If you’re an AWS user, you may want to optimize your AWS cost management tactics. The challenge is as companies grow, workload increases. Every added workload is a corresponding increase in costs. Because of numerous workloads, it’s difficult to manage costs, especially if you have multiple AWS accounts.

For this reason, companies usually resolve to use third-party cost management tools. Most of these tools require a subscription as well, making them cost centers.

AWS Cost Management: Five Best Practices You Need to Know

1. Rightsize Your Elastic Compute Cloud.

AWS Elastic Compute Cloud, also known as EC2 instances, helps on-premises use cloud computing power. Rightsizing EC2 instances ensures you get the best efficiency for cloud resources. In addition, it helps ensure that the size of the instance you select corresponds to the demands of your workload. If you want to rightsize, find and eliminate unused instances. When users eliminate unused instances without compromising capabilities, they can reduce costs. Most companies prioritize performance over costs. As a result, they migrate to the cloud and hope to rightsize at a later stage. However, rightsizing should be frequent. You can use tools, such as AWS Compute Optimizer and AWS Redshift, to help rightsize your instances.

2. Schedule On and Off Times.

Scheduling on/off times gives each cloud user the flexibility to pay based on usage patterns. If you use a normal schedule, Monday to Friday, you’re likely to let your AWS resources run throughout the week. But in a typical work week, you’ll find both productive and unproductive hours. Identify nonproductive hours in your team’s work week and schedule them as off times. AWS users can configure on and off times for their EC2 instances using an Instant Scheduler. The tool freezes unused EC2 instances, so it won’t bill you for unproductive hours.

3. Manage Reserved Instances (RIs)

Pay attention to how you manage reserved instances. It’s a discounted billing strategy open to AWS subscribers. If you subscribe to the Free Tier discount, AWS will allow you to explore resources at no cost. That is as long as you don’t exceed the usage limit. Before buying reserved instances at a discount, consult an expert. You will want to know about any hidden perils associated with RIs. An expert will help you:

  • Select the right type of Spot Instance.
  • Choose an ideal AWS resource capacity.
  • Recommend the right quantity of resources based on your workload.

4. Create Tagging Policies.

Tag policies help define how you should use tags. In AWS, you can create and apply tag policies for each cost category. A company may have categories for finance, unique business units, or team members. Categorizing costs ensures each category has unique tags. You can create a unique tagging policy for each cost allocation tag. As a result, you can visualize expenditure by category on the AWS Cost Explorer.

5. Enable Visibility Tools.

Good visibility of AWS applications, costs, and processes can help you in AWS cost management. In an on-premises environment, there is limited visibility. For every expense, people use manual tools to track network bandwidth, CPU cycles, and much more. In the AWS cloud, there are many tools to help you see how costs vary over time. There are tools to help detect anomalies before they pump costs. Some tools present real-time data of what happens in the cloud. Every AWS user account has a typical usage pattern. Machine learning technology makes it possible to detect anomalies contrary to typical usage patterns. The AWS anomaly detection tool can send instant alerts whenever there’s a high billing on a given account.

The Bottom Line

AWS users can nail cost management by paying attention to both performance and costs. Companies ought to implement cost management best practices even if they’re just starting. Cost management is an ongoing process. To keep track of the latest cost management techniques, contact us at https://nops.io/.