Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Customers with SQL Server with Software Assurance on Microsoft licensing contracts like Enterprise Agreements are uniquely entitled to use their SQL Server licensing in Microsoft Azure to reduce their cloud operations costs by upwards of 50%. (And up to 80% using Azure Reserved Instances or “reservations”)

(I emphasize the word “uniquely” because this is exclusively a benefit for SQL Server customers moving to Azure. The following “Azure Hybrid Benefit” cannot be applied to AWS, GCP or other cloud services)

HOW TO SAVE COSTS ON SQL DATABASE LICENSING IN AZURE
Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server provides the following:

1. 4-TO-1 LICENSE RIGHTS IN AZURE
   Providing 4 cores of SQL in Azure General Purpose SKU licensing for every 1 core of SQL Server Enterprise on Software Assurance (Yes, this is 4-to-1 and unique to Azure, i.e. not available in AWS or GCP)
2. LICENSING RIGHTS FOR AZURE SQL PAAS
   Providing the ability to move to either
• Azure VMs running SQL Server (IaaS)
• Azure SQL Managed Instance (PaaS)
  (Yes, applying your SQL Server licenses to a cloud “scalable/elastic” SQL database aka SQL PaaS is unique to Azure and not available in AWS or GCP)

HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AZURE SQL HYBRID BENEFIT
The following instructions can dramatically reduce your Azure billing costs – by as much as 50% – for these VMs running SQL Server.

• BLOG: Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-hybrid-benefit-for-sql-server-on-azure-virtual-machines/
• INFO: Automatically Register Your Azure SQL Virtual Machines with SQL Server IaaS Agent extension today
  “…simply tick a consent checkbox and allow Microsoft to automatically register all existing and future SQL Server Virtual Machines in your subscription”
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/register-your-azure-sql-virtual-machines-with-sql-server-iaas-agent-extension-today/
• DOCS: Azure Hybrid Benefit – Azure SQL Database & SQL Managed Instance
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/azure-hybrid-benefit