Amazon’s New Feature: Scheduling EC2 Capacity Reservations for Future Workloads
Amazon Web Services (AWS), a prominent player in cloud computing, continues to enhance its offerings to meet the diverse needs of its customers. One of its popular services, the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), is widely used by businesses worldwide to manage a wide array of workloads. These workloads can range from web hosting and big data processing to high-performance computing, virtual desktops, live event streaming, and more. Given the critical nature of these applications, customers often seek to ensure they have the necessary computing resources available when needed.
To address this, AWS introduced EC2 On-Demand Capacity Reservations (ODCRs) in 2018. This feature allows users to reserve computing capacity for their critical workloads, thus ensuring availability when required. Customers have leveraged this capability for various important applications, such as hosting consumer websites, streaming live sports events, and processing financial transactions.
Recognizing the need for even more flexible capacity planning, AWS has now announced an enhancement to this service: the ability to schedule capacity reservations for future workloads. This development is particularly beneficial for businesses that anticipate significant upcoming events, such as product launches, large-scale migrations, or major sales events like Cyber Monday or Diwali. These events demand robust computing resources, and AWS’s new feature ensures that customers can secure the necessary capacity well in advance.
Previously, capacity reservations were only available just-in-time, meaning customers either had to pre-provision the capacity and incur costs upfront or execute precise planning to activate the reservations right at the event’s onset. The new feature allows customers to plan and schedule their capacity reservations up to 120 days ahead of the requirement. This forward planning means customers can specify the amount of capacity needed, the start date, delivery preferences, and the minimum duration for which the reservation will be used. Importantly, there are no upfront charges for scheduling a capacity reservation. Once AWS evaluates and approves the request, the reservation is activated on the planned start date, allowing customers to immediately launch computing instances.
Starting with Future-Dated Capacity Reservations
To reserve capacity for a future date, customers need to access the Amazon EC2 console, select "Capacity Reservations," and then choose "Create On-Demand Capacity Reservation" to begin. Users must specify the instance type, platform, availability zone, tenancy, and the number of instances they require.
Once the capacity reservation details are filled out, customers can select "At a future date" in the "Capacity Reservation starts" option, choosing their desired start date and commitment duration. There is also the flexibility to end the reservation at a specific time or manually; if "Manually" is chosen, the reservation remains active and billed until canceled.
After submitting a request, it will appear on the dashboard with an "Assessing" status. During this phase, AWS evaluates the request’s feasibility, typically completing this process within five days. Once the request is deemed supportable, its status changes to "Scheduled." On the scheduled date, the reservation becomes "Active," and the customer can immediately deploy the requested number of instances. After activation, customers are obliged to hold the reservation for at least the commitment duration but may continue using or canceling it post this period if no longer needed.
Essential Information About Future-Dated Capacity Reservations
Here are some key points to consider when utilizing future-dated capacity reservations:
- Evaluation: AWS assesses requests based on various factors, including forecasted supply, the planned duration of capacity use, the timing of the reservation relative to the start date, and the request size. To enhance the likelihood of support, AWS recommends creating a reservation at least 56 days (8 weeks) before the start date. Additionally, customers must submit requests for at least 100 virtual CPUs (vCPUs) for specific instance types like C, M, R, T, and I. The recommended minimum commitment for most requests is 14 days.
- Notification: Monitoring the status of requests is crucial. Customers can utilize the Amazon EC2 console or Amazon EventBridge for notifications, which can trigger automation or send updates via email or text. More details can be found in the Amazon EventBridge User Guide.
- Pricing: Future-dated capacity reservations are billed similarly to regular capacity reservations, at the On-Demand rate. Charges apply whether instances are run in reserved capacity or not. For instance, if a reservation is made for 20 instances, but only 15 are run, charges will be for 15 active instances and 5 unused ones. Savings Plans are applicable to both unused reservations and active instances. Detailed pricing information is available in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.
Availability and Further Information
Future-dated EC2 Capacity Reservations are now accessible across all AWS Regions where standard EC2 Capacity Reservations are offered. Customers are encouraged to experiment with this feature via the Amazon EC2 console. For more detailed guidance, they can refer to the On-Demand Capacity Reservations section in the Amazon EC2 User Guide. Feedback can be shared through AWS re:Post or other AWS support channels.
In conclusion, this new feature from AWS represents a significant advancement in cloud resource management, offering businesses the ability to plan and secure computing capacity with greater flexibility and foresight. By anticipating needs and reserving resources in advance, companies can better manage their critical workloads, ensuring uninterrupted service during peak times. This proactive approach to capacity management can ultimately lead to enhanced operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
For more information, you can visit the AWS Amazon Polly webpage.
For more Information, Refer to this article.
