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Migrate Log Analytics workspaces to availability zone support

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This guide describes how to migrate Log Analytics workspaces from non-availability zone support to availability support.

Note

Application Insights resources can also use availability zones, but only if they are workspace-based and the workspace uses a dedicated cluster. Classic (non-workspace-based) Application Insights resources cannot use availability zones.

Prerequisites

For availability zone support, your workspace must be located in one of the following supported regions:

  • East US 2
  • West US 2

Dedicated clusters

Azure Monitor support for availability zones requires a Log Analytics workspace linked to an Azure Monitor dedicated cluster. Dedicated clusters are a deployment option that enables advanced capabilities for Azure Monitor Logs including availability zones.

Not all dedicated clusters can use availability zones. Dedicated clusters created after mid-October 2020 can be set to support availability zones when they are created. New clusters created after that date default to be enabled for availability zones in regions where Azure Monitor supports them.

Downtime requirements

There are no downtime requirements.

Migration process: Moving to a dedicated cluster

Step 1: Determine the current cluster for your workspace

To determine the current workspace link status for your workspace, use CLI, PowerShell, or REST to retrieve the cluster details. If the cluster uses an availability zone, then it has a property called isAvailabilityZonesEnabled with a value of true. Once a cluster is created, this property cannot be altered.

Step 2: Create a dedicated cluster with availability zone support

Move your workspace to an availability zone by creating a new dedicated cluster in a region that supports availability zones. The cluster is automatically enabled for availability zones. Then link your workspace to the new cluster.

Important

Availability zone is defined on the cluster at creation time and can’t be modified.

Transitioning to a new cluster can be a gradual process. Don't remove the previous cluster until it is purged of any data. For example, if your workspace retention is set 60 days, you may want to keep your old cluster running for that period before removing it.

Any queries against your workspace queries both clusters as required to provide you with a single, unified result set. As a result, all Azure Monitor features that rely on the workspace, such as workbooks and dashboards, continue to receive the full, unified result set based on data from both clusters.

Billing

There is a cost for using a dedicated cluster. It requires a daily capacity reservation of 500 GB.

If you already have a dedicated cluster and choose to retain it to access its data, you are charged for both dedicated clusters. Starting August 4, 2021, the minimum required capacity reservation for dedicated clusters is reduced from 1000 GB/Daily to 500 GB/Daily, so we’d recommend applying that minimum to your old cluster to reduce charges.

The new cluster isn’t billed during its first day to avoid double billing during configuration. Only the data ingested before the migration completes would still be billed on the date of migration.

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