Azure Quota Usage Details Test

Quotas define the limits of resources that a user subscription can provision or consume. Azure uses limits and quotas to prevent budget overruns due to fraud, and to honor Azure capacity constraints. For example, a quota might allow a user to create up to five virtual machines (VMs). Each resource can have its own types of quotas.

If a quota/limit is exceeded, then the corresponding resource is throttled. This can impact performance and productivity significantly. This is why, it is imperative that administrators periodically compare the quotas with actual usage, and proactively detect if quotas are about to be exhausted/exceeded. These early pointers can help administrators plan the future capacity and support the continued use of the resource. Using the Azure Quota Usage Details test, this can be achieved!

This test reports the limit set for and real-time usage of each resource that Azure services subscribe to, and alerts administrators to potential quota violations. In the process, the test points administrators to the exact resources that are over-utilized. Detailed diagnostics provided by the test also reveal which provider in which location contributed to the abnormal usage of a resource. Using the insights provided by this test, administrators can also figure out how to change the limits or optimize usage, so that throttling and budget overruns can be averted.

Target of the Test: A Microsoft Azure Subscription

Agent deploying the test: A remote agent

Output of the test: One set of results for each resource subscribed to

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Subscription ID

Specify the GUID which uniquely identifies the Microsoft Azure Subscription to be monitored. To know the ID that maps to the target subscription, do the following:

  1. Login to the Microsoft Azure Portal.

  2. When the portal opens, click on the Subscriptions option (as indicated by Figure 1).

    Figure 1 : Clicking on the Subscriptions option

  3. Figure 2 that appears next will list all the subscriptions that have been configured for the target Azure AD tenant. Locate the subscription that is being monitored in the list, and check the value displayed for that subscription in the Subscription ID column.

    Figure 2 : Determining the Subscription ID

  4. Copy the Subscription ID in Figure 2 to the text box corresponding to the SUBSCRIPTION ID parameter in the test configuration page.

Tenant ID

Specify the Directory ID of the Azure AD tenant to which the target subscription belongs. To know how to determine the Directory ID, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API.

Client ID, Client Password, and Confirm Password

To connect to the target subscription, the eG agent requires an Access token in the form of an Application ID and the client secret value. For this purpose, you should register a new application with the Azure AD tenant. To know how to create such an application and determine its Application ID and client secret, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API. Specify the Application ID of the created Application in the Client ID text box and the client secret value in the Client Password text box. Confirm the Client Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Proxy Host and Proxy Port

In some environments, all communication with the Azure cloud be routed through a proxy server. In such environments, you should make sure that the eG agent connects to the cloud via the proxy server and collects metrics. To enable metrics collection via a proxy, specify the IP address of the proxy server and the port at which the server listens against the Proxy Host and Proxy Port parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none, indicating that the eG agent is not configured to communicate via a proxy, by default.

Proxy Username, Proxy Password and Confirm Password

If the proxy server requires authentication, then, specify a valid proxy user name and password in the Proxy Username and Proxy Password parameters, respectively. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Service Quota Names

By default, this test monitors resources that all Azure services subscribe to. This is why, this parameter is set to ALL by default. If you want the test to monitor only those resources that specific services subscribe to, provide a comma-separated list of service names here.

Providers Names

By default, this test monitors resources offered by all resource provider types. This is why, this parameter is set to ALL by default. If you want the test to monitor only those resources that are offered by a few specific provider types, specify the types you want this test to consider as a comma-separated list.

Location Names

By default, this test monitors resources used in all location. This is why, this parameter is set to ALL by default. If you want the test to monitor only those resources that are used in specific locations, specify the locations you are interested in as a comma-separated list.

DD Frequency

Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measures made by the test:
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Total usage

Indicates the total number of resources of this type used.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know in which location and from which provider the resource is utilized the most. This insight will help you figure out where the usage excesses are. That should ideally be where you should start to optimize usage.

Total limit

Indicates the quota/limit set for this resource.

Number

 

Quota usage

Indicates the percentage of this resource's quota that is in use.

Percent

A value close to 100% implies that the resource is about to exhaust its quota. In this case, use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know in which location and from which provider the resource is utilized the most. This insight will help you figure out where the usage excesses are. That should ideally be where you should start to optimize usage.

Use the detailed diagnosis of the Total usage and Quota usage measures to know in which location and from which provider the resource is utilized the most. This insight will help you figure out where the usage excesses are. That should ideally be where you should start to optimize usage.

Figure 3 : The detailed diagnosis of the Total usage measure reported by the Azure Quota Usage Details test