This workshop shows you how to right-size an Amazon EC2 instance using real utilization data. You will launch a Free Tier eligible EC2 instance, install the CloudWatch agent to collect CPU and memory metrics, and use AWS Compute Optimizer together with Cost Optimization Hub to get concrete recommendations on the best instance type for your workload.
Cost note for students: every step in this workshop is designed to stay inside the AWS Free Tier. We use a t2.micro (or t3.micro, depending on what your account’s Free Tier offer includes) EC2 instance, the CloudWatch free tier (10 custom metrics and 1,000,000 API requests per month), and AWS Compute Optimizer / Cost Optimization Hub, both of which are free services. Remember to terminate your EC2 instance at the end of the lab so you don’t get billed after the Free Tier hours run out.