AWS for DevOps — Cost Optimization

Chapter 14 — Cost Optimization

Cloud costs can spiral out of control if not managed actively. As a DevOps engineer, you’re responsible for building infrastructure that’s not just reliable — but cost-efficient.

What You Will Learn

Section	Topic	Key Concept
14.1	Pricing Models	On-demand, reserved, spot, savings plans
14.2	Cost Explorer & Budgets	Visibility into spending
14.3	Reserved & Savings Plans	Commit for discounts
14.4	Spot Instances	Up to 90% savings
14.5	Tagging & Right-Sizing	Optimize existing resources
14.6	Practice Exercises	Hands-on labs

The Cost Optimization Flywheel

  ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
  │                                      │
  │   1. VISIBILITY                      │
  │   Cost Explorer + Budgets + Tags     │
  │              │                       │
  │              ▼                       │
  │   2. RIGHT-SIZE                      │
  │   Match instance types to workload   │
  │              │                       │
  │              ▼                       │
  │   3. COMMIT                          │
  │   Reserved Instances / Savings Plans │
  │              │                       │
  │              ▼                       │
  │   4. OPTIMIZE                        │
  │   Spot Instances + Auto-scaling      │
  │              │                       │
  │              └──→ Repeat monthly ────┘
  │                                      │
  └──────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Savings Summary

Strategy	Savings	Effort	Risk
Turn off unused resources	100% of waste	Low	None
Right-size instances	20-40%	Medium	Low
Reserved Instances (1 yr)	30-40%	Low	Commitment
Savings Plans (1 yr)	20-30%	Low	Commitment
Spot Instances	60-90%	High	Interruption
Auto-scaling (scale down at night)	30-50%	Medium	Low

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Next → Pricing Models