Fundamental
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Fundamental
Prepare and test your skills
Azure VM Costs in Stopped Deallocated State
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An IT department deploys an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) to run testing workloads during business hours. To reduce spending, an administrator stops and deallocates the virtual machine every evening and over the weekend.
Which component of the virtual machine infrastructure will continue to incur billing charges while the virtual machine is in a stopped (deallocated) state?
Explanations
The attached Network Security Groups (NSGs)
The attached Network Security Groups (NSGs)
What Network Security Groups (NSGs) Are
A Network Security Group (NSG) is a core Azure security resource used to filter network traffic to and from Azure resources in an Azure virtual network. It contains security rules that allow or deny inbound and outbound network traffic based on IP address, port, and protocol.
Why It Doesn't Meet the Requirement
Azure provides Network Security Groups as a built-in platform security feature at no extra charge. Whether a virtual machine is running, stopped, or completely deallocated, NSGs attached to its subnets or network interfaces never incur billing costs.
Key Characteristics and Limitations
- Complimentary security tool: NSG creation, rule configuration, and traffic filtering do not generate billing meters.
- Stateful packet inspection: Evaluates two-way traffic flows based on prioritized 5-tuple security rules without licensing fees.
- Scope of association: Can be linked directly to virtual machine NICs or applied broadly to virtual network subnets.
This Answer Would Be Correct If
The scenario inquired about security filtering services that do not add infrastructure costs to an Azure deployment.
Additional Context
Organizations should distinguish between free native network filtering tools like Network Security Groups and advanced paid network security services such as Azure Firewall or Web Application Firewall (WAF), which include dedicated deployment and data processing charges.
The virtual CPU and memory compute capacity
The virtual CPU and memory compute capacity
What Virtual Machine Compute Capacity Is
Virtual CPU (vCore) and RAM memory allocation represent the core compute processing capacity provisioned from Azure physical server infrastructure to execute instructions and run workloads on a virtual machine.
Why It Doesn't Meet the Requirement
In Azure, stopping a virtual machine through the Azure Portal, Azure CLI, or PowerShell initiates the deallocation process. Once the VM reaches the Stopped (deallocated) state, Azure unbinds the hardware compute resources, meaning vCPU and memory consumption meters stop immediately and do not accrue charges.
Key Characteristics and Limitations
- Deallocation vs. Stopped state: If a VM is shut down from inside the guest OS, compute capacity remains reserved and billed; deallocation through Azure management tools halts compute billing.
- Pay-as-you-go metering: Compute time is metered on a per-second or per-hour usage basis only while active.
- Dynamic release: Deallocated hardware capacity is returned to the general Azure datacenter pool for other workloads.
This Answer Would Be Correct If
The scenario described a virtual machine that was shut down only within the guest operating system (remaining in the Stopped state without deallocation) where compute capacity continues to be reserved.
Additional Context
A common misconception is that shutting down a VM inside Windows or Linux stops all charges. Only proper deallocation stops the compute meters, while underlying storage remains active.
The virtual network interface cards (NICs)
The virtual network interface cards (NICs)
What Virtual Network Interface Cards (NICs) Are
A Virtual Network Interface Card (vNIC) is an Azure networking resource that enables an Azure Virtual Machine to communicate with the surrounding Azure Virtual Network (VNet), on-premises networks, and the public internet.
Why It Doesn't Meet the Requirement
In Azure's pricing model, virtual network interface cards do not incur any standalone costs. While virtual machines have configuration limits regarding how many NICs can be attached according to the VM size, the NIC resource itself is provided without an hourly or monthly fee.
Key Characteristics and Limitations
- Zero base fee: Azure does not charge for creating or maintaining vNIC objects within a subscription.
- VM size dependency: The maximum allowable number of NICs per VM is governed by the selected VM compute series.
- Association gateway: vNICs connect VM compute instances to private subnets, Network Security Groups, and IP configurations.
This Answer Would Be Correct If
The question asked which associated networking configuration item can be attached to a virtual machine without adding any direct hourly infrastructure cost.
Additional Context
Although vNICs do not generate costs, associated resources linked to a vNIC—such as static Public IP addresses or outbound data egress bandwidth—may accrue separate usage charges.
The attached OS and data managed disks
The attached OS and data managed disks
What Managed Disks Are
Azure Managed Disks are block-level storage volumes managed by Microsoft Azure and used with Azure Virtual Machines. They function like physical hard drives in on-premises servers and store the operating system (OS), custom applications, and workload data.
How It Meets the Scenario Requirements
When an Azure Virtual Machine is transitioned to the stopped (deallocated) state, Azure releases the physical hardware resources such as vCPUs and system memory (RAM), stopping all compute billing meters. However, the data stored on the virtual machine must be preserved for when the VM is started again. Therefore, the managed storage disks remain allocated in Azure storage infrastructure and continue to accrue standard storage capacity charges.
Key Advantages and Billing Characteristics
- Data persistence: Preserves the file system, installed applications, and database state regardless of VM operational status.
- Independent billing lifecycle: Disks are billed based on provisioned disk tier and storage size rather than VM execution status.
- Predictable disk performance: Provides defined IOPS and throughput performance tiers (such as Standard HDD, Standard SSD, and Premium SSD).
- High durability and availability: Replicates data across storage clusters to protect against local hardware failures.
Why This Is the Correct Factor
Understanding the separation between compute costs and storage costs is fundamental in Azure cloud architecture. While stopping and deallocating a virtual machine pauses compute hourly consumption rates, non-compute resources such as persistent managed disks continuously incur monthly storage fees until explicitly deleted.
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