08. AWS Compute Optimizer

AWS Compute Optimizer helps you reduce costs and improve performance by using machine learning to recommend the optimal AWS resources for your workloads.

It analyzes your resource configurations and CloudWatch metrics to determine whether your workloads are over-provisioned or under-provisioned.

Benefit	Description
💰 Cost Savings	Reduce costs by up to 25% without manual tuning.
⚙️ Performance Optimization	Avoid underpowered instances or bottlenecks.
🤖 ML-Powered	Uses machine learning models trained on AWS usage patterns.
📈 Data-Driven	Analyzes historical CloudWatch metrics for utilization insights.
☁️ Integration	Recommendations can be exported to Amazon S3.

Supported Resources

AWS Compute Optimizer provides recommendations for:

Resource Type	Optimization Focus
EC2 Instances	Instance type, size, and family selection
Auto Scaling Groups	Desired capacity and instance type mix
EBS Volumes	Volume type and size adjustments
Lambda Functions	Memory size and timeout optimization

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How It Works

1. Collects Data from your workloads via Amazon CloudWatch metrics.
2. Analyzes Utilization patterns (CPU, memory, I/O, etc.).
3. Applies ML Models to detect inefficiencies.
4. Generates Recommendations to:
   • Downsize over-provisioned resources
   • Upsize under-provisioned resources
   • Switch to more cost-efficient families
5. Exports Recommendations (optional) to Amazon S3 for reporting or automation.

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Example Use Case

You have an EC2 instance running at 10% CPU utilization most of the time.
Compute Optimizer recommends:

• A smaller instance size (e.g., from m5.2xlarge → m5.large)
• Potential cost reduction up to 25%
• Same or improved performance based on workload pattern

How to Access

1. Open the AWS Management Console → Compute Optimizer.
2. Enable resource analysis (if not already enabled).
3. View recommendations by resource type.
4. Optionally, export results to an S3 bucket for automation or reporting.

Best Practices

✅ Regularly review Compute Optimizer recommendations.
✅ Use it together with AWS Cost Explorer and Savings Plans.
✅ Automate rightsizing actions via AWS Lambda or Systems Manager.
✅ Tag resources properly for more accurate insights.