AWS EC2 M6g Instance Types - What You Need to Know about New ARM CPUs

December 05, 2019 by Nathaniel Avery in Enterprise, Conferences

AWS caused quite a stir during this year’s annual re:Invent conference when they announced not only were they making their own ARM-based microprocessors called the Graviton 2, but also using those chips to power a new AWS instance type - the EC2 M6g. AWS claims the new instances not only provide several advantages over Intel based processors powering the large majority of the fleet (such as the m5), but that the instance types will also cost less. Truth be told, most customers will find that the of a vm is already pretty low, however, savings are savings. Out of curiosity, I decided to dig a little deeper into what that new instance is like during launch week.

How I Spent $1000 on Azure in 1 Month!

August 19, 2019 by Nathaniel Avery in Tip, POC

My most recent Azure cloud statement was shocking. In one month, I was able to run up a bill for close to $1000. Now, for a corporate account, that might not be much, but for a personal account, it’s a bit much. I’m just a regular guy with a wife and kids. I use Azure for learning and testing concepts that I pitch at work to customers. Proof of concept testing is usually quick and costs just a few dollars a month. I’ve never seen a personal account reach this number in a single month.

Azure Tip - Save Money on Azure by Subscribing to Visual Studio

July 03, 2018 by Nathaniel Avery in Tip

Subscribing to Microsoft Visual Studio Professional for 1 year is a great option for anyone considering putting time into Azure as a learning platform. The annual subscription for Visual Studio is $539 and includes $50 in Azure credits. Let that sink in for a second. Microsoft is giving away $600 ($50 x 12 months) worth of Azure for $539.

AWS Tip - Save Money by Deleting Unused EC2 Instances and Storage

April 10, 2018 by Nathaniel Avery in Tip

Amazon's AWS public cloud is often used by IT pros to test and prototype ideas on their own often replacing a traditional home lab setup. The ability to quickly spin up virtual infrastructure components and then shut them down after testing completes is a great help for exploring new ideas. Costs for AWS are based upon consumption. Customers "pay by the drink." Because the monthly bill is based on what's consumed, it's important to keep track of the costs.

Recently, I was confronted with a higher than usual monthly bill. I wasn't sure how it was possible as I hadn't used the service very much the previous month. Moreover, I always remember to shutdown unused servers.