Optimize EC2 Costs with AWS Cost Explorer’s Resource Optimization

Author

Uriel Bitton
January 12, 2025

AWS Cost Explorer's Resource Optimization tool analyzes your EC2 usage patterns and provides recommendations for cost-saving adjustments.

This feature evaluates your instances and suggests resizing or stopping underutilized instances. The goal is to match your EC2 instance types more closely with your actual usage, avoiding over-provisioning and reducing costs.

Here’s how Cost Explorer’s Resource Optimization works:

  1. Go to the AWS Cost Explorer service in the AWS console

  2. Enable Resource Optimization in the Resource Optimization tab. You might need to enable it to start receiving recommendations.

  3. 3. Review Recommendations: The Resource Optimization tool provides a list of EC2 instances that are either underutilized or over-provisioned. Each recommendation includes details on current usage patterns, suggested instance types, and potential savings.

  4. Analyze and review the recommendations. For each instance, consider whether the suggested change aligns with your application's performance needs. If it does, you can proceed to resize or stop the instance directly from the EC2 console.

  5. Monitor and Iterate: Optimization is an ongoing process. Regularly repeat this process from time to time, ideally once a week. This will help you find new opportunities for cost savings.

One Tip To Save Costs

You can automate cost optimization with AWS Instance Scheduler.

You can use the isntance scheduler to shut down or resize instances during low traffic hours. This helps you define schedules to start and stop EC2 instances so you only pay for when you really need the resources.

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The Cloud Economist