Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Habits to reduce your cloud costs (STP304-R)

Summary

• Speaker: Jillian, a startup solutions architect.
• Main Focus: Systematic approach to reducing AWS costs.
• Four-Step System:
  1. Schedule Regular Reviews: Set a recurring time for the team to review AWS costs and implement strategies.
  2. Automate Cost-Saving Measures: Use AWS features like instance scheduling and intelligent tiering to reduce costs automatically.
  3. Measure with KPIs: Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like cloud cost per customer or cost per tenant to track cost efficiency.
  4. Act on Insights: During scheduled reviews, take action based on KPIs and other insights to reduce costs.
• Tools and Strategies:
  • AWS Budgets for cost alerts.
  • Cost Anomaly Detection for unusual spend alerts.
  • Trusted Advisor for best practice recommendations.
  • Intelligent Tiering for cost-effective data storage.
  • Instance Scheduler for turning off unused instances.
  • Auto-shutdown for SageMaker Studio.
• Tactical Meeting Focus:
  • Review current and forecasted costs.
  • Identify top three AWS services by cost.
  • Analyze cost per tag for detailed insights.
• Cost-Saving Essentials:
  • Savings Plans for predictable usage.
  • Graviton processors for better performance and cost.
  • Reserved Instances for RDS, Redshift, and ElastiCache.
  • Spot Instances for flexible, non-critical workloads.
• Architecture Principles:
  • Archive data to S3.
  • Compress data for storage and query cost savings.
  • Adopt serverless architectures where possible.
  • Delete unused resources.
  • Optimize data partitioning.

Insights

• Cost Reduction as a Skill: Being able to reduce costs is marketable and valuable for both individuals and businesses.
• Systematic Approach: A structured, repeatable process is crucial for ongoing cost management, especially as a company grows and evolves.
• Automation and Proactivity: Leveraging AWS's built-in tools for automation and alerts can prevent cost overruns and encourage proactive cost management.
• KPIs for Cost Management: KPIs are essential for understanding the relationship between costs and business activities, allowing for more informed decision-making.
• Cost-Saving Essentials: Knowledge of AWS cost-saving mechanisms like Savings Plans, Graviton processors, Reserved Instances, and Spot Instances is fundamental for cost optimization.
• Architectural Decisions Impact Costs: Choices in data storage, processing, and architecture have significant implications for AWS costs.
• Small Changes, Big Impact: Incremental, consistent actions can lead to substantial cost savings over time.
• Engagement and Education: Interactive sessions and games can be effective in educating and engaging an audience on complex topics like cloud cost optimization.