Merge pull request #220290 from schaffererin/uptime-sla-aks-rebrand

Shifting existing AKS Uptime SLA doc to center around the Free and Standard pricing tiers

Author: Court72

.openpublishing.redirection.json

@@ -27970,6 +27970,11 @@
           "redirect_url": "/azure/azure-cache-for-redis/cache-insights-overview",
           "redirect_document_id": false
         },
+        {
+            "source_path_from_root": "/articles/aks/uptime-sla.md",
+            "redirect_url": "/azure/aks/free-standard-pricing-tiers",
+            "redirect_document_id": "false"
+        },
         {
           "source_path": "articles/dotnet-develop-multitenant-applications.md",
           "redirect_URL": "/azure/architecture/guide/multitenant/overview",

articles/advisor/advisor-reference-operational-excellence-recommendations.md

@@ -194,11 +194,11 @@ This cluster is not using ephemeral OS disks which can provide lower read/write
 
 Learn more about [Kubernetes service - UseEphemeralOSdisk (Use Ephemeral OS disk)](../aks/cluster-configuration.md#ephemeral-os).
 
-### Use Uptime SLA
+### Free and Standard pricing tiers for AKS control plane management
 
-This cluster has not enabled Uptime SLA, and it limited to an SLO of 99.5%
+This cluster has not enabled the Standard pricing tier with the Uptime SLA feature, and is limited to an SLO of 99.5%.
 
-Learn more about [Kubernetes service - UseUptimeSLA (Use Uptime SLA)](../aks/uptime-sla.md).
+Learn more about [Kubernetes service - UseUptimeSLA (Use Uptime SLA)](../aks/free-standard-pricing-tiers.md).
 
 ### Deprecated Kubernetes API in 1.22 has been found
 

articles/aks/TOC.yml

@@ -208,8 +208,8 @@
           href: out-of-tree.md
         - name: Upgrade an AKS cluster
           href: upgrade-cluster.md
-        - name: Use Uptime SLA
-          href: uptime-sla.md
+        - name: Free and Standard pricing tiers for AKS
+          href: free-standard-pricing-tiers.md
         - name: Use Draft (preview)
           href: draft.md
         - name: Use proximity placement groups

