News

Microsoft Adds 'Next-Generation' Azure Alert Options

• By Kurt Mackie
• March 27, 2018

Microsoft recently announced the addition of "next-generation" Azure Monitor alert capabilities alongside the free "classic" alerts.

Two new next-generation capabilities, known as "metric alerts" and "log alerts," are accessible through the Azure Portal like the classic alerts, according to Microsoft principal program manager Kiran Madnani in a March 21 announcement. Madnani recommended using the next-generation capabilities when organizations need to manage "multiple alerts."

Some of the new capabilities reached "general availability" status earlier this month, meaning that they are deemed ready for production use. However, the new log alerts capability is still at the "limited public preview" stage.

Metric alerts pertain to the activities listed in this Microsoft document. Organizations can set up flexible alert delivery options for monitoring those activities using metric alerts. The options can be set range from 5-minute intervals up to 15-minute intervals.

Log alerts, on the other hand, serve as "performance counters and heartbeats" and are "important for mission-critical infrastructure and applications," Madnani noted. Log alerts also let organizations "set alert rules for hybrid scenarios" if used with the Azure Log Analytics service, Madnani noted. Hybrid use scenarios constitute a mixture of local servers combined with public cloud services.

Some cost increases associated with the next-generation Azure Monitor capabilities are tucked away in Microsoft's Azure Monitor pricing page. For instance, Microsoft is planning to charge for using an Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) connector to Azure Monitor, starting on April 1, 2018. It plans to charge for the use of alert rules and metric queries starting on June 1, 2018.

Azure Monitor pricing is fairly nuanced. Microsoft still won't charge for the classic monitoring capabilities, such as using "activity log, service health and resource health alert rules," according to the pricing page's FAQ. Activity logs are available for free for 90 days. Thereafter, organizations wanting to retain the logs would have to pay for storage costs.

In other Azure news, Microsoft last week announced a preview of Azure DNS Private Zones, which provides a name resolution service for virtual networks housed on Azure datacenters. The main benefit of using Azure DNS Private Zones is that organizations don't have to "set up and manage custom DNS servers," according to Microsoft's announcement.