Azure Key Vault for OnPrem Signing Certificate Extreme Charges

Sean Kelly

2 months ago
updated 2 months ago
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At the begging of July I configured an Azure Key Vault per the Connectwise suggestion. After a few tries I got it working. I had a generous Azure credit and the key usage would be minimal as I understood it, so I wasn't worried. Last month my credit ran out and this month I have bill for almost $2,000. All the usage is the Key Vault. The cost reports are clear but I can't figure out why the usage is so high. I have about 200 active client PCs. I rarely generate new installers. I'm not seeing a lot of activty in Azure and can't figure out what is driving these costs. I need to get a handle on this usage ASAP! Any help is appreciated! BTW, Microsoft billing has not been responsive and I have a ticket in to SceenConnect as well.

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Erik van Putten

2 months ago

Sean Kelly that's very strange, i looked up my Azure costs, i only use it with Screenconnect and about 500+ hosts. I do a reinstall with every version on premises available. My cost is about 3 dollarcents for the past 3 months (Showing under Security, Key Vault)

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Thanks for the reply, Erik. With the help of Reddit, I think I've solved it. While I tried to follow Connectwise's guide, I was not aware there were multiple types of key vaults. I believe I picked a Managed HSM. Instead of billing per usages, it billed $3.20 per hour! Since I had an Azure credit, this was not immediately obvious to me....but it's very obvious now. I've recreated the key vault and have already seen the cost drop. Warning to anyone doing this - ensure you pick the plain Key Vault option and not any other!