Clarification on Basic SKU Public IPs attached to NICs without active VMs

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Clarification on Basic SKU Public IPs attached to NICs without active VMs

Gabriela Braga 0

Hello,

I received the notification about the retirement of Basic SKU public IP addresses on 30 September 2025. I understand that any existing Basic SKU IPs need to be upgraded to Standard to avoid disruption.

In my subscription, I see some Basic SKU public IPs that appear unused/empty, but in most cases, they are still associated with a NIC (though the NICs themselves may not be connected to any active VM or service). Do I need to upgrade them to Standard, or what is the recommended best practice for handling this scenario?

thank you

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Answer 1

Andreas Baumgarten 126K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Hi @Gabriela Braga ,

in cloud computing my favorite option is to delete/remove all unused resources.

The costs of a Standard Public IP (static) are about 3.65 US$/month. I can't see a reason why spending money for unused Standard Public IPs.

This being said my recommendation is:

Delete all Public IPs unassociated with any NIC (not in use/not needed anymore)
Delete unassociated NICs and related Public IPs (not in use/not needed anymore)
Convert/upgrade all Public IPs from Basic to Standard you really have in use -> Upgrade Basic Public IP Address to Standard SKU in Azure

If you really like the Public IPs not in use and not associated with any resource and you want to keep them I would recommend to upgrade these from Basic to Standard.

(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

Regards

Andreas Baumgarten

Gabriela Braga 0 Reputation points

2025-08-27T22:36:58.09+00:00

sorry, I deleted it because it was duplicated
Gabriela Braga 0 Reputation points

2025-08-27T22:39:41.5933333+00:00

sorry, I deleted it because it was duplicated
Gabriela Braga 0 Reputation points

2025-08-27T22:42:26.85+00:00
Thank you, I’d like to ask a follow-up, as I’m still a bit uncertain about my scenario:

In my subscription, I see some Basic SKU public IPs that:

Show no actual IP address assigned (Dynamic allocation, I am not sure),

Are associated with NICs, but those NICs are not connected to any running VM or active service.

Given the retirement on 30 September 2025, my question is: Do these still need to be upgraded to Standard SKU (since they are technically “associated”), or would they stop functioning anyway because they’re not tied to an active workload?

I just want to avoid over-upgrading unused resources, while making sure I don’t risk disruption if these NIC/IPs are still logically considered “in use.”
Andreas Baumgarten 126K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-08-28T05:18:46.5066667+00:00

Hi @Gabriela Braga ,

Basic SKU Public IPs with Dynamic allocation didn't show actual IPs if they are associated with a NIC that is not connected to a VM or service. Even if the Basic Public IP/NIC with Dynamic allocation is connected with a VM that is deallocated/stopped the will be no actual IP. Standard Public IPs only supports static IP allocations.

If you don't migrate the Basic Public IPs to Standard Public IPs they might not work anymore after the retirement of Basic Public IPs. This will count for Public IPs in use, not in use, associated, not associated, with or without NIC.

(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

Regards

Andreas Baumgarten
Gabriela Braga 0 Reputation points

2025-08-28T20:51:36.38+00:00

Thank you

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Clarification on Basic SKU Public IPs attached to NICs without active VMs

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