Unified Storage Quota Insights: New Microsoft Graph API for Entra Admins (Preview)

What Just Changed

Microsoft introduced the UnifiedStorageQuota and ServiceStorageQuotaBreakdown resources in the Microsoft Graph Beta API. This rollout (as of June 2024) is in Public Preview and affects tenants with Microsoft Entra ID, including those with Microsoft 365, Azure AD, and hybrid configurations. The new endpoints support:

• Get operation for UnifiedStorageQuota
• List services with UnifiedStorageQuota
• Get operation for ServiceStorageQuotaBreakdown
• List operation for ServiceStorageQuotaBreakdown

This is a significant step for Entra admins managing tenant-wide storage allocations, especially as workloads like Entra External ID, B2B/B2C, and Microsoft 365 apps increasingly converge.

What’s Next on the Roadmap

• GA Release: These APIs are currently in Public Preview. Expect General Availability in late 2024. Prepare for production integration and alerting workflows.
• Portal Integration: Microsoft plans to surface quota reporting in the Entra admin center and Microsoft 365 admin portal, minimizing reliance on custom scripts or Graph calls.
• Quota Enforcement: Preview tenants may see quota enforcement for new workloads (e.g., External ID, Microsoft Syntex, Teams Premium) tied to storage consumption. Stay aware of upcoming licensing and overage alerting changes.
• API Expansion: UnifiedStorageQuota will eventually provide write operations for adjusting quotas, plus webhook support for threshold alerts.
• Related Workflows: Entra ID is rolling out granular lifecycle controls for B2B/B2C guest accounts, including storage quota impact reporting per guest type.

Why This Direction Is Better

• Unified Visibility: Prior to this change, admins had to aggregate quota data from disparate portals (Azure, M365, SharePoint, Teams, etc.) or maintain custom scripts for each workload. Now, a single API endpoint provides a holistic quota view.
• Operational Clarity: ServiceStorageQuotaBreakdown enables drill-down by service, making it easier to identify which apps or workloads are consuming storage and preemptively resolve issues.
• Better Auditing & Alerting: Centralized quota data simplifies compliance audits and enables automated alerting for nearing or exceeding thresholds.
• Competitive Edge: Unlike Okta or Google Workspace, Microsoft is unifying quota visibility across all integrated apps, which is critical as more organizations move to Entra-centric identity and collaboration models.
• Licensing Transparency: UnifiedStorageQuota reporting ties directly to licensing entitlements, helping avoid surprise overages and ensuring admins can plan for future growth.

Adjacent Entra ID Changes to Know Right Now

• External ID Storage Impact: With Entra External ID in preview, storage quotas for guest accounts and B2C flows may soon be enforced. Audit your guest account usage and associated storage now.
• Conditional Access & MFA: New reporting APIs for Conditional Access policies (now in beta) allow correlation between user authentications and storage consumption (e.g., for logging, session data).
• Microsoft.Graph Module: The Microsoft.Graph.Identity.DirectoryManagement module is updated for these new endpoints. Ensure you are not using deprecated AzureAD/MSOnline modules for quota reporting.
• Entra Licensing Shifts: Storage quota reporting is becoming a prerequisite for licensing audits—especially as Entra ID premium features expand. Review your licensing inventory for storage-driven entitlements.

What To Do: Step-by-Step Admin Actions

1. Update PowerShell Modules: Ensure Microsoft.Graph and Microsoft.Graph.Identity.DirectoryManagement are updated to latest versions.
2. Inventory Storage Quotas: Use the new API endpoints to pull quota data for your tenant and all integrated services.
3. Audit Service Consumption: Drill down to service-level breakdowns and identify any high-risk areas for quota breaches.
4. Review Guest Account Workloads: With impending External ID quota enforcement, assess guest and B2C storage impact.
5. Prepare for Portal Integration: Watch for the new quota reporting UI in the Entra admin center—plan to phase out custom quota scripts.

Check It Yourself: PowerShell Audit Script

Use the following script to enumerate your tenant’s unified storage quotas and service breakdowns. The script leverages the Microsoft.Graph module, supports pagination, and includes error handling. All actions are read-only.

# Requires Microsoft.Graph.Identity.DirectoryManagement >= 2.0.0
Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Identity.DirectoryManagement

try {
    # Get unified quota
    $unifiedQuota = Get-MgBetaUnifiedStorageQuota -ErrorAction Stop
    Write-Host "Unified Storage Quota:"
    $unifiedQuota | Format-Table -AutoSize
}
catch {
    Write-Error "Failed to retrieve unified storage quota: $_"
}

try {
    # Get breakdown per service (with pagination)
    $serviceBreakdowns = @()
    $skip = 0
    $pageSize = 100
    do {
        $page = Get-MgBetaServiceStorageQuotaBreakdown -Top $pageSize -Skip $skip -ErrorAction Stop
        $serviceBreakdowns += $page
        $skip += $pageSize
    } while ($page.Count -eq $pageSize)

    Write-Host "Service Storage Quota Breakdown:"
    $serviceBreakdowns | Format-Table serviceName, quota, used, unit -AutoSize
}
catch {
    Write-Error "Failed to retrieve service storage quota breakdown: $_"
}

Note: Replace ‘Beta’ with ‘V1’ once the API reaches General Availability.

Portal Path

• Entra Admin Center: Go to Microsoft Entra admin center > Monitoring > Storage Quotas (expected post-GA).
• Graph Explorer: For preview tenants, use Graph Explorer and target /beta/unifiedStorageQuota and /beta/serviceStorageQuotaBreakdown endpoints.

Bottom Line

• Priority: High for admins managing large or multi-service tenants, especially with external identities and Microsoft 365 workloads.
• Recommendation: Audit storage quotas immediately using the new API. Prepare for enforcement, portal integration, and licensing/guest impact. Update PowerShell modules and retire legacy quota scripts.