cost analysis jump boxes vs remote desktop services azure

COST ANALYSIS JUMP BOXES VS REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES AZURE HOW TO
COST ANALYSIS JUMP BOXES VS REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES AZURE INSTALL
COST ANALYSIS JUMP BOXES VS REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES AZURE WINDOWS

I can verify the VM is starting through Azure Portal:Ĭhecking at the resource group level I have the following assets deployed now:

COST ANALYSIS JUMP BOXES VS REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES AZURE WINDOWS

I went with a Windows Server 2019 Datacenter: az vm create -resource-group azure-bastion -name secureServer -image win2019datacenter -admin-username secureAdmin -admin-password I did not specify a VM size, it defaults to a Standard DS1 v2 (1 vCPU, 3.5 GB RAM) which costs about 81 € ($97) a month. This can be a Linux or Windows-based VM based on your preference. Next, I’ll provision a new virtual machine. For this, I need a resource group – so I’ll provision one called azure-bastion: az group create -name azure-bastion -location westeurope I need to provision my virtual machine first. If you need to get started with Azure CLI, check out my guide here.

COST ANALYSIS JUMP BOXES VS REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES AZURE INSTALL

You can either install it locally, use with Windows Terminal, or simply run an instance of Azure Cloud Shell via Azure Portal by clicking the >_ icon in the top toolbar.

I’m using Azure CLI, as that seems to be a tool of choice to keep up with modern times. I did the latter, as I wanted to simulate a typical real-life scenario – “ here’s the VM, how do we access it securely?“ You can either set up Azure Bastion Host separately or deploy it into an existing VNET. While in preview, you’ll have to use this magic link to light up Azure Portal with Azure Bastion Host features. Setting up Azure Bastion Host is very easy. Perhaps something to keep in mind if you test Azure Bastion Host, but leave it around without any usage. It seems to mimic the Azure Web App model, where even if you stop a service, you’re still paying for it. I was initially unsure whether I’m incurring continuous cost even if I’m not using Azure Bastion Host. You can review the Azure Pricing sheet here.īottom line is that deploying Azure Bastion Host will cost you 60 € ($70) a month, and anything above 5 GB of traffic will cost you a little bit more. I used Zone 1 prices, which include West Europe, East US, South Central US, and West US. The numbers are calculated using the public preview pricing for data, thus when Azure Bastion Host hits general availability, the prices will go about 50 %. The total for this setup would be 972,70 €. I did a quick calculation that if I had an Azure Bastion Host deployed, and I had two server admins using it, and they generated 25 TB of traffic: On top of this you pay for outbound data transfer – first 5 GB each month is free, and then it costs you between 0.0367 € to 0.0211 € ($0.0435 to $0.025) per GB for outbound data. I’m glad that you asked! I try to be cost-conscious, and while Azure Bastion Host is relatively cheap it’s still a great practice to check prices and estimate costs in advance. The difference to just deploying your own VM for this purpose is that Azure Bastion Host is cheaper, effectively more secure and simpler to maintain. In practice, you’ll deploy an instance of Azure Bastion Host, and it acts as a virtualized jump-server that allows opening remote connections to your servers within the same Virtual Network (VNET). It’s a PaaS-solution for a jump-server (also known as a jump-box) to access your virtual machines over Remote Desktop (RDP) and Secure SHell (SSH). The preview for Azure Bastion Host was announced 18th of June.

COST ANALYSIS JUMP BOXES VS REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES AZURE HOW TO

Let’s see what it is, and how to set up Azure Bastion Host! What is Azure Bastion Host? I was delighted to learn this Summer that Microsoft released a preview of Azure Bastion Host, which more or less resolves the issues I had back in February for building a remote access solution for my virtual machines.

It’s one of my more popular posts in this blog, and I guess it’s helpful for many because it travels through the options and provides justification for the choices.Īs that’s often one of the challenges when working with Azure and architectures – there is plenty of choices, and it might be burdensome and frustrating to understand the differences and best options on each. I wrote about my experiences and challenges when building a secure remote access solution for Azure-based virtual machines back in February 2019. Building a secure remote access solution using Azure Bastion Host

Cost analysis jump boxes vs remote desktop services azure