GCP Cost Management and Optimization Guide
GCP

GCP Cost Management and Optimization Guide

Master Google Cloud cost management and optimization. Learn about billing accounts, budgets, cost controls, resource optimization, and best practices for managing cloud costs effectively.

March 2, 2024
Technical Writer
5 min read

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

graph TB subgraph CostManagement["Cost Management"] direction TB subgraph Billing["Billing Tools"] direction LR BA["Billing Account"] BUD["Budgets"] EXP["Exports"] end subgraph Controls["Cost Controls"] direction LR QUOT["Quotas"] CAP["Caps"] ALERT["Alerts"] end subgraph Optimization["Optimization"] direction LR REC["Recommendations"] DISC["Discounts"] RIGHT["Right-sizing"] end end subgraph Monitoring["Cost Monitoring"] direction TB DASH["Dashboards"] REPORT["Reports"] ANALY["Analytics"] end CostManagement --> Monitoring classDef primary fill:#4285f4,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff classDef secondary fill:#34a853,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff classDef tertiary fill:#fbbc05,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff class CostManagement,Billing primary class Controls,Optimization secondary class Monitoring tertiary

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:

gcp
cost-management
optimization
billing
budgets