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Troubleshoot reservation utilization

This article helps you understand and troubleshoot Azure reservations that show no or zero utilization in the Azure portal. Utilization that doesn't match is also explained.

Symptoms

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal and navigate to Reservations.
  2. In the list of reservations, look the amount of utilization for a reservation in the Utilization (%) column. It might be zero %.
  3. Select the reservation.
  4. On the reservation overview page, your used percentage in the graph might not match the value shown in the reservation list.

Cause

The Utilization (%) column in the Azure portal shows the value for the current day. The value is calculated as usage data arrives from where resources run. Azure uses the usage to calculate the utilization percentage.

Some resources report usage slower than others. Additionally, some product types like SQL Databases are slow to report their usage data.

The latency can cause the utilization calculation to show lower values than the actual usage. The difference is noticeable at the day boundary. In such cases, if Azure doesn’t get usage data from four to eight hours, it calculates a value of zero %. The zero % value is shown because usage data didn't arrive, and it appears that the reservation isn’t applying a benefit to any resources.

As usage data arrives, the value changes toward the correct percentage. When all the usage data is collected, the correct value is determined and is shown accurately in the graph.

Solution

If you find that your utilization values don't match your expectations, review the graph to get the most view of your actual utilization. Any point value older than two days should be accurate. Longer term averages from seven to 30 days should be accurate.

Other common scenarios

  • If the reservation status is No Benefit, it gives you a warning message and to solve the problem. Follow the recommendations presented on the reservation's page.
  • You stopped running resource A and started running resource B, which isn't applicable for the reservation you purchased for. To solve the problem, you can exchange the reservation to match it to the right resource.
  • You moved a resource from one subscription or resource group to another, whereas the scope of the reservation is different from where the resource is being moved to. To resolve the issue, you might need to change the scope of the reservation.
  • You purchased another reservation that also applied a benefit to the same scope, and as a result, less of an existing reserved instance applied a benefit. To solve the problem, you might need to exchange/refund one of the reservations.
  • You stopped running a particular resource, and as a result it stopped emitting usage and the benefit stopped applying. To solve the problem, you might need to exchange the reservation to match it to the right resource.
  • You changed the scope of the reservation and that caused it to stop applying a benefit to the resources. To solve the problem, you might need to change the scope of the reservation again to make sure the resources are deployed in same scope.
  • The subscription that the reservation is scoped to got deleted or moved out, so the benefit isn't being applied to the resources. To solve the problem, you might need to change the scope of the reservation.

Next steps