Question: Does Azure Arc cost money?

Answer

Azure Arc does involve costs, but the pricing structure can vary depending on the specific services and features you use. Here are some key points to consider:

1. Azure Arc Control Plane: The core control plane functionality of Azure Arc, which includes resource organization, searching and indexing through Azure Resource Graph, and access control, is provided at no extra cost.

2. Azure Arc-enabled Data Services: For Azure Arc-enabled data services, such as SQL Managed Instance and PostgreSQL, there are different pricing tiers. For example, SQL Managed Instance has General Purpose and Business Critical tiers, with costs varying based on the number of vCores and the billing model (Pay-as-you-go, 1-year Reserved Instance, or 3-year Reserved Instance). The costs range from $40 to $49.64 per vCore per month, depending on the tier and billing model.

3. Additional Azure Services: When using Azure Arc, you may also incur costs for other Azure services that you use in conjunction with it, such as Azure Monitor, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Sentinel, and Azure Policy. These services have their own pricing models and costs.

4. Azure Policy: Azure Policy guest configuration is charged at $6 per server per month for servers outside of Azure connected through Azure Arc. Other types of Azure Policy that do not rely on guest configuration are offered at no additional cost.

5. Extended Security Updates: Azure Arc also provides Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012/R2 and SQL Server 2012/2014, which may incur additional costs.

To accurately estimate the costs for your specific use case, it is recommended to use the Azure pricing calculator, which can help you estimate the monthly costs based on your usage and the services you plan to use.