SQL Server on Azure VM
Does ZopNight manage SQL Server on Azure VM?
SQL Server on an Azure VM pays two meters at once: VM compute and SQL Server licensing. A dev database left running overnight wastes both. ZopNight deallocates the underlying VM on schedule, halting compute charges, and flags SQL VMs whose network activity stays low for 30 days as idle (RC-269).
Rules that fire on SQL Server on Azure VM
At a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Scheduling notes | the underlying VM is deallocated on stop and started on start, halting compute billing. |
SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines runs full SQL Server on IaaS VMs, combining VM compute charges with SQL licensing. Dev and test SQL VMs left running overnight pay both charges for zero benefit.
Two meters on one machine: compute plus SQL license
A SQL VM stacks meters. Underneath is an ordinary VM billing for allocated compute; on top, pay-as-you-go SQL Server licensing accrues with it, scaled to the machine’s size and edition. Data and log disks bill by provisioned capacity regardless of either. Because licensing tracks the VM, an oversized SQL VM overpays twice: once for cores it does not use and again for the license those cores carry. Azure Hybrid Benefit, which applies existing licenses, is the one lever that removes the second meter without touching the first.
What deallocation halts on a SQL VM
ZopNight stops a SQL VM by deallocating the underlying virtual machine, which halts compute billing; the schedule starts it again when the working window opens. Disks, and any pay-as-you-go licensing components tied to storage, continue per Azure billing rules while the machine is down. For a database used interactively by one team, the arithmetic is straightforward: most weeks contain far more idle hours than working ones, and both stacked meters are silent for every deallocated hour.
How ZopNight tracks SQL VMs
Azure Resource Graph surfaces each SQL VM as a distinct type linked to its parent VM. A 60-day Azure Monitor lookback and Cost Management spend attribution apply, the Azure SQL VM Idle rule (RC-269) flags machines with low network activity over 30 days, the Windows Server Hybrid Benefit check (RC-214) runs on the underlying VM (no rule checks SQL Server licensing on the SQL VM row), and Smart Tags can derive environment tags from your tagging policies, so environment labels do not depend on hand-tagging.
The expensive habits of dev SQL Servers
Watch for Enterprise edition on machines running smoke tests, restored production-sized VMs kept “temporarily” for a migration that ended, and licensed machines idling as failover practice targets.
Locating SQL virtual machines in the portal
Azure portal → SQL virtual machines lists them separately from plain VMs, showing edition and license model per machine. That is the fastest place to spot pay-as-you-go licenses that Hybrid Benefit could replace.