Cost by resource group: ranking and drill-down
Cost by resource group ranks every resource group of the selected scope with its share and its change against the period just before, and opens one group: its cost, rank and share, its day-by-day line and the services it is made of.
What this page is for
Cost by resource group answers two questions: which resource groups carry the cost of the scope, and what drives the one you choose? The ranking lists every group with its share and its change against the period just before; choose a group, and its figures, its daily chart and its services follow the choice.
Open it when environments, applications or teams map to resource groups and you need to see which group carries the cost, which one grew, and which service in it made it grow. The Cost overview shows the ten largest groups beside services and subscriptions; this page lists every group and opens one.
Every figure is in one currency and covers the same scope and date range. The page never adds two currencies together and converts nothing.
Before you start
The page shows figures once an Azure connection has imported its cost data. Until then it shows “No cost data yet” and a link to Getting started, which walks you through connecting Azure and the first import.
Read the Getting started guide
Cost analytics is part of the Starter plan and every plan above it. On the Free plan the page shows a labelled sample instead of your data.
Choose the scope: subscription, currency and dates
The bar at the top of the page sets the scope. Every figure, table and list below it is calculated again for what you select.
- “Subscription”: “All subscriptions” or one subscription. The list holds the subscriptions that have recorded cost.
- “Currency”: shown only when the scope is billed in more than one currency. CostGuard holds no exchange rate, so it never adds two currencies. Every figure is in the one currency you select.
- The date range: “Last 7 days”, “Last 30 days” (the page opens with it), “Month to date”, “Previous month”, “Last 90 days”, “Last 12 months” or “Custom range”. The last two presets are offered on this page because the movement of one resource group is often clearer over a longer view.
- “Refresh” reads everything again for the same scope.
When you have not chosen a currency, the page uses the same one as the Dashboard and the Cost overview for the same scope, so one scope reads in one currency on every cost page. “Last 12 months” runs from the day after the same date a year ago through today.
Set a custom range
- Open the date range list and choose “Custom range”.
- Enter a date under “From” and a date under “To”. Both days are included.
- Select “Apply”. “Cancel” closes the fields and keeps the range you had.
Limits to know
A custom range covers at most 366 days, starts on or before its end date and cannot end after today. When a date does not fit, a message beside the fields says what to correct, and nothing is reloaded until you do.
How far the cost data reaches
“Cost data through” shows the latest day CostGuard holds cost for. Azure reports cost with a delay of a day or two, so the latest days can still change, and a range that ends today is not final yet.
Read the ranking of resource groups
“Resource groups ranked” lists every resource group with cost in the selected range and currency, largest first. Each row shows:
- The rank and the name of the group. With all subscriptions in scope, each group names its subscription under it. A group is known by its subscription and its name, so two groups with the same name in two subscriptions stay two rows.
- “Cost”: what the group cost in the range. “Share”: its part of what every group of the scope cost, drawn as a bar; on a phone the page shows the percentage alone.
- “Previous period”: what the group cost in the same number of days just before the range. “Change”: the difference in money and as a percentage of that earlier cost. “New” means the group had no cost in the days before.
- Under the table, the groups billed in the days before and not in this range, each with what it cost then.
When the scope holds more than ten groups, the table lists the ten largest and a button under it lists the rest; the same button then shows the first ten only again.
A change wears no colour: a rise or a fall is neither money saved nor a risk by itself. When the days before could not be read, the table shows no change and says so under it; the rest of the page still shows its figures.
Note
Each share is measured against the sum of every group in the same currency, which adds up the same cost records as the groups themselves, so the shares cannot disagree with the costs.
Cost with no resource group
“No resource group” is cost that Azure recorded against a subscription itself rather than against a resource group, for example a reservation purchase. It is real spend, so the page keeps it as a row of its own in each subscription, and the ranking totals the same as your cost overview.
When such a row is listed, a sentence under the ranking says what it is. You can choose it in the list like any group: its figures, its daily cost and its services then describe that cost.
Tip
When a large “No resource group” row appears, choose it: its daily line shows on which days the charge was recorded, and its services show which services Azure recorded it under.
Choose a resource group
The “Resource group” list holds every group of the ranking, in the same order, each with its cost in the range; with all subscriptions in scope, each entry also names its subscription. The page opens on the largest group, and the sentence beside the list says how many groups it holds.
Choose another group, and its figures, its daily chart and its services are read again; the ranking and the scope stay as they are. The group you chose stays chosen when you change the scope, as long as the new scope has a cost for it; otherwise the page opens on the largest group of the new scope.
The five figures of the resource group
The five figures describe the chosen group in the selected range, all in one currency:
- “Resource group cost”: what the group cost in the range, with its rank among the groups of the scope under it, largest first.
- “Share of the scope”: the group's part of what every group of the scope cost, with that total under it. It is the share the ranking shows, so the two cannot disagree.
- “Change”: the group's cost minus its cost in the same number of days just before the range, with the change as a percentage of that earlier cost. “New” means the group had no cost in the days before; “Not available” means those days could not be read.
