Answer-first summary for fast verification
Answer: Use Cost Explorer's granular filtering feature to perform an in-depth analysis of EC2 costs based on instance types.
## Explanation **Correct Answer: B - Use Cost Explorer's granular filtering feature to perform an in-depth analysis of EC2 costs based on instance types.** **Why this is correct:** 1. **Least operational overhead**: Cost Explorer is a built-in AWS service specifically designed for cost analysis with minimal setup required. 2. **Granular filtering**: Cost Explorer allows filtering by service (EC2), usage type (instance types), time periods (last 2 months), and other dimensions. 3. **Built-in visualization**: It provides ready-to-use graphs and charts that can compare costs across different time periods. 4. **No additional infrastructure**: Unlike option D, it doesn't require setting up S3 buckets, reports, or QuickSight. **Analysis of other options:** **A. AWS Budgets**: Primarily for setting budget alerts and tracking costs against thresholds, not for detailed historical analysis and root cause investigation. **C. AWS Billing and Cost Management dashboard**: While it provides some graphs, it lacks the granular filtering capabilities needed for in-depth analysis of specific instance types over time. **D. AWS Cost and Usage Reports with QuickSight**: This approach provides maximum flexibility but has the HIGHEST operational overhead, requiring: - Setting up Cost and Usage Reports - Configuring S3 buckets - Setting up QuickSight - Creating visualizations from scratch - Maintaining this entire pipeline **Key AWS Services for Cost Analysis:** - **Cost Explorer**: Best for ad-hoc analysis with minimal setup - **AWS Budgets**: Best for proactive cost monitoring and alerts - **Cost and Usage Reports**: Best for detailed, granular data for custom analysis tools - **AWS Cost Anomaly Detection**: For automated anomaly detection **Best Practice**: For immediate analysis with least operational overhead, always start with Cost Explorer's built-in capabilities before considering more complex solutions.
Author: LeetQuiz Editorial Team
Ultimate access to all questions.
No comments yet.
A company observes an increase in Amazon EC2 costs in its most recent bill. The billing team notices unwanted vertical scaling of instance types for a couple of EC2 instances. A solutions architect needs to create a graph comparing the last 2 months of EC2 costs and perform an in-depth analysis to identify the root cause of the vertical scaling. How should the solutions architect generate the information with the LEAST operational overhead?
A
Use AWS Budgets to create a budget report and compare EC2 costs based on instance types.
B
Use Cost Explorer's granular filtering feature to perform an in-depth analysis of EC2 costs based on instance types.
C
Use graphs from the AWS Billing and Cost Management dashboard to compare EC2 costs based on instance types for the last 2 months.
D
Use AWS Cost and Usage Reports to create a report and send it to an Amazon S3 bucket. Use Amazon QuickSight with Amazon S3 as a source to generate an interactive graph based on instance types.