Introduction
AWS Budgets is a powerful tool that allows you to set custom cost and usage budgets for your AWS resources. It helps you monitor your AWS spending and usage, providing alerts when you exceed or are forecasted to exceed your budget thresholds. This topic will cover the following:
- What is AWS Budgets?
- Setting Up a Budget
- Types of Budgets
- Creating and Managing Budgets
- Practical Example
- Exercises
- What is AWS Budgets?
AWS Budgets is a service that allows you to plan your AWS costs and usage. It provides you with the ability to set custom budgets that alert you when your costs or usage exceed (or are forecasted to exceed) your budgeted amount.
Key Features:
- Customizable Budgets: Set budgets for cost, usage, and reservations.
- Alerts: Receive notifications via email or SNS when you exceed or are forecasted to exceed your budget.
- Integration: Integrates with AWS Cost Explorer for detailed cost analysis.
- Setting Up a Budget
To set up a budget in AWS Budgets, follow these steps:
- Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
- Navigate to the AWS Budgets Dashboard:
- Go to the Billing and Cost Management Dashboard.
- Select "Budgets" from the left-hand navigation pane.
- Create a Budget:
- Click on the "Create a budget" button.
- Choose the type of budget you want to create (Cost, Usage, or Reservation).
- Types of Budgets
AWS Budgets allows you to create three types of budgets:
- Cost Budgets: Track your AWS costs against a specified amount.
- Usage Budgets: Monitor your AWS usage (e.g., hours of EC2 usage) against a specified amount.
- Reservation Budgets: Track your reserved instance utilization and coverage.
Comparison Table:
| Budget Type | Description | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Budget | Monitor AWS costs against a specified amount | Keep monthly AWS spending under $500 |
| Usage Budget | Track AWS resource usage against a specified amount | Limit EC2 instance hours to 100 per month |
| Reservation Budget | Monitor reserved instance utilization and coverage | Ensure 80% utilization of reserved instances |
- Creating and Managing Budgets
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Choose Budget Type:
- Select "Cost budget" for this example.
- Set Budget Details:
- Enter a name for your budget.
- Specify the period (monthly, quarterly, or annually).
- Set the start and end dates.
- Define Budget Amount:
- Enter the amount you want to budget for.
- Set Alerts:
- Define the alert conditions (e.g., when actual cost exceeds 80% of the budget).
- Choose the notification method (email or SNS).
- Review and Create:
- Review your budget settings.
- Click "Create budget" to finalize.
Practical Example:
# Example: Setting up a monthly cost budget of $500 with an alert at 80% usage # Step 1: Navigate to AWS Budgets Dashboard # Step 2: Click "Create a budget" # Step 3: Select "Cost budget" # Step 4: Enter budget details budget_name = "MonthlyCostBudget" period = "Monthly" start_date = "2023-01-01" end_date = "2023-12-31" budget_amount = 500 # Step 5: Define alert conditions alert_threshold = 80 # 80% notification_method = "Email" # Step 6: Review and create the budget
- Exercises
Exercise 1: Create a Cost Budget
Task: Create a monthly cost budget of $300 with an alert at 90% usage.
Steps:
- Navigate to the AWS Budgets Dashboard.
- Click "Create a budget."
- Select "Cost budget."
- Enter the budget details:
- Name: "MonthlyCostBudget300"
- Period: Monthly
- Start Date: Today's date
- End Date: One year from today
- Budget Amount: $300
- Define the alert conditions:
- Alert at 90% usage
- Notification method: Email
- Review and create the budget.
Solution:
- Navigate to the AWS Budgets Dashboard.
- Click "Create a budget."
- Select "Cost budget."
- Enter the budget details:
- Name: "MonthlyCostBudget300"
- Period: Monthly
- Start Date: Today's date
- End Date: One year from today
- Budget Amount: $300
- Define the alert conditions:
- Alert at 90% usage
- Notification method: Email
- Review and create the budget.
Exercise 2: Create a Usage Budget
Task: Create a monthly usage budget for 200 hours of EC2 instance usage with an alert at 75% usage.
Steps:
- Navigate to the AWS Budgets Dashboard.
- Click "Create a budget."
- Select "Usage budget."
- Enter the budget details:
- Name: "MonthlyUsageBudget200"
- Period: Monthly
- Start Date: Today's date
- End Date: One year from today
- Budget Amount: 200 hours
- Define the alert conditions:
- Alert at 75% usage
- Notification method: Email
- Review and create the budget.
Solution:
- Navigate to the AWS Budgets Dashboard.
- Click "Create a budget."
- Select "Usage budget."
- Enter the budget details:
- Name: "MonthlyUsageBudget200"
- Period: Monthly
- Start Date: Today's date
- End Date: One year from today
- Budget Amount: 200 hours
- Define the alert conditions:
- Alert at 75% usage
- Notification method: Email
- Review and create the budget.
Conclusion
In this topic, you learned about AWS Budgets, including how to set up and manage different types of budgets. You also practiced creating cost and usage budgets with specific alert conditions. AWS Budgets is a crucial tool for managing and optimizing your AWS spending, ensuring you stay within your financial limits and make the most of your AWS resources.