- “Highest day”: the day on which the group cost most, with its date. When two days cost the same, the earlier one is shown.
- “Days with cost”: on how many days of the range the group had a cost. A group whose resources run every day reads the full count; a group used on some days only, or created or emptied during the range, reads fewer. A day without cost is not counted.
Note
When the scope is also billed in another currency, a sentence under the figures names it. Those costs are in no figure: choose that currency in the scope bar to see them.
Read the daily cost of the resource group
“Daily cost” draws the group's cost on each day of the range as a line, and the same number of days just before it as a second line on the same value axis, so the two periods compare day by day. The value axis starts at zero. Point at a day to read its value, or open “View the daily figures as a table” to read every value.
A single tall day is usually a batch job, a load test or another one-off event; a step that stays up is new or larger infrastructure; a line that drops to nothing means the group's resources stopped or were removed. The most recent days can still change while Azure completes its cost data.
When the days before could not be read, the chart says “The previous period could not be loaded, so only the selected period is drawn.” When the daily cost of the group could not be read, the panel says “The daily cost of this resource group could not be loaded. Try again in a moment.” instead of drawing a line, and “Highest day” and “Days with cost” read “Not available”.
Read the services of the resource group
“Services in this resource group” lists the services billed in the chosen group, largest first: each service's cost, its share of the group drawn as a bar, its cost in the same number of days just before the range, and its change. “New” marks a service that had no cost in the group in the days before.
A service billed in the group in the days before and not in this range is listed under the table. When the days before could not be read, the table shows no change and says so; when the services could not be read, the panel says “The services of this resource group could not be loaded. Try again in a moment.”
Tip
To see why a group grew, compare the changes: the service with the largest rise is the one to look at first. To see where that service runs across your estate, open Cost by service.
Go further
Three links at the bottom of the page lead on. Each page opens with its own settings, not the scope chosen here. “See the top groups beside services and subscriptions” opens the Cost overview, which shows the ten largest groups beside services and subscriptions. “See one service and where it runs” opens Cost by service, which shows one service and the subscriptions and resource groups it runs in. “Group the cost your way” opens Cost Explorer, which lists the cost by service, resource group, resource, meter or subscription, each item against the period before.
What you may see instead of figures
While the figures load, grey placeholder bars stand where they will appear. After that, the page shows one of these instead of figures when there is nothing to show:
- “No cost data yet”, with “Open Getting started”: no connection has imported cost yet.
- “No cost in this range”: the workspace has cost data, but none of it falls in the selected range and scope.
- “Not available” under “Change”, with “The previous period could not be compared.”, and a ranking without its change column: the days before could not be read. The rest of the page still shows its figures; “Refresh” in the scope bar tries again.
- “The daily cost of this resource group could not be loaded. Try again in a moment.” in the daily cost panel, or “The services of this resource group could not be loaded. Try again in a moment.” in the services panel: that part could not be read, and the rest of the page still shows its figures.
- “The resource group costs could not be loaded.”, with “Try again”: the resource groups of the scope could not be read. Nothing was changed.
- A notice that your session has expired, with a link to sign in again. The page shows no figures until you do.
Sample data when your plan has no cost analytics
When your plan does not include cost analytics, the page shows a fixed example under the label “Sample data”, with the sentence “Your current plan does not include this feature. The figures shown here are an example, not your data.”
The sample shows a ranking of ten example groups, one of them with no resource group, and one group, rg-prod-data, with its five figures, its daily chart and its services for a fixed period, with figures that are the same for everyone. They are never your data, there is no scope bar and no group list, and nothing in it can be changed.
What each plan includes
The table shows the first plan that includes each part of the page. Every plan above it includes it too.
| Feature | Free | Starter | Growth | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A labelled sample of the page | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Cost by resource group with your own cost data | Not included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
Troubleshooting
The page says “No cost data yet”
You have no connection yet, or its first import has not finished. Open Getting started and follow the steps; the figures appear when the first import completes.
The last days look too low
Azure reports cost with a delay of a day or two. Check the date beside “Cost data through” in the scope bar. Days after it hold no cost yet, so a range that ends today reads lower than it will be.
A resource group is missing from the ranking
The ranking holds the groups with cost in the selected range, subscription and currency. A group billed in another currency appears when you choose that currency in the scope bar; a group with no cost in the range appears when you choose a range in which it had a cost. A group billed only in the days before is listed under the table.
The page says “No cost in this range”
The selected subscription has no recorded cost on the selected dates, or the range starts before your cost history does. Choose a wider range or all subscriptions.
“No resource group” appears in the ranking
Azure recorded that cost against a subscription itself, not against a resource group, for example a reservation purchase. It is part of what the scope cost, so the ranking keeps it; choose it in the list to see its daily cost and its services.
The change reads “New”
The group had no cost in the same number of days just before the range. It was created or first used during the range, or those days lie before your cost history begins; with “Last 12 months” they are the twelve months before, which your history may not reach.
The page shows sample data
Your plan does not include cost analytics. The table above shows which plan does, and the link under it opens the pricing page.