Findings

The above data highlights that the most popular AWS EC2 instances are entry level instances (micro, small, and basic large). When scaling up, the utilization chart indicates that users struggle to maintain their utilization levels for their entry level instances (in the case of micro to small, and medium to large). Another interesting fact is, as prices for larger instances increase, users increase their utilization.

Newvem’s Opinion

It is clear that as users start scaling from entry level instances, the decrease in utilization reflects lower elasticity, and is closer to datacenter levels of utilization/elasticity. This is counter to the elastic promise of the cloud. We believe this is due to a lack of visibility of utilization comfort levels, and proper points for smooth transition to bigger instances that elastically scale. With time, experience, visibility tools, and maturity we will see improvements.