Pricing and Billing (23-24)

Please see the Service Portfolio catalog for updated information.

Outdated Virtual Machine Hosting

The following table represents Fiscal Year 2023-24 rates of commonly sized virtual machines with CPU, memory, using a disk rate based on 80GB disk size. The resulting price will vary depending on requested resource and storage requirements. Custom sizes and configurations are available, for a detailed estimate please contact Platform Compute Services.

Size vCPU count Memory (GB) vCPU Cost/Yr Memory Cost/Yr VMware license Disk 80GB Cost/Yr Total Annual Cost
Bronze Disk – Best for general desktop and lightweight services
Small.1 1 1 $55.05 $35.90 $12.48 $29.30 $132.72
Small.2 1 2 $55.05 $71.79 $31.20 $29.30 $187.34
Medium.1 2 2 $110.10 $71.79 $31.20 $29.30 $242.38
Medium.2 2 4 $110.10 $143.58 $62.40 $29.30 $345.37
Medium.3 2 8 $110.10 $287.17 $124.80 $29.30 $551.36
Large.1 4 4 $220.19 $143.58 $62.40 $29.30 $455.47
Large.2 4 8 $220.19 $287.17 $124.80 $29.30 $661.45
Large.3 4 16 $220.19 $574.33 $249.60 $29.30 $1,073.42
XLarge.1 4 24 $220.19 $861.50 $374.40 $29.30 $1,485.38
XLarge.2 6 24 $330.29 $861.50 $374.40 $29.30 $1,595.48
Silver Disk – Best for application services
Small.1 1 1 $55.05 $35.90 $12.48 $39.06 $142.49
Small.2 1 2 $55.05 $71.79 $31.20 $39.06 $197.10
Medium.1 2 2 $110.10 $71.79 $31.20 $39.06 $252.15
Medium.2 2 4 $110.10 $143.58 $62.40 $39.06 $355.14
Medium.3 2 8 $110.10 $287.17 $124.80 $39.06 $561.12
Large.1 4 4 $220.19 $143.58 $62.40 $39.06 $465.24
Large.2 4 8 $220.19 $287.17 $124.80 $39.06 $671.22
Large.3 4 16 $220.19 $574.33 $249.60 $39.06 $1,083.18
XLarge.1 4 24 $220.19 $861.50 $374.40 $39.06 $1,495.15
XLarge.2 6 24 $330.29 $861.50 $374.40 $39.06 $1,605.24
Platinum Disk – Best for highly transitional applications/services
Small.1 1 1 $55.05 $35.90 $12.48 $66.41 $169.83
Small.2 1 2 $55.05 $71.79 $31.20 $66.41 $224.45
Medium.1 2 2 $110.10 $71.79 $31.20 $66.41 $279.49
Medium.2 2 4 $110.10 $143.58 $62.40 $66.41 $382.48
Medium.3 2 8 $110.10 $287.17 $124.80 $66.41 $588.47
Large.1 4 4 $220.19 $143.58 $62.40 $66.41 $492.58
Large.2 4 8 $220.19 $287.17 $124.80 $66.41 $698.56
Large.3 4 16 $220.19 $574.33 $249.60 $66.41 $1,110.53
XLarge.1 4 24 $220.19 $861.50 $374.40 $66.41 $1,522.49
XLarge.2 6 24 $330.29 $861.50 $374.40 $66.41 $1,632.59

 

VMware license

The NCSU VMware license is under the UNC System Office VMware Cloud Provider Program(VCPP) contract. Under VCPP the license cost is based on the VMs memory size and price capped at 24G.

VM and Disk sizing

The best practice is to start small and grow as needed for both performance and cost savings. The recommended starting VM size and System disk size allocations for Virtual Machine environments are as follows:

  • Linux
    • 1 vCPU
    • 1GB memory
    • 50G disk
  • Windows
    • 1 vCPU
    • 2GB memory
    • 80G disk
    • * Due to Windows update processes more resources may be needed.

Three types of storage offerings:

  • Bronze (Block-Capacity) ($0.37 per GB annually)
    • Best suited for general desktops and lightweight services
    • Workloads not exceeding 500 IOPS and less than 30% writes
  • Silver (Block-Standard) ($0.49 per GB annually)
    • Best suited for web and application services
    • Workloads not exceeding 900 IOPS and less than 50% writes
  • Platinum (Block-Performance) ($0.83 per GB annually)
    • Best suited for highly transitional applications (databases/etc)
    • Workloads exceeding 900 IOPS or 50% write operations

For Storage service details, please review: OIT General Storage Services

Data-at-Rest Encryption (D@RE)

Requirements for D@RE have increased on campus for certain data classification types and various research grants. A primary goal of D@RE is to prevent sensitive data from physically leaving the data center either through failed drive replacement or theft. In agreement with OIT Security & Compliance and OIT Assistant Vice Chancellors, the strategy consists of two options, utilizing storage arrays with built-in encryption capabilities or drive retention with proper disposal policies of failed drives. For Storage service details, please review: OIT General Storage Services

Service Features

  • Avamar self-service backups included (submit activation request Platform Compute Services)
    • Primary and Disaster Recovery copy in separate Data Centers
    • Image level and agent based backups
      • VM owners initiate image level backups assigning an appropriate VM Tag
  • Managed Data Center(s) with redundant cooling and power
  • VM host resiliency
    • Multiple network paths for vm hosts
    • Multiple fiber channel paths for block storage
    • 25G+ vmotion network for migration between VM hosts in most locations
  • On-call 24×7 staff support and monitoring of VM infrastructure
  • Console access for your VM’s

Billing

  • Billing will be started in the first half of the fiscal year.
  • Customers will need to provide necessary FAS and OUC codes for proper billing
  • “Ledger 5” funding must be approved
  • Customer meetings can occur bi-annually or by customer request to review the service and related expenses

Recommendations & Best Practices

When sizing VMs, the virtualization best practice is starting small and adding memory or vCPUs when indicated by monitoring the performance of the service and review of analysis tools. A large number of vCPUs can have a negative impact on the virtual machine as the hypervisor has to allocate resources for the requesting process.  The OIT VM service recommends “Hot-Add” of vCPUs and Memory which means we can grow your resources as needed without any downtime.

Special Requests

For large compute and storage needs beyond what is listed and may require dedicated hardware, please contact Platform Compute Services to discuss options.

Managed Support

OIT offers OS and application support through Hosted Services unit to assist departments and colleges with managing services.

Getting Help

Contact Platform Compute Services.