Our focus is on understanding and analyzing daily cost spikes. Let’s delve deeper into the matter.
Setting the Context
The context here revolves around an anticipation we had – the costs of the services we use would experience an upward trend during the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November. Our aim is to examine the costs on a daily granularity from a couple of months leading up to Thanksgiving. This will allow us to distinguish the differences between these periods and pin down the extent of cost spikes.
Delving into the Cost Explorer
To kick off our exploration, we’ll start with the Cost Explorer.
Recall that our first task is to adjust the time range view. Instead of a monthly overview, we’re aiming for a daily one. Primarily, our emphasis will be on the previous three months.
Our choice of representation? A line view. This gives us a clear picture of the trends, even though there’s a fair bit of noise initially due to some refunds on specific days. But no worries, we can always filter out credits and refunds, making our data more precise.
Key Observations
The standout observation is the stability of most of our expenses, except for EC2 instances. There’s a discernible uptick, represented by the maroon-colored line, corresponding to CloudWatch costs.
How do we interpret this?
Up until most of October, our expenses hovered around $300 to $400. As we approached the Thanksgiving holiday, there was a conspicuous increase in resource provisioning, resulting in elevated costs by the end of October and early November. This surge is evident, showing a daily cost leap from about $350 to $500.
Breaking it Down:
- The increase amounts to roughly $150 daily.
- If we calculate this increment for 30 days, we’re looking at an additional expense of $4,500 for a month.
- Extend that over a year, and it translates to a staggering $54,000.
In percentage terms, this signifies a 43% daily increment. One can’t help but question: Is this additional cost, primarily due to EC2 instances, justified? Is there a smarter way to utilize our resources? Should we re-evaluate our strategies?
Wrapping Up
Using daily cost trends, as showcased in this case study, can be a pivotal tool. It not only identifies cost escalations within specific periods but also simplifies these observations, making them easy to communicate and discuss with the team.
By quantifying the trends, we can gauge our spending habits and make informed decisions on resource allocation, especially during high-demand periods.