Forum Discussion
Helper IFabric Cost and Fabric SQL Database backup
Hi PriyaJha ,
Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
1. Microsoft Fabric separates billing for compute and storage:
Compute Cost: Billed through your Fabric capacity in Azure. Based on vCores and memory used. Even when idle, a minimum compute footprint (e.g., 2 GB memory) is provisioned and billed for at least 15 minutes after activity stops.
Storage Cost: Storage is billed separately from compute. Storage is handled through OneLake, which is automatically provisioned and shared across all Fabric workloads.
Billing Location: Storage costs are charged within your Azure subscription, not at the tenant level.
Backup Storage: You get free backup storage equal to your provisioned database size. If your backup usage exceeds that, additional charges apply.
Where to Check Storage Usage: Use the Billing and Utilization Reporting tools in Microsoft Fabric to monitor both compute and storage consumption.
2. Fabric SQL Database Backup Behavior
Microsoft Fabric SQL Databases use an automated backup system with the following characteristics:Backup Frequency
Full backups: Weekly, Differential backups: Every 12 hours, Transaction log backups: Every ~10 minutes (frequency depends on activity and compute size)
Retention and Overwriting : The retention period is 7 days. Yes, older full backups are overwritten once a new full backup is created and the retention period expires. At any given time, the system retains only the backups necessary to support point-in-time restore (PITR) within the last 7 days.
Transaction Log Behavior : Transaction log backups are created even if no transactions occur, but their size and frequency are minimal in such cases.
Backup Storage Location : Stored in Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) when available, or Locally Redundant Storage (LRS).
Please refer Microsoft official documents and community thread for your reference.
Pricing Calculator | Microsoft Azure
Understand your Fabric capacity Azure bill - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Billing and Utilization Reporting - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Fabric - Pricing | Microsoft Azure
Automatic backups in SQL database - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Solved: Cost comparison between a SQL database and a wareh... - Microsoft Fabric Community
If this information is helpful, please “Accept it as a solution” and give a "kudos" to assist other community members in resolving similar issues more efficiently.
Thank you.
Community SupportHi PriyaJha ,
Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
1. Microsoft Fabric separates billing for compute and storage:
Compute Cost: Billed through your Fabric capacity in Azure. Based on vCores and memory used. Even when idle, a minimum compute footprint (e.g., 2 GB memory) is provisioned and billed for at least 15 minutes after activity stops.
Storage Cost: Storage is billed separately from compute. Storage is handled through OneLake, which is automatically provisioned and shared across all Fabric workloads.
Billing Location: Storage costs are charged within your Azure subscription, not at the tenant level.
Backup Storage: You get free backup storage equal to your provisioned database size. If your backup usage exceeds that, additional charges apply.
Where to Check Storage Usage: Use the Billing and Utilization Reporting tools in Microsoft Fabric to monitor both compute and storage consumption.
2. Fabric SQL Database Backup Behavior
Microsoft Fabric SQL Databases use an automated backup system with the following characteristics:
Backup Frequency
Full backups: Weekly, Differential backups: Every 12 hours, Transaction log backups: Every ~10 minutes (frequency depends on activity and compute size)
Retention and Overwriting : The retention period is 7 days. Yes, older full backups are overwritten once a new full backup is created and the retention period expires. At any given time, the system retains only the backups necessary to support point-in-time restore (PITR) within the last 7 days.
Transaction Log Behavior : Transaction log backups are created even if no transactions occur, but their size and frequency are minimal in such cases.
Backup Storage Location : Stored in Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) when available, or Locally Redundant Storage (LRS).
Please refer Microsoft official documents and community thread for your reference.
Pricing Calculator | Microsoft Azure
Understand your Fabric capacity Azure bill - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Billing and Utilization Reporting - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Fabric - Pricing | Microsoft Azure
Automatic backups in SQL database - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Solved: Cost comparison between a SQL database and a wareh... - Microsoft Fabric Community
If this information is helpful, please “Accept it as a solution” and give a "kudos" to assist other community members in resolving similar issues more efficiently.
Thank you.
- v-dineshya
Hi PriyaJha ,
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet.do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Thank you.
- v-dineshya
Hi @PriyaJha ,
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet.do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Thank you.
- v-dineshya
Hi @PriyaJha ,
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet.do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Thank you.