Question 1

How much can I really save by moving from Azure to Hetzner?

Accepted Answer

Savings typically range between 60% and 80%. Azure charges premiums for vCPU hours, managed databases (Azure SQL), and especially egress traffic. At Hetzner, you pay a flat monthly fee for dedicated hardware that is often 3x faster than comparable Azure D-Series or E-Series VMs.

Question 2

How do we handle Microsoft SQL Server licenses on Hetzner?

Accepted Answer

You have two options: Bring Your Own License (BYOL) – if you have Software Assurance, you may be eligible to move your licenses to an authorized hoster (License Mobility). Or SPLA Licensing – we or the provider can rent Windows Server and SQL Server licenses on a monthly basis. Note: Many clients use the migration as an opportunity to modernize to PostgreSQL, eliminating license fees entirely.

Question 3

Do I still pay for Data Transfer (Egress) at Hetzner?

Accepted Answer

Unlike Azure, where bandwidth costs can make up 20% of your bill, Hetzner includes a massive traffic quota (usually 20TB to unlimited) with every server. This makes costs predictable and significantly lower for bandwidth-heavy applications.

Question 4

Are there hidden costs like Azure Managed Disks transaction fees?

Accepted Answer

No. Azure charges for disk operations and throughput on many storage tiers. At Hetzner, you get local Datacenter NVMe SSDs with the server. You get millions of IOPS included in the base price – zero transaction fees.

Question 5

How do we replace Azure SQL Database (PaaS)?

Accepted Answer

We migrate your Azure SQL databases to highly optimized SQL Server instances running on Proxmox VMs, or refactor to PostgreSQL. Running databases on bare-metal NVMe storage typically outperforms Azure's DTU/vCore model significantly, as there is no network-attached storage latency.

Question 6

What replaces Azure Virtual Networks (VNET) and Peering?

Accepted Answer

We utilize the Hetzner vSwitch feature combined with Proxmox SDN (Software Defined Network). This allows us to build private, isolated VLANs between your dedicated servers, replicating the security and segmentation of an Azure VNET without the complexity or peering costs.

Question 7

Can I keep using Azure Active Directory (Entra ID)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You do not need to replace your identity provider. We can integrate your Proxmox cluster and migrated applications with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) via SAML or OIDC/LDAP. You keep your Single Sign-On (SSO) workflow.

Question 8

How do we migrate Azure Blob Storage?

Accepted Answer

We implement S3-compatible object storage (like MinIO on Proxmox or Hetzner Storage Boxes) to replace Blob Storage. We handle the data sync. For applications, this usually requires only a minor configuration change to point to the new S3 endpoint instead of the Azure Blob API.

Question 9

What happens to my Azure App Services?

Accepted Answer

App Services are essentially containers managed by Microsoft. We containerize your application (Docker) and run it on the Proxmox cluster, often using Kubernetes or Docker Compose. This gives you the same "deploy and run" experience but without vendor lock-in.

Question 10

How does moving to Hetzner improve GDPR compliance compared to Azure?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft is subject to the US Cloud Act, meaning US authorities can theoretically demand access to data stored in EU regions. Hetzner is a German company. By moving your data to Hetzner (Germany/Finland) and managing it via Proxmox, you fall exclusively under EU jurisdiction/GDPR, eliminating the US Cloud Act risk.

Question 11

Does Hetzner offer a firewall like Azure NSG (Network Security Groups)?

Accepted Answer

Hetzner provides a stateless firewall for the server edge. However, OutaCloud implements a robust OPNsense or pfSense firewall cluster within Proxmox. This gives you stateful packet inspection, VPNs, and granular control similar to (or better than) Azure Firewall, but without the hourly cost.

Question 12

Is the infrastructure High Availability (HA) like Azure Availability Sets?

Accepted Answer

Standard dedicated servers are single nodes. To match Azure's SLA, we build Proxmox HA Clusters (minimum 3 nodes). If one hardware node fails, your VMs automatically restart on another node. We can also replicate data between different data center rooms for added redundancy.

Question 13

Azure has specialized support. What about Hetzner?

Accepted Answer

Hetzner provides hardware support (replacing disks/RAM) 24/7 in data centers. OutaCloud provides the "Managed Service" layer above that. We are your "SysOps" team, handling the OS, Proxmox, backups, and monitoring, ensuring you have Enterprise-grade support on budget infrastructure.

Question 14

How do backups work without Azure Backup Vault?

Accepted Answer

We use Proxmox Backup Server (PBS). It creates incremental, deduplicated backups of your entire VMs. We store these backups on separate storage (e.g., Hetzner Storage Boxes) to ensure the 3-2-1 backup rule. Restore times are often much faster than retrieving data from Azure Vault.

Question 15

Can we do a Hybrid setup (Keep some services on Azure)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A common scenario is keeping Office 365 and Entra ID on Microsoft, while moving heavy compute/database workloads to Hetzner. We connect the environments via a secure Site-to-Site VPN, allowing seamless communication.

Question 16

How long does an Azure-to-Hetzner migration take?

Accepted Answer

Projects typically take 3 to 6 weeks. We start with an audit, build the parallel environment on Hetzner, sync data, and test. The final cutover (DNS switch) is usually done in a maintenance window of a few hours.

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