AWS Reserved Instances
AWS Reserved Instances (RIs) are a pricing model offered by Amazon Web Services that allows users to reserve compute capacity for EC2 instances in exchange for a significant discount compared to On-Demand pricing. They provide a commitment to use specific instance types in a particular AWS region for a one- or three-year term, helping to reduce cloud costs for predictable workloads. RIs can be applied to running instances to automatically receive the discounted rate without changing the instance configuration.
Developers and organizations should use AWS Reserved Instances when they have steady-state or predictable workloads, such as production servers, databases, or long-running applications, to achieve cost savings of up to 75% compared to On-Demand pricing. They are ideal for budgeting and financial planning in cloud environments, as they lock in lower rates and provide capacity reservations, though they require upfront commitment and may not suit highly variable or short-term usage. Learning about RIs is crucial for optimizing AWS spending, especially in roles involving cloud architecture, DevOps, or financial operations (FinOps).