write (per GB) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available Free N/A Not Available
Index (GB / Month) N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available N/A Not Available

*The following API calls are considered iterative read operations: List Filesystem & List Path.

**The following API calls are considered iterative write operations: RenameDirectory, RenamePath, RenamePathDir.

Data transfer prices for ADLS

When you write data into GRS accounts, that data will be replicated to another Azure region. The Geo-Replication Data Transfer charge is for the bandwidth of replicating that data to another Azure region. This charge also applies when you change the account replication setting from LRS to GRS or RA-GRS. View the Data transfer prices on Blobs pricing page.

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Additional resources

Azure Data Lake Storage

Learn more about Azure Data Lake Storage features and capabilities.

Pricing calculator

Estimate your expected monthly costs for using any combination of Azure products.

SLA

Review the Service Level Agreement for Azure Data Lake Storage.

Documentation

Review technical tutorials, videos, and more Azure Data Lake Storage resources.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions about Azure pricing

Data Lake Storage FAQs

  • Azure Data Lake Storage is optimised for running analytic workloads on unstructured data. Azure Data Lake Storage is optimised for fast I/O of high volume data, thereby making analytic workloads run faster and lowering the TCO for analytic jobs. Further, Azure Data Lake Storage provides the added flexibility of organising data either in a flat or hierarchical namespace.

  • With hierarchical namespaces, you can organise data into structured folders and directories. With a flat namespace, your files will be organised in a flat structure just like Blob Storage. A hierarchical namespace allows operations like folder renames and deletes to be performed in a single atomic operation, which with a flat namespace requires a number of operations proportionate to the number of objects in the structure. Hierarchical namespaces store additional meta-data for your directory and folder structure. However, as your data volume grows, hierarchical namespaces keeps your data organised and more importantly yields better storage performance on your analytic jobs – thus lowering your overall TCO to run analytic jobs.

    • Billing using flat namespaces

    Let’s say you store 120TB of data for the whole month in Azure Data Lake Storage using flat namespaces in the “Hot Tier”. During this month, you perform 100 million operations, and let’s assume each operation is 6MB in size. Further, let’s say that 20% of these operations are write operations and the other 80% are read operations. Finally, let’s assume you also rename 10K directories during the month.

    For flat namespaces, you will not incur additional charges for meta-data related to your files and folders and therefore will be charged for 120TB of data. Also, since every operation is 6MB, you will be charged two transactions per operation (4MB + 2MB), since every 4MB of data read or written is charged as a transaction. Finally, directory renames are charged using a separate metre.

    This is how your total cost will be calculated:

    Resource Used Usage Volume Price Monthly Cost
    Storage 120TB $- for first 50TB
    $- for next 450TB     		$- * 50TB = $-
    $- * 70TB = $-
    Total $-
    Transactions Writes: Every 4MB = 2 $- per 10K 2 * $- per 10K * 20M = $-
    Reads: Every 4MB = 2 $- per 10K 2 * $- per 10K * 80M = $-
    Total $-
    Directory Renames 10K $- per 100 $- per 100 * 10K = $-
    Total Monthly Cost:
    Storage $-
    Transactions $-
    Directory Renames $-
    Total Monthly Cost $-
    • Billing using hierarchical namespaces

    Let’s say you store 120TB of data for the whole month in Azure Data Lake Storage using hierarchical namespaces in the “Hot Tier”. During this month, you perform 100 million operations, and let’s assume each operation is 6MB in size. Further, let’s say that 20% of these operations are write operations and the other 80% are read operations. Finally, let’s assume you also rename 10K directories during the month.

    For hierarchical namespaces, you will incur additional charges for meta-data related to your files and folders and therefore will be charged for a little more 120TB of data. Also, since every operation is 6MB, you will be charged two transactions per operation (4MB + 2MB), since every 4MB of data read or written is charged as a transaction. Finally, directory renames are charged using a separate meter.

    This is how your total cost will be calculated:

    Resource Used Usage Volume Price Monthly Cost
    Storage 132TB $- for first 50TB
    $- for next 450TB     		$- * 50TB = $-
    $- * 82TB = $-
    Total $-
    Transactions Writes: Every 4MB = 2 $- per 10K 2 * $- per 10K * 20M = $-
    Reads: Every 4MB = 2 $- per 10K 2 * $- per 10K * 80M = $-
    Total $-
    Directory Renames 10K $- per 100 $- per 100 * 10K = $-
    Total Monthly Cost:
    Storage $-
    Transactions $-
    Directory Renames $-
    Total Monthly Cost $-

  • Yes, larger files yield better analytics performance and are more cost effective. For files > 4MB in size, Azure Data Lake Storage bills a transaction for every 4MB block of data read or written. For files < 4MB, a full transaction will be charged.

    More importantly, Azure Data Lake Storage is highly optimised to perform faster on larger files. This means that your analytics jobs will run faster, when operating on larger files, thus further improving your TCO for running analytics jobs.

Azure Storage Reserved Capacity FAQs

  • Azure Storage Reserved Capacity helps you lower your data storage cost by committing to one-year or three-years of Azure Storage on Block Blob or Azure Data Lake Storage.

