Solutions architects across the world have relied on the AWS Simple Monthly Calculator for over a decade to acquire estimated figures for running a cloud-based project. However, Amazon have recently announced they’ve now deprecated the Simple Monthly Calculator Tool in favor of the new AWS Pricing Calculator, which ushers in a new suite of functionality for those looking to get accurate figures for their upcoming infrastructure projects.
But how exactly can solutions architect use this new tool to their advantage, and how does it differ from the old version?
What was the Simple Monthly Calculator?
As mentioned, this useful tool has been used over the last ten years by solutions architects and businesses alike to effectively cost out planned cloud-based infrastructures. For example, using the old calculator, users could get a monthly estimate for a project that might involve hosting 4 servers, with 200TB of EBS Storage, along with a load balancer, and a backend database running Microsoft SQL.
By playing around with the inputs, solutions architects can run a whole host of what-if scenarios making this tool very handy for the planning stages for large-scale cloud-migration endeavors.
How Does the New AWS Pricing Calculator Differ?
Firstly, the overall look and feel of the new calculator has been completely overhauled to give users a significantly improved UI and UX. Delving a little deeper in to those changes, the pricing strategies have been expanded and made much more transparent, facilitating an easier understanding of tweaks businesses can make to maximize value for money.
Similarly, the new AWS Pricing Calculator gives users a much better understanding of how the region, EC2 instance (including specification), workload, Elastic Block Storage (EBS), and data transfer directly affect the overall monthly budget thanks to the addition of a brand new feature.
By clicking on “Advanced estimate” those looking to perform a deeper dive on the specifications of their proposed architecture can do so, taking what-if scenario functionality to a whole new level. For example, the new workload feature has the capability for cloud engineers to list precise times (down to the minute!) of the day for peak demands on architecture, while offering the option of selecting which week days to expect those demands.
Overall, the new calculator has a much more intuitive feel, particularly for those who only have a basic understanding of AWS cloud products and services.
Learn More About the AWS Pricing Calculator by Preparing for Your Next AWS Certification
The overhauled AWS Pricing Calculator is a handy tool. Whether you’re a highly-experienced solutions architect or you only have a fundamental cloud understanding, if you’re trying to get a hold on expected costs of an anticipated infrastructure upgrade or development, this calculator provides everything you need.
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