Hello everyone,

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a core AWS service, providing flexible and powerful computing capabilities. However, EC2 costs can escalate if not managed effectively. Based on the AWS cost analysis document from partner, here are practical methods to optimize EC2 costs while maintaining performance.

1. Remove Unused Resources

- Delete Unused Elastic IPs
Elastic IPs are static IP addresses allocated to EC2 instances. If not attached to a running instance, they still incur charges. According to the image, removing unused Elastic IPs can save significantly

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Specific Actions:

  • Check the list of Elastic IPs in the AWS Management Console (VPC > Elastic IPs).
  • Identify IPs not attached to any instance or resource.
  • Delete unnecessary IPs after ensuring they won’t impact the system.

- Delete Unused EBS Volumes
Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes are storage disks attached to EC2 instances. Unused volumes still incur costs.The image highlights that deleting 9 unused EBS volumes:

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Specific Actions:

  • Use the AWS Console (EC2 > Volumes) to list volumes in the "Available" state (not attached to any instance).
  • Evaluate whether the volume is still needed before deleting.
  • Remove unused volumes to avoid unnecessary costs.

2. Optimize Savings Plans Usage

Savings Plans are an AWS pricing model that reduces costs by committing to a certain level of resource usage. However, underutilizing these commitments can lead to waste. The image that some Savings Plans have low utilization rates (as low as 13% for certain plans), resulting in inefficient spending.

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Specific Actions:

  • Check Savings Plans utilization: Use AWS Cost Explorer to review the utilization rate of Savings Plans. Plans with utilization below 100% (e.g., 32% or 38%) indicate underused EC2 resources.
  • Adjust Instance Types: Switch to instance types that better match actual needs. For instance, if a Savings Plan for "r6g" instances is only 31% utilized, consider switching to "t3" or other types with lower demand.
  • Assess usage needs: Conduct a survey of EC2 usage purposes to ensure instance types and Savings Plans align with workload requirements.

3. Review and Optimize EC2 Resource Usage

- Reduce Data Transfer Costs
Data Transfer costs related to EC2 can spike due to data movement between Availability Zones (AZs) or through Elastic IPs/Elastic Load Balancers (ELB).

Specific Actions:

  • Consolidate resources to a single AZ: Move EC2 instances to the same AZ to reduce inter-AZ data transfer costs.
  • Use CloudFront: Integrate AWS CloudFront to cache and distribute static content, reducing direct data transfers from EC2.
  • Review ELB configuration: Ensure ELB only serves necessary requests to avoid excessive data transfers.

- Optimize CloudWatch for EC2
CloudWatch is used to monitor EC2, but frequent API calls like GetMetricData can inflate costs.

Specific Actions:

  • Reduce metric volume: Review and limit the number of metrics collected from CloudWatch to only those essential for monitoring.
  • Adjust collection frequency: Decrease the frequency of GetMetricData API calls, e.g., from every minute to every 5 minutes if real-time data isn’t required.
  • Use CloudWatch Logs Insights: Instead of continuous API calls, leverage tools like CloudWatch Logs Insights for more efficient log analysis.

4. Choose the Right Instance Type

Selecting the appropriate instance type is critical for cost optimization. The document suggests adjusting instance types to align with purchased Savings Plans, particularly when types like "t3" have lower costs than committed plans.

Specific Actions:

  • Use AWS Compute Optimizer to get recommendations for instance types based on workload patterns.
  • Switch to newer-generation instances (e.g., t3, m5) if using older types (e.g., t2, m4) for better performance at lower costs.
  • Consider Spot Instances for non-critical workloads, which can save up to 90% compared to On-Demand pricing.

5. Conclusion

Optimizing EC2 costs on AWS not only reduces expenses but also improves resource efficiency. Based on partner’s document, key actions include:

  • Deleting unused Elastic IPs and EBS volumes to save $280.86/month immediately (Excerpt from actual project document).
  • Optimizing Savings Plans by adjusting instance types and reviewing utilization rates.
  • Reducing Data Transfer and CloudWatch costs through resource reconfiguration and adjusted data collection frequencies.
  • Selecting instance types that align with actual needs.

Note: Before making changes, thoroughly evaluate potential impacts to ensure system operations remain unaffected. Leverage tools like AWS Cost Explorer and Compute Optimizer to support the optimization process.

Thank you very much!