What is Microsoft Cloud?
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers. It provides software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and supports many different programming languages, tools, and frameworks, including both Microsoft-specific and third-party software and systems.
Azure was announced in October 2008 and released on February 1, 2010, as "Windows Azure" before being renamed "Microsoft Azure" on March 25, 2014. Microsoft Azure can be useful for any WordPress owners to combine it with their WordPress Cloud Backup process. You can store each of your recurrent WordPress files backup and each of WordPress DB backup archives in your own cloud, inside your Microsoft Cloud account.
Why use Microsoft?
FREE plan
Any Azure Microsoft account has 5 GB of File storage and 15 GB of Bandwidth (Data Transfer) per month. Start free with €170 in credit to use on any Azure products for 30 days. Build your next great idea with free access to our most popular products for 12 months and more than 25 always free products. Microsoft will use your credit card information for identity verification, but you will not be charged until you choose to upgrade.
Safe, Secure, and Tailored Backups: Automated solutions, stored in your own Azure.
Microsoft Azure Price
Microsoft directly markets the price cost in hourly usage. A retail tactic to keep incredibly huge prices for common goods small enough to confuse buyers. Yeah ... no comments.
Cost Estimation Calculator
Since, the price per hour (no GB per month), it is very hard to understand "the advantage". Let's take "big WordPress customer" and do an estimative calculation. Assume a database big enough to have a 1GB archive file PLUS 100 GB of files under the hood, inside WordPress. Hourly DB backups and daily full backup is an extreme approach, but let's crunch the numbers. Database: 1GB X 24 hours X 31 days = 744 GB/month. Files: 100GB X 31 days = 3100 GB/month. Both would be 3844 GB/month. Total Estimated Cost of Microsoft Azure Backup: €144.31 from North Europe OR West Europe for 1 month.
Now, let's consider, that we don't need ALL the existing backups, just the last 7 from each (database and files). This means we need to delete existing archive files when we have old unwanted ones. Database: keep only last seven backups for each last 7 days (not the last 7 from last day), and delete the rest. Crunching the numbers for database: 744 GB/month - last 7GB = 737 GB/month. Same logic for files: 3100 GB/month - 700 GB = 2400 GB/month. Both would be 3137 GB/month. Total Estimated Cost of Microsoft Azure Backup: €121.81 from North Europe OR West Europe per 1 month.
Bandwidth (Data Transfer) costs per GB or per month not specified anywhere, just a simple mention of what is FREE. So, if we consider that the FREE 5GB storage has FREE 15 GB Data Transfer included, logically this means:
- scenario A - cost is storage costs/3 for Bandwidth. This would add significantly to your monthly invoice. Bit improbable.
- scenario B - cost is similar to storage costs for Bandwidth. This would double your invoice. Highly improbable.
Secure Data Storage: Managed Restore process, exactly when you need it!
