What is Durable Task Scheduler?
Per Microsoft, the Durable Task Scheduler provides durable execution in Azure: a fault-tolerant approach to running code that handles failures and interruptions through automatic retries and state persistence. It is the recommended storage provider for Durable Functions and the Durable Task SDKs, and it addresses scenarios such as distributed transactions, multi-agent orchestration, data processing, and infrastructure management.
For Durable Functions, the Durable Task Scheduler can be used with any Azure Functions SKU; for the Durable Task SDKs, with any compute. The scheduler runs as a standalone Azure resource, separate from the application, with dedicated compute and memory for dispatching orchestrator, activity, and entity work items and for storing and querying history.
Core Features
- Two billing SKUs: The Dedicated SKU provides predictable performance through preallocated Capacity Units (up to 3 CUs, up to 2,000 actions/sec per CU, up to 90 days of data retention, high availability from 3 CUs). The Consumption SKU offers pay-as-you-use billing per action dispatched, supports up to 500 actions per second, and retains data for up to 30 days.
- Operational separation: The scheduler runs as a separate resource, reducing CPU and memory consumption in the app compared with self-managed storage providers, isolating faults, and scaling independently of the app.
- Task hubs: Logical containers for orchestration and entity instances; multiple task hubs per scheduler allow isolating environments (dev/test/prod) or teams, each with its own monitoring dashboard.
- Dashboard and emulator: A built-in dashboard allows filtering, drill-down, and management operations such as pausing, terminating, or restarting orchestrations. A local emulator running in Docker enables development and testing without deploying to Azure.
- Autopurge retention: Configurable automatic cleanup of stale orchestration data to optimize storage usage.
Typical Use Cases
Distributed transactions: Multi-step business processes with automatic retries on failure and persistent state across system boundaries.
Multi-agent orchestration: Coordinating multiple AI agents or steps in agentic workflows with reliable state management.
Data processing: Long-running processing pipelines that survive interruptions and reliably resume progress.
Infrastructure management: Multi-step deployment or change workflows with error handling and traceability through the dashboard.
Benefits
- A managed backend service, separate from the app, reduces resource consumption and isolates faults
- Independent scaling of the scheduler relative to the application, including sharing one scheduler across multiple teams or projects
- Built-in monitoring dashboard for orchestrations and entities without separate tooling integration
- Local emulator enables development and testing without Azure resources
- Two SKUs for different requirements: predictable cost with Dedicated, variable workloads with Consumption
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory helps you choose between the Dedicated and Consumption SKU for your Durable Functions or Durable Task SDK workloads, plan capacity based on your action volume, and connect via private endpoints while distinguishing this service from self-managed storage providers.
Contact us for a no-obligation consultation on Durable Task Scheduler.
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Dedicated SKU and the Consumption SKU?
The Dedicated SKU provides a fixed monthly cost per Capacity Unit (CU) with up to 2,000 actions per second per CU, up to 3 CUs, up to 90 days of data retention, and high availability from 3 CUs. The Consumption SKU bills per action dispatched, supports up to 500 actions per second, retains data for up to 30 days, and offers no high availability. Per Microsoft, Dedicated suits production workloads with predictable volume, while Consumption suits dev/test and variable workloads.
Does Durable Task Scheduler replace the previous Azure Storage provider for Durable Functions?
Per Microsoft, Durable Task Scheduler is the recommended storage provider for Durable Functions and the Durable Task SDKs. It runs as a separate, managed resource decoupled from the app, which reduces resource consumption in the app and enables independent scaling compared with self-managed (BYO) storage providers.
How much does Durable Task Scheduler cost?
Cost has two components: the scheduler fee based on the chosen SKU (Dedicated: fixed price per CU; Consumption: pay per action dispatched) and the compute resources of the hosting platform, billed separately, such as Azure Functions for Durable Functions or a container/VM platform for the Durable Task SDKs. Per Microsoft, current pricing is on the Azure Functions pricing page, which also includes Durable Task Scheduler pricing.
How do applications connect to the Durable Task Scheduler?
Applications connect via a TLS-secured gRPC connection, authenticated by the app's identity. For private connectivity, private endpoints route traffic through a virtual network instead of the public internet. Work items are streamed from the scheduler to the app using a push model, removing the need for polling.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