  • Azure Storage Reserved Capacity provides options to purchase standard storage capacity in units of 100 TB and 1 PB per month blocks for one-year or three-years terms. To purchase Azure Storage Reserved Capacity, you can choose the required number of units for Hot, Cool or Archive storage tier on any of the available storage redundancies (e.g. LRS, ZRS, GRS), and for a specific region (e.g., US West 2). Additionally, you can choose to pay with a single, upfront payment or monthly payments.

    Get started in the Azure portal.

  • Reservations are available today for 100 TB or 1 PB blocks, with higher discounts applicable on 1 PB blocks. In the reservation purchase experience through Azure portal, Microsoft may provide you recommendations based on your previous usage to help determine the sizes you should purchase.

  • For Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers, Azure Prepayment will be used first to purchase Azure Storage Reserved Capacity. In scenarios where EA customers have used all their Azure Prepayment, Azure Storage Reserved Capacity can still be purchased, and those purchases will be invoiced for the single, upfront payment on their next overage bill.

    For customers purchasing via Azure.com, at the time of purchase, the credit card on file will be charged for the full upfront payment (or monthly fixed payments) of Azure Storage Reservations.

  • As soon as purchase is completed. If the purchase is made in the middle of the month, the reserved amount is pro-rated for that month.

  • Azure Storage Reserved Capacity is purchased at a single subscription or shared resource group scope. Therefore, reservation is applied to your usage aggregated to the purchased scope and cannot be limited to a specific storage account, container or object within the subscription.

  • No, all purchases are at the aggregate, subscription level only. Purchases cannot be split across multiple subscriptions.

  • Azure Storage Reserved Capacity allows you to purchase data storage capacity for Standard (GPv2) storage and Blob Storage accounts. The purchased capacity can be used for Block Blobs and Azure Data Lake Storage. Currently Premium Storage, other storage types (Managed Disks, Files, Queues, Page Blobs and Tables), early deletion charges, operations and data transfer are not included in Azure Storage Reserved Capacity.

  • Azure Storage Reserved Capacity is purchased for a specific region (e.g., US West 2 or any other region of your choice), storage tier (e.g., Hot, Cool or Archive) and redundancy (e.g., LRS, GRS or ZRS), and therefore cannot be used outside these constructs. You can always purchase an additional Azure Storage Reserved Capacity for your data storage need in other regions or redundancies.

  • Select the ‘Reservations’ menu on the left side of the Azure portal to view all the Azure Reserved Storage Capacity details associated with your account. All the details associated with the Azure Storage Reserved Capacity that you have purchased will be displayed on the right.

  • An exchange allows you to receive a prorated refund based on the unused amount, which applies fully to the purchase price of a new Azure Storage Reserved Capacity. A cancellation terminates your Azure Storage Reserved Capacity and you'll receive a prorated refund based on the remaining term of the Azure Storage Reserved Capacity minus a 12 percent early termination fee.

  • There's no limit on the number of exchanges you can make. Additionally, there's no fee associated with an exchange. The new Azure Storage Reserved Capacity purchased however must be of equal or greater value than the prorated credit from the original Azure Storage Reserved Capacity. Additionally, Azure Storage Reserved Capacity can only be exchanged with another Azure Storage Reserved Capacity.

  • You can cancel Azure Storage Reserved Capacity at any time (up to $50000 per year). Cancelling allows you to return the remaining months of an Azure Storage Reserved Capacity back to Microsoft for an early termination fee of 12 percent. The remaining prorated balance, minus the fee, will be refunded to your original purchase.

  • If you decide that you wish to exchange your Azure Storage Reserved Capacity (e.g., exchange a purchase 7 units of 100 TB block for 1 unit of 1 PB block ), you can initiate exchange from management portal and view the inventory of Azure Reserved Capacities. Click on a purchased capacity and two buttons will appear in the command bar stating “refund” or “exchange”. Once selected, a support ticket, prepopulated with all of the Azure Storage Reserved Capacity details, will open. Once submitted, the request will be processed, and an email will be sent to you to confirm completion of the request.

  • You will receive email notifications 30 days prior to expiration, and again on the expiration date. Once the reservation expires, deployed capacity will continue to run and will be billed at the then current pay-as-you-go rate.

  • Let’s assume you purchased 100 TB of reserved capacity for 1-year for LRS Hot Storage in US West 2.

    100 TB reserved capacity pricing for Hot LRS Data Stored (US West 2) = $18540.

    You can pay the full amount upfront, or pay fixed monthly instalments at $- every month for the next 12 months. Let’s assume you signed up for a monthly reservation payment plan.

    Scenario 1 - If in any given month within the reservation period, you use 101 TB, your bill will include $- for 100 TB of reserved capacity and $19 for 1 TB at pay-go prices. Your total bill for data stored that month is now $1564.

    Scenario 2 – If in any given month within the reservation period, you use 80 TB of capacity, your bill will include $- for 100 TB of reserved capacity.

  • If you convert your storage account from RA-GRS to GRS/LRS, that account is billed as RA-GRS for an additional 30 days beyond the date that it was converted. If you convert your storage account from RA-GZRS to GZRS/ZRS, that account is billed as RA-GZRS for an additional 30 days beyond the date that it was converted.

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