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Jerry SeinfieldFlag for United States of America

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Azure SQL db migration

Hello Experts,

I do have a customer that currently has following scenario:


On prem:

1 application server deployed on a VM.

1 DB server running SQL express edition for the application above.

5 SQL instances running SQL express editions running on VMs (5 VMs total)


My customer wants to run a lift and shift migration using Azure Migrate tool which essentially a snapshot is taken of every VM on prem and then migrated onto a Azure VM. So in total, they would have to pay for 6 VMs in Azure running SQL express edition.


Is there a better way to accomplish this db instance migration to Azure and save money? perhaps, setup a single Azure SQL server on a VM with all dbs instances? setup SQL managed instances?

What are the prices for each suggestion?


Your thoughts please? 

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Jerry Seinfield
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There is always the option of renting an Azure VM and buying the SQL Server Standard separately +CALS...given the fact that the Azure costs will be forever in the end should be cheaper to do the initial expense and just pay only the VM
Last but not least you could "investigate" the option of migrating some or all of your Databases to a free alternative like MySQL
Took a look at the calculator...maybe it would be even cheaper to rent the VM without the Windows Server license and buy it separately...I think it is an option
Current State

On prem:
1 application server deployed on a VM.
1 DB server running SQL express edition for the application above.
5 SQL instances running SQL express editions running on VMs (5 VMs total)

Options - risk free
Migrate as is. It is cheaper to maintain a server as is.

Options - cheaper but risk of application compatibility and/or etc 
In order to save money, you are going through re-architecture.
What is the usage of those SQL express? given it is SQL express, their usage will be very limited as well.
Do SQL run query every minutes or hours? or something different?

I will explore the followings
1. Serverless architecture - you only pay when you run query - of course, you pay your storage as well
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/serverless-tier-overview


2. DTU architecture
there is a single server version (cheaper) and an elastic pool version (more expensive)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-au/azure/azure-sql/database/service-tiers-dtu

3. provisioned architecture
this usually count on vCPU and it is the most costly (even expensive than IaaS) but have specific amount of compute resources that are continuously provisioned independent of workload activity


For pricing, you can check
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-au/pricing/details/azure-sql-database/elastic/


Another thing to consider is Application support; Usually software vendor might say No, you must use the MOST expensive version in Azure to get the support you needed. IN your case, you did not mention of any software, and the fact you are using SQL express, it also means it might not be that important as well.
This is all the  consideration you might need to think of.