Cost for exercises

Hi Grzegorz Debowski,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

The P-203 Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure course involves exercises primarily around Azure Synapse Analytics, including data exploration, transformation, integration, and other tasks that require running queries, using storage, and performing data pipeline operations.

To estimate the cost, here's a breakdown of services involved in the course:

Azure Synapse Analytics (Dedicated/Serverless SQL Pool)

Serverless SQL Pool costs: $5 per TB of data processed.

Dedicated SQL Pool pricing: Starts at around $0.15 per DWU/hour.

Development Time: Synapse Studio doesn't charge for idle time, but charges apply if you're actively running queries or using dedicated resources.

ADLS Gen2

• Storage costs depend on the region and amount of data, starting at about $0.018 per GB/month.
• Transaction costs may apply for read/write operations.

Data Movement & Transformation (Synapse Pipelines or ADF)

Pipeline activity runs are charged on per activity basis: around $0.25 per hour for data movement.

Data integration activities (copying, transforming) are also charged by DIU (Data Integration Unit), starting around $0.00025 per DIU-hour.

Azure Blob Storage (if used)

Storage cost: Similar to Data Lake pricing (~$0.018 per GB/month).

Azure Machine Learning/AI (if included in exercises)

Compute costs are based on VM types chosen for training, and can vary significantly.

Estimating for Exercises:

• For light use, assuming you're running exercises that involve querying datasets in a serverless SQL pool (minimal compute usage) and moving small datasets, costs could be $10-$20 for the entire course.
• If using a dedicated SQL pool and processing larger data volumes or performing more complex transformations, costs might range from $50-$100 for the duration of the exercises.

To minimize costs:

• Use serverless SQL pool where possible.
• Clean up resources (like storage or pipelines) after each exercise.

For precise estimates, consider checking the Azure Pricing Calculator and inputting your expected usage based on course activities.

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