Resources & FAQ

Q: Can I use the EC2 Right Sizing solution to analyze instance usage in linked accounts?

A: No. For customers who use Consolidated Billing, this solution will not analyze Amazon EC2 usage across linked accounts. You must deploy the solution separately in each account.

Q: What time period of data is used to perform the analysis?

A: The solution pulls the last two weeks of Amazon EC2 usage data from Amazon CloudWatch. Therefore, be aware of the impact of seasonal or business cycles on the metrics and results.

Q: How does this solution differ from the AWS Trusted Advisor Cost Optimization check?

A: Both the EC2 Right Sizing solution and AWS Trusted Advisor analyze utilization on EC2 instances running any time during the last two weeks. The EC2 Right Sizing solution analyzes all instances with a max CPU utilization lower than 50% and determines a more cost-effective instance type for that workload, if available. In comparison, AWS Trusted Advisor can alert you to low utilization thresholds such as daily CPU utilization of 10% or less and network I/O of 5 MB or less on 4 or more days during the two-week period.

Each tool provides valuable information about your Amazon EC2 usage that can help you lower your costs.

Q: Can I deploy the EC2 Right Sizing solution in any AWS Region?

A: Customers can deploy the solution's AWS CloudFormation template only in AWS Regions where AWS Lambda is available because the service is required to configure the initial infrastructure. However, once deployed, the solution will collect usage data for all Amazon EC2 instances in your account.

Q: Should I change my instance type and size as soon as the analysis is complete to make sure I'm not overspending?

A: No. Before incorporating the recommended changes, we recommend that you test the proposed Amazon EC2 instances to ensure they are properly sized to fulfill their expected role and your overall business requirements.

Q: How often should I run this solution?

A: You can deploy this solutions as often as you want. We don't recommend you run it more than every two weeks unless you have noticed large or unexpected changes in your Amazon EC2 costs and want to use the analysis to help understand your most recent charges.