articles/aks/faq.md

@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+---
+title: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Free and Standard pricing tiers for control plane management
+description: Learn about the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Free and Standard pricing tiers for control plane management
+services: container-service
+ms.topic: conceptual
+ms.date: 01/20/2023
+ms.custom: references_regions, devx-track-azurecli
+---
+
+# Free and Standard pricing tiers for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) control plane management
+
+Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is now offering two pricing tiers for control plane management: the **Free tier** and the **Standard tier**.
+
+|                  |Free tier|Standard tier|
+|------------------|---------|--------|
+|**When to use**|• You want to experiment with AKS at no extra cost <br> • You're new to AKS and Kubernetes|• You're running production or mission-critical workloads and need high availability and reliability <br> • You need a financially backed SLA|
+|**Supported cluster types**|• Development clusters or small scale testing environments <br> • Clusters with fewer than 10 nodes|• Enterprise-grade or production workloads <br> • Clusters with up to 5,000 nodes|
+|**Pricing**|• Free cluster management <br> • Pay-as-you-go for resources you consume|• Pay-as-you-go for resources you consume|
+|**Feature comparison**|• Recommended for clusters with fewer than 10 nodes, but can support up to 1,000 nodes <br> • Includes all current AKS features|• Uptime SLA is enabled by default <br> • Greater control plane reliability and resources <br> • Can support up to 5,000 nodes in a cluster <br> • Includes all current AKS features
+
+For more information on pricing, see the [AKS pricing details](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/kubernetes-service/).
+
+## Uptime SLA
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+>
+> Uptime SLA has been repositioned as a default feature included with the Standard tier.
+>
+> The repositioning will result in the following API changes:
+>
+> |         |Prior to 2023-01-01 API|Starting from 2023-01-01 API| Starting from 2023-07-01 API|
+> |----------|-----------|------------|------------|
+> |ManagedClusterSKUName|"Basic"|"Basic" <br> "Base"|"Base"|
+> |ManagedClusterSKUTier|"Free" <br> "Paid"|"Free" <br> "Paid" <br> "Standard"|"Free" <br> "Standard"|
+>
+> "Basic" and "Paid" will be removed in the 2023-07-01 API version, and this will be a breaking change in API version 2023-07-01 or newer. If you use automated scripts, CD pipelines, ARM templates, Terraform, or other third-party tooling that relies on the above parameters, please be sure to make the necessary changes before upgrading to the 2023-07-01 or newer API version. From API version 2023-01-01 and newer, you can start transitioning to the new API parameters "Base" and "Standard".
+>
+
+For more information, see [SLA for AKS](https://azure.microsoft.com/support/legal/sla/kubernetes-service/v1_1/).
+
+### Uptime SLA terms and conditions
+
+The Uptime SLA feature is included in the Standard tier and is enabled per cluster. For more information on pricing, see the [AKS pricing details](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/kubernetes-service/).
+
+## Region availability
+
+* Uptime SLA is available in public regions and Azure Government regions where [AKS is supported](https://azure.microsoft.com/global-infrastructure/services/?products=kubernetes-service).
+* Uptime SLA is available for [private AKS clusters][private-clusters] in all public regions where AKS is supported.
+
+## Before you begin
+
+[Azure CLI](/cli/azure/install-azure-cli) version 2.8.0 or later and configured. Run `az --version` to find the version. If you need to install or upgrade, see [Install Azure CLI][install-azure-cli].
+
+## Creating a new cluster in the Free tier or Standard tier
+
+Use the Azure CLI to create a new cluster on an AKS pricing tier. You can create your cluster in an existing resource group or create a new one. To learn more about resource groups and working with them, see [managing resource groups using the Azure CLI][manage-resource-group-cli].
+
+Use the [`az aks create`][az-aks-create] command to create an AKS cluster. The commands below show you how to create a new resource group named *myResourceGroup* and a cluster named *myAKSCluster* in that resource group in each tier.
+
+```azurecli-interactive
+# Create a new AKS cluster in the Free tier
+
+az aks create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --no-uptime-sla
+
+# Create a new AKS cluster in the Standard tier
+
+az aks create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --uptime-sla
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+>
+> The outputs to `--no-uptime-sla` and `--uptime-sla` correspond to API properties prior to the 2023-01-01 API version. Starting in Azure CLI 2.46.0:
+>
+> * `--tier free` will correspond to the existing `--no-uptime-sla` parameter.
+> * `--tier standard` will correspond to the existing `--uptime-sla` parameter.
+> * The CLI output "Basic" for ManagedClusterSKUName will correspond to the API property: "Base".
+> * The CLI output "Free" or "Paid" for ManagerClusterSKUTier will correspond to the API properties: "Free" or "Standard".
+
+Once the deployment completes, it returns JSON-formatted information about your cluster:
+
+```output
+# Sample output for `--no-uptime-sla`
+
+  },
+  "sku": {
+    "name": "Basic",
+    "tier": "Free"
+  },
+
+# Sample output for `uptime-sla`
+
+  },
+  "sku": {
+    "name": "Basic",
+    "tier": "Paid"
+  },
+```
+
+## Update the tier of an existing cluster
+
+The following example uses the [`az aks update`][az-aks-update] command to update the existing cluster.
+
+```azurecli-interactive
+# Update an existing cluster to the Free tier
+
+az aks update --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --no-uptime-sla
+
+# Update an existing cluster to the Standard tier
+
+az aks update --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --uptime-sla
+```
+
+This process takes several minutes to complete. When finished, the following example JSON snippet shows the paid tier for the SKU, indicating your cluster is enabled with Uptime SLA.
+
+```output
+  },
+  "sku": {
+    "name": "Basic",
+    "tier": "Paid"
+  },
+```
+
+## Next steps
+
+* Use [Availability Zones][availability-zones] to increase high availability with your AKS cluster workloads.
+* Configure your cluster to [limit egress traffic](limit-egress-traffic.md).
+
+<!-- LINKS - External -->
+[azure-support]: https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Support/HelpAndSupportBlade/newsupportrequest
+[region-availability]: https://azure.microsoft.com/global-infrastructure/services/?products=kubernetes-service
+
+<!-- LINKS - Internal -->
+[vm-skus]: ../virtual-machines/sizes.md
+[paid-sku-tier]: /rest/api/aks/managed-clusters/create-or-update#managedclusterskutier
+[nodepool-upgrade]: use-multiple-node-pools.md#upgrade-a-node-pool
+[manage-resource-group-cli]: ../azure-resource-manager/management/manage-resource-groups-cli.md
+[faq]: ./faq.md
+[availability-zones]: ./availability-zones.md
+[az-aks-create]: /cli/azure/aks?#az_aks_create
+[limit-egress-traffic]: ./limit-egress-traffic.md
+[az-extension-add]: /cli/azure/extension#az_extension_add
+[az-extension-update]: /cli/azure/extension#az_extension_update
+[az-aks-update]: /cli/azure/aks#az_aks_update
+[az-group-delete]: /cli/azure/group#az_group_delete
+[private-clusters]: private-clusters.md
+[install-azure-cli]: /cli/azure/install-azure-cli

