About AWS EC2 pricing
Introduction
Amazon EC2 operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, where you are billed based on the amount of computing time you use. Depending on your specific needs, there are several pricing options to choose from, including On-Demand instances, Reserved Instances, Spot Instances, Amazon EC2 Savings Plans, and Dedicated Hosts.
In this article, we will delve into the distinctive features and benefits of each of these plans.
・On-Demand instances
There are no upfront costs or minimum fees associated with Amazon EC2’s hourly billing system.
This is the standard pricing model when creating instances.
It is ideal for irregular and short-term workloads that cannot be interrupted, application development and testing, and running applications with unpredictable usage patterns.
If you have a use case that extends beyond one year, opting for Reserved Instances would be more cost-effective.
・Reserved instance
Reserved Instances provide discounts for using On-Demand instances.
By paying an upfront fee, you can receive a discounted hourly rate, and choosing a larger upfront payment will result in lower initial costs. Reserved Instances can be purchased for a duration of either 1 year or 3 years.
Once the contract period is over, the instances do not automatically terminate but continue to be billed at the On-Demand rate. This option is ideal for systems that need to be constantly running, such as long-term production workloads.
・Spot instance
Spot Instances offer cost savings by allowing you to use unused computing capacity without the need for contracts or commitments.
However, there are a few considerations to keep in mind. When there is no available capacity, your requests may be delayed until capacity becomes available. Additionally, if capacity becomes unavailable or there is increased demand for Spot Instances, your instances may be interrupted.
Therefore, Spot Instances are ideal for workloads with flexible start and end times or workloads that can tolerate interruptions.
・Amazon EC2 Savings Plans
By committing to a specific amount of compute usage per hour for either 1 year or 3 years, you can receive a discount on that usage.
If you exceed the committed usage, you will be billed at the On-Demand rate for the additional usage. You can easily manage your plans by utilizing the features of AWS Cost Explorer, which allows you to track and understand your usage.
・Dedicated Hosts
You have the option to use dedicated physical servers with Amazon EC2, which provide dedicated EC2 instance capacity. You can also mix different instance types within these dedicated servers.
This is the most expensive plan among the five options. As it is a dedicated server, no other customers’ instances will be placed on the same host. This ensures that you do not share resources and is optimal for meeting security and compliance requirements.
Conclusion
Cost is a crucial aspect to consider when building and operating a system. It is important to carefully evaluate factors such as the type of system and its expected utilization in order to select a plan that minimizes costs as much as possible.
While the information provided was an overview of the features, I hope it can be somewhat helpful in guiding your plan selection process.
