Overprovisioned Azure Virtual WAN Hub Capacity

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Aaran Bhambra

CER:

Azure-Networking-7587

Service Category

Networking

Cloud Provider

Azure

Service Name

Azure Virtual WAN

Inefficiency Type

Overprovisioned network capacity

Explanation

This inefficiency occurs when an Azure Virtual WAN hub is provisioned with more capacity than required to support real network traffic. Because hub costs scale with the number of configured scale units, overprovisioned hubs continue to incur higher charges even when traffic levels remain consistently low. This commonly happens when hubs are sized for peak or anticipated demand that never materializes, or when traffic patterns change over time without corresponding capacity adjustments.

Relevant Billing Model

Azure Virtual WAN hubs are billed based on the number of hub scale units provisioned. Charges are driven by configured capacity rather than actual traffic volume.

Detection

Review whether hub traffic levels remain consistently low relative to the configured capacity
Identify Virtual WAN hubs sized for historical or projected peaks that are no longer relevant
Assess whether capacity decisions were made conservatively without periodic re-evaluation

Remediation

Reduce hub capacity to better align with observed traffic patterns
Periodically reassess Virtual WAN hub sizing as network usage evolves
Incorporate capacity reviews into regular network cost and architecture assessments

Relevant Documentation

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