Azure Virtual Machines - Impact of Lifecycle Stages on Cloud Bill

Virtual Machines (VMs) are the core building block of many compute services in Azure, but their lifecycle stages can impact your cloud bill. Let's break down the key states and their cost implications:

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: During this phase, the virtual machine is allocating resources on a host but not yet fully operational. It is not billed at this stage.
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: The VM is powering up and transitioning to a fully operational state. Billing begins when the VM is in this state
𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: This is the standard working state where the virtual machine is fully operational. It incurs charges.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠: The virtual machine is transitioning between running and stopped. It is billed during this transition.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝: In this state, the virtual machine is allocated on a host but not actively running. It can be powered off using the API or from within the guest OS. It is also known as the PoweredOff state. Charges apply when the VM is in this state.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 (𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠): This state is transitional between running and deallocated. It is not billed.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 (𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝): The virtual machine has released the lease on the underlying hardware. If it is powered off, it appears as Stopped (deallocated). Charges do not apply in this state, except for certain Azure resources like disks and networking.
𝐇𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 (𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝) [𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖]: It allows pausing VMs that aren’t actively being used, helping you save on compute costs. It is not billed.

Note: The provisioning state refers to the status of a user-initiated, control-plane operation on the VM in Azure. These states are separate from the power state of a VM.

𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Remember, even if the VM itself isn't charged in some states, attached resources like disks and networking might still accrue costs.