Let us dive deep into the Azure Functions Premium Plan—an excellent option that fills the gap between the flexibility of serverless and the capabilities needed for enterprise applications. This article explains what it is, its benefits, and how to create it.
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Azure Function Premium Plan
The Azure Functions Premium Plan, also known as the Elastic Premium Plan, is an excellent option for Azure Functions, offering several valuable features, including No Cold Start and VNet connectivity.
You can deploy multiple Azure Function Apps under the same Premium Plan. The plan also allows you to configure the plan size based on your requirements.
Azure Functions Premium plan features
Pre-warmed Instances
One of the most significant advantages of the Premium Plan is the elimination of cold starts. Your functions run on pre-warmed instances, ensuring immediate response times even after periods of inactivity.
Enhanced Performance
The Premium Plan provides more powerful hardware than the Consumption Plan, resulting in:
- Faster CPU performance
- Higher memory allocations
- More consistent execution times
Advanced Networking Capabilities
The Premium Plan offers advanced networking features that are essential for enterprise environments:
- Virtual Network Integration: Connect securely to resources within your VNet
- Private Endpoints: Allow functions to be accessed only from within your network
- Static Outbound IP Addresses: Critical for IP allowlisting scenarios
Longer Running Functions
While the Consumption Plan limits function execution to 10 minutes, the Premium Plan extends this to 60 minutes (with the option to configure up to unlimited running time for specific scenarios).
Instance Size Options
The Premium Plan offers various instance sizes to match your workload requirements:
| Plan | vCPU | Memory | Price Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP1 | 1 | 3.5GB | Basic |
| EP2 | 2 | 7GB | Medium |
| EP3 | 4 | 14GB | High |
When To Choose The Azure Functions Premium Plan?
It would be best if you chose the Azure Functions Premium Plan in the case of a few Key scenarios like below.
- Choose the Azure Functions Premium Plan if your Azure Function Apps run continuously.
- If you need more memory or CPUs, compare them to the Consumption plan as part of your requirement.
- If your Azure Function code is taking longer to execute.
- If you want to utilize premium features such as Virtual Network connectivity, Unlimited Code execution duration, More instance sizes, Warm instances to avoid cold starts, and the ability to run multiple Azure Function Apps under the same plan, etc.
Benefits
Scaling for the Function App is much faster than the Premium Plan. Scaling will be done once every 30 seconds. When there is a high load, the Azure function infrastructure scales CPU and memory resources by adding additional instances.
You can use a CNAME or an A record to map a custom domain for the Function Apps hosted in the Premium plan. Whereas in the case of the Consumption plan, only the CNAME option is supported.
The Premium Plan offers numerous networking features, including Hybrid connections that enable you to connect Azure Functions with your on-premises database, Virtual Network Integration, Inbound and Outbound IP restrictions, Virtual Network triggers, and more.
Another thing is. In the Premium Plan case, your App will always be ready with a maximum of 20 instances. These instances help us execute first in case any events begin.
How To Create A Premium Plan
Follow the steps below to create a premium plan Azure Function App using the Azure Portal.
- Log in to the Azure Portal (https://portal.azure.com/)
- Search for the Function App and click on the search result.
3. Click the + Add button on the Azure Function App page to add a Premium Plan Azure Function App.
On the Basics tab, choose Your Subscription and select the Existing Resource Group. Suppose you don’t have any existing resource groups. In that case, you can create a new resource group by clicking on the Create new link, providing a name for the Azure Function App, choosing the Publish option as Code, choosing the Runtime stack as .NET Core, Version as 3.1, and then choosing your Azure Function Region.
Finally, click the Next: Hosting > button to navigate to the Hosting tab.
4. On the Hosting tab, select your Existing storage account, or If you don’t have any storage account, click on the Create new link to create a new storage account. Select the Operating System as Windows.
The next step is to select the Plan Type as Premium, which is crucial, and then choose an existing Windows plan based on the region you previously selected. If you don’t have one, click the Create New link to create a new Windows plan based on the region.
Finally, click on the Review + Create button.
Now, it will validate all the options you entered. If you want to modify any option, click the < Previous button and change the existing option value. Then, click the Create button to create the Premium Plan Azure Function.
Now, it will deploy the Premium Plan Azure Function App successfully. Click the Go to Resource button to see the Azure Premium Plan Function App you created.
Premium Plan vs. Consumption Plan: The Cost-Benefit Analysis
The Consumption Plan offers:
- Pay-per-execution model
- 1 million free executions per month
- 400,000 GB-seconds of resource consumption free
- No minimum cost
However, the Premium Plan often provides better value for steady workloads due to:
- Predictable pricing
- Elimination of cold starts
- Advanced features
- Potentially lower costs for high-volume applications
Let’s look at a real-world comparison I conducted for a client:
Application Profile:
- 10 million executions per month
- Average execution time: 500ms
- Average memory usage: 256MB
Monthly Costs:
- Consumption Plan: Approximately $180
- Premium Plan (EP1): $130 plus enhanced features
In this case, the Premium Plan not only saved money but also provided better performance and additional capabilities.
Best Practices for Premium Plan Deployment
After deploying dozens of Premium Plan functions, I’ve developed these best practices:
1. Implement Proper Monitoring
Set up comprehensive monitoring using Application Insights to track:
- Execution times
- Memory usage
- Instance counts
- Errors and exceptions
This data helps optimize your configuration and troubleshoot issues.
2. Use Deployment Slots
The Premium Plan supports deployment slots, which enable:
- Blue-green deployments
- A/B testing
- Staged rollouts
I typically create at least a staging and production slot for each function app.
3. Organize Functions Strategically
Group functions with similar scaling needs and dependencies in the same function app. Separate functions with different requirements into different apps, potentially on different plans.
4. Implement VNet Integration When Needed
While VNet integration is powerful, it adds complexity. Implement it only when security requirements or resource access patterns necessitate it.
5. Configure Appropriate Timeouts
Even though the Premium Plan supports longer execution times, design your functions to complete as quickly as possible. Break long-running processes into smaller, orchestrated steps.
Conclusion
The Azure Functions Premium Plan offers several advantages when compared to the pure serverless model and traditional App Service hosting. For enterprise workloads that need enhanced networking, consistent performance, or longer execution times, it’s often the ideal choice.
As you consider your Azure Functions hosting options, take time to analyze your workload patterns, security requirements, and performance needs. The right choice will depend on your specific scenario, but for many enterprise applications, the Premium Plan represents the best option in terms of convenience, capability, and cost.
Check out the Azure Functions App Service Plan
I am Rajkishore, and I am a Microsoft Certified IT Consultant. I have over 14 years of experience in Microsoft Azure and AWS, with good experience in Azure Functions, Storage, Virtual Machines, Logic Apps, PowerShell Commands, CLI Commands, Machine Learning, AI, Azure Cognitive Services, DevOps, etc. Not only that, I do have good real-time experience in designing and developing cloud-native data integrations on Azure or AWS, etc. I hope you will learn from these practical Azure tutorials. Read more.
