GCP Cost Management and Optimization Guide

Google Cloud Platform offers various tools and best practices for managing and optimizing cloud costs. This guide covers key strategies and implementation details for effective cost management.

Cost Management Overview

Billing Account Setup

1. Account Configuration

# Create billing account
gcloud beta billing accounts create \
  --display-name="My Billing Account"

# Link project to billing account
gcloud beta billing projects link my-project \
  --billing-account=0X0X0X-0X0X0X-0X0X0X

2. Budget Configuration

# budget.yaml
budgets:
  - name: monthly-budget
    amount:
      specifiedAmount:
        currencyCode: USD
        units: 1000
    thresholdRules:
      - spendBasis: CURRENT_SPEND
        thresholdPercent: 0.5
      - spendBasis: CURRENT_SPEND
        thresholdPercent: 0.9
      - spendBasis: FORECASTED_SPEND
        thresholdPercent: 1.0
    notificationsChannelIds:
      - "projects/my-project/notificationChannels/12345"

Cost Controls

1. Quota Management

# View quotas
gcloud compute project-info describe \
  --project=my-project

# Request quota increase
gcloud compute quotas update \
  --project=my-project \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --quota=CPUS \
  --limit=100

2. Cost Caps

# cost-cap.yaml
costCaps:
  - name: compute-cap
    amount:
      specifiedAmount:
        currencyCode: USD
        units: 500
    basis: CURRENT_SPEND
    enforceSpendingLimits: true
    restrictions:
      - service: compute.googleapis.com

Resource Optimization

1. Compute Engine Optimization

# List idle instances
gcloud compute instances list \
  --filter="status=RUNNING" \
  --format="table(name,zone,machineType,cpuPlatform)"

# Resize instance
gcloud compute instances set-machine-type my-instance \
  --machine-type=e2-standard-2

# Create instance schedule
gcloud compute resource-policies create instance-schedule my-schedule \
  --description="Business hours schedule" \
  --vm-start-schedule="0 8 * * 1-5" \
  --vm-stop-schedule="0 18 * * 1-5" \
  --timezone="America/New_York"

2. Storage Optimization

# List bucket sizes
gsutil du -sh gs://my-bucket/*

# Configure lifecycle policy
cat > lifecycle.json << EOF
{
  "rule": [
    {
      "action": {"type": "SetStorageClass", "storageClass": "NEARLINE"},
      "condition": {"age": 30, "matchesStorageClass": ["STANDARD"]}
    },
    {
      "action": {"type": "SetStorageClass", "storageClass": "COLDLINE"},
      "condition": {"age": 90, "matchesStorageClass": ["NEARLINE"]}
    },
    {
      "action": {"type": "Delete"},
      "condition": {"age": 365}
    }
  ]
}
EOF
gsutil lifecycle set lifecycle.json gs://my-bucket

Cost Analysis

1. Billing Export

# Set up BigQuery export
gcloud beta billing accounts export billing-data \
  --billing-account=0X0X0X-0X0X0X-0X0X0X \
  --dataset=billing_data

# Create export table
bq mk \
  --time_partitioning_type=DAY \
  --schema=schema.json \
  billing_dataset.billing_export

2. Cost Analysis Query

-- Cost by service
SELECT
  service.description,
  SUM(cost) as total_cost,
  SUM(usage.amount) as usage_amount,
  usage.unit as usage_unit
FROM `billing_dataset.billing_export`
WHERE DATE(_PARTITIONTIME) >= DATE_SUB(CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL 30 DAY)
GROUP BY service.description, usage.unit
ORDER BY total_cost DESC
LIMIT 10;

-- Cost trends
SELECT
  DATE(usage_start_time) as usage_date,
  service.description,
  SUM(cost) as daily_cost
FROM `billing_dataset.billing_export`
WHERE DATE(usage_start_time) >= DATE_SUB(CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL 30 DAY)
GROUP BY usage_date, service.description
ORDER BY usage_date DESC, daily_cost DESC;

Discount Management

1. Committed Use Discounts

# Create commitment
gcloud compute commitments create my-commitment \
  --plan=12-month \
  --resources=memory=32GB,vcpu=8 \
  --region=us-central1

# List commitments
gcloud compute commitments list \
  --format="table(name,plan,endTimestamp,status)"

2. Sustained Use Discounts

# sustained_use.py
def calculate_sustained_use_discount(usage_hours, total_hours):
    """Calculate sustained use discount."""
    usage_percentage = usage_hours / total_hours
    
    if usage_percentage >= 0.25:
        tier1 = min(usage_percentage - 0.25, 0.25) * 0.2
        tier2 = min(max(usage_percentage - 0.50, 0), 0.25) * 0.4
        tier3 = min(max(usage_percentage - 0.75, 0), 0.25) * 0.6
        
        return tier1 + tier2 + tier3
    return 0

Monitoring and Reporting

1. Dashboard Configuration

# dashboard.yaml
dashboards:
  - name: cost-dashboard
    displayName: "Cost Overview"
    gridLayout:
      columns: 2
      widgets:
        - title: "Monthly Cost Trend"
          xyChart:
            dataSets:
              - timeSeriesQuery:
                  timeSeriesFilter:
                    filter: "metric.type=\"billing/monthly_cost\""
        - title: "Cost by Service"
          pieChart:
            chartData:
              timeSeriesQuery:
                timeSeriesFilter:
                  filter: "metric.type=\"billing/service_cost\""

2. Alert Configuration

# alert-policy.yaml
alertPolicies:
  - displayName: "Budget Alert"
    combiner: OR
    conditions:
      - displayName: "Monthly Budget Exceeded"
        conditionThreshold:
          filter: "metric.type=\"billing/monthly_cost\""
          comparison: COMPARISON_GT
          thresholdValue: 1000
          duration: 0s
    notificationChannels:
      - "projects/my-project/notificationChannels/12345"

Cost Optimization Strategies

1. Resource Management

   • Right-size resources
   • Use preemptible VMs
   • Implement auto-scaling
   • Clean up unused resources

2. Storage Optimization

   • Use appropriate storage classes
   • Implement lifecycle policies
   • Clean up unused storage
   • Optimize object sizes

3. Network Optimization

   • Use appropriate network tiers
   • Optimize egress traffic
   • Implement caching
   • Use Cloud CDN

4. Instance Optimization

   • Use committed use discounts
   • Leverage sustained use discounts
   • Schedule instance operations
   • Use appropriate machine types

Best Practices

1. Billing Management

   • Set up billing alerts
   • Configure budgets
   • Regular cost reviews
   • Export billing data

2. Resource Organization

   • Use labels effectively
   • Implement quotas
   • Monitor usage patterns
   • Regular cleanup

3. Cost Monitoring

   • Create dashboards
   • Set up alerts
   • Regular reporting
   • Track trends

Conclusion

Effective cost management is crucial for cloud success. Key takeaways:

• Implement proper billing controls
• Use cost optimization tools
• Monitor and analyze costs
• Follow best practices
• Regular optimization reviews

For more information, refer to the official documentation:

• Billing Documentation
• Cost Management Documentation
• Pricing Calculator
• Cost Optimization Documentation