articles/aks/free-standard-pricing-tiers.md

@@ -10,19 +10,18 @@ ms.date: 10/04/2022
 
 # Best practices for creating and running Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters at scale
 
-If your AKS clusters satisfy any of the following criteria, we recommend using the [Uptime SLA][Uptime SLA] feature for higher reliability and scalability of the Kubernetes control plane:
+If your AKS clusters satisfy any of the following criteria, we recommend using the [Standard tier that comes with the Uptime SLA feature][standard-tier] for higher reliability and scalability of the Kubernetes control plane:
 
+* Clusters running production workloads or availability-sensitive, mission-critical workloads
 * Clusters running more than 10 nodes on average
 * Clusters that need to scale beyond 1000 nodes
-* Clusters running production workloads
-* Cluster running availability-sensitive, mission-critical workloads
 
-To scale AKS clusters beyond 1000 nodes, ***with a hard limit of 5000 nodes per cluster***, you need to request a node limit quota increase by raising a support ticket in the [Azure portal][Azure portal]. Increasing the node limit doesn't increase other AKS service quota limits, like the number of pods per node. For more information, see [Limits, quotas, and restrictions for AKS resources][quotas-skus-regions].
+To scale AKS clusters beyond 1000 nodes, you need to request a node limit quota increase by raising a support ticket in the [Azure portal][Azure portal] up to a maximum of 5000 nodes per cluster. Increasing the node limit doesn't increase other AKS service quota limits, like the number of pods per node. For more information, see [Limits, quotas, and restrictions for AKS resources][quotas-skus-regions].
 
 To increase the node limit beyond 1000, you must have the following pre-requisites:
 
 * An existing AKS cluster that needs the node limit increase. This cluster shouldn't be deleted as that will remove the limit increase.
-* Uptime SLA enabled on your cluster.
+* Clusters using the Standard tier.
 * Clusters using Kubernetes version 1.23 or above.
 
 > [!NOTE]
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ To increase the node limit beyond 1000, you must have the following pre-requisit
 [Configure Azure CNI networking for dynamic allocation of IPs and enhanced subnet support in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)]: configure-azure-cni-dynamic-ip-allocation.md
 [max surge]: upgrade-cluster.md?tabs=azure-cli#customize-node-surge-upgrade
 [Azure portal]: https://portal.azure.com/#create/Microsoft.Support/Parameters/%7B%0D%0A%09%22subId%22%3A+%22%22%2C%0D%0A%09%22pesId%22%3A+%225a3a423f-8667-9095-1770-0a554a934512%22%2C%0D%0A%09%22supportTopicId%22%3A+%2280ea0df7-5108-8e37-2b0e-9737517f0b96%22%2C%0D%0A%09%22contextInfo%22%3A+%22AksLabelDeprecationMarch22%22%2C%0D%0A%09%22caller%22%3A+%22Microsoft_Azure_ContainerService+%2B+AksLabelDeprecationMarch22%22%2C%0D%0A%09%22severity%22%3A+%223%22%0D%0A%7D
-[uptime SLA]: uptime-sla.md
+[standard-tier]: free-standard-pricing-tiers.md
 [throttling-policies]: https://azure.microsoft.com/blog/api-management-advanced-caching-and-throttling-policies/
 
 <!-- LINKS - Internal -->

articles/aks/operator-best-practices-run-at-scale.md

@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ ms.custom: include file
 
 | Kubernetes Control Plane tier | Limit |  
 | -------------- | :--------------------------------------------- |
-| Paid tier      | Automatically scales out based on the load     |
-| Free tier      | Limited resources with [inflight requests limit](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/kube-apiserver/) of 50 mutating and 100 read-only calls   |
+| Standard tier      | Automatically scales Kubernetes API server based on load. Larger control plane component limits and API server/etc instances.    |
+| Free tier      | Limited resources with [inflight requests limit](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/kube-apiserver/) of 50 mutating and 100 read-only calls. Recommended node limit of 10 nodes per cluster. Best for experimenting, learning, and simple testing. **Not advised for production/critical workloads**.  |
 
 <!-- LINKS - Internal -->