# Idle Cosmos DB Containers with Provisioned Throughput Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/idle-cosmos-db-containers-with-provisioned-throughput Containers and databases created for load tests, migrations, retired features, proofs of concept or one-off data loads often keep their provisioned... By: PointFive Updated: 2026-09-28 [Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) The short version Containers and databases created for load tests, migrations, retired features, proofs of concept or one-off data loads often keep their provisioned throughput long after traffic stops. PointFive Research Cloud cost research at PointFive Azure service [Azure Cosmos DB](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/cloud-services/azure-cosmos-db) Category [Databases](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/databases) Reference CER-0438 Type Idle or Unused Resource ## Explanation Why the waste happens and who it affects. Provisioned RU/s is reserved capacity: it is billed every hour for the configured amount whether or not any requests arrive, and it is reserved in every region associated with the account. An idle container provisioned at a few thousand RU/s in a three-region account keeps paying for three times that throughput indefinitely. Idle throughput is also sticky. The minimum RU/s a container can be lowered to rises with storage and with the highest throughput ever provisioned on it (one hundredth of that peak for manual throughput), so a container that was scaled up for a bulk import may not be able to go back to 400 RU/s. Azure Advisor flags containers with no activity in the past 30 days and recommends lowering their throughput or deleting them. ## Billing model The pricing dimensions that drive this cost. Provisioned throughput RU/s configured on a container or shared database, billed hourly at the highest RU/s set in the hour, whether used or not Regional multiplier Throughput is reserved in each region of the account, so the hourly total is the configured RU/s times the number of regions Minimum RU/s 400 RU/s for manual throughput, or higher based on storage and the highest RU/s ever provisioned Storage Billed separately per GB per month for data and index in every region ## How to detect 4 checks to find it in your estate. - Review Azure Advisor for 'Consider taking action on the idle Azure Cosmos DB containers', which lists containers with no activity over the past 30 days - In Azure Monitor, chart Total Requests (TotalRequests) and Total Request Units (TotalRequestUnits) split by DatabaseName and CollectionName over 30 days, alongside Provisioned Throughput (ProvisionedThroughput), and flag containers with near-zero requests - List containers and databases with dedicated throughput in non-production accounts or with names indicating tests, migrations or backups, and confirm ownership - Multiply each idle container's RU/s by the number of regions on its account to size the waste, since every region bills the same throughput ## How to fix 5 ways to remove the waste. - Delete containers that are no longer needed, exporting data first (for example with a change feed or copy job) if it must be retained elsewhere - If the container must stay but is rarely used, lower its RU/s to the current minimum shown in the portal or SDK, or switch it to autoscale so it bills at 10% of its maximum when idle (at the autoscale rate, which is 1.5 times the manual rate in single-write-region accounts) - Move low-traffic containers that don't need their own throughput into a shared-throughput database; this requires migrating data to a new container, for example with a change feed-based process. Microsoft does not recommend shared throughput for most active workloads because one container's burst can throttle the others, so reserve it for rarely used containers - For development and test accounts with sporadic use, consider a serverless account, noting that serverless accounts are single-region and require creating a new account - Tag containers created for migrations or tests with an owner and expiry date so they are reviewed when the work ends ## Documentation Vendor references for pricing and configuration. - [Cost recommendations - Azure Advisor learn.microsoft.com](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/advisor/advisor-reference-cost-recommendations) - [Optimizing Throughput Cost - Azure Cosmos DB learn.microsoft.com](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/optimize-cost-throughput) - [Optimize Cost for Multi-Region Deployments - Azure Cosmos DB learn.microsoft.com](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/optimize-cost-regions) - [Service Quotas and Default Limits - Azure Cosmos DB learn.microsoft.com](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/concepts-limits) - [Serverless Consumption-Based Account Type - Azure Cosmos DB learn.microsoft.com](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/serverless) - [Azure Cosmos DB pricing azure.microsoft.com](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cosmos-db/autoscale-provisioned/) ## Related inefficiencies [Browse the library](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) - Azure Cosmos DB CER-0142 ### [Infrequently Accessed Data Stored in Azure Cosmos DB](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/infrequently-accessed-data-stored-in-azure-cosmos-db) Azure Cosmos DB is optimized for low-latency, globally distributed workloads - not long-term storage of infrequently accessed data. Yet in many environments, cold data such as logs, telemetry, or historical records is retained in Cosmos DB... Databases - Azure Cosmos DB CER-0439 ### [Mismatched Throughput Mode on Cosmos DB Containers](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/mismatched-throughput-mode-on-cosmos-db-containers) Cosmos DB provisioned throughput comes in two modes. Standard (manual) throughput bills the RU/s you set every hour regardless of use. Autoscale lets the system scale between 10% and 100% of a maximum (Tmax) and bills the highest RU/s... Databases - Azure Cosmos DB CER-0440 ### [Missing Reserved Capacity for Steady Cosmos DB Throughput](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/missing-reserved-capacity-for-steady-cosmos-db-throughput) Production Cosmos DB accounts usually carry a stable floor of provisioned throughput that runs every hour of the year: core containers on manual RU/s, the 10% minimum of autoscale containers, and the same throughput repeated in every... Databases --- Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.