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When Your IT Infrastructure Needs a Checkup: Signs It’s Time for an Audit

IT Infrastructure

When Your IT Infrastructure Needs a Checkup: Signs It’s Time for an Audit

Fedir Kompaniiets

DevOps and Cloud Architecture Expert Co-founder of Gart

April 18, 2024

Table of contents

Key Objectives of an IT Infrastructure Audit
Core Objectives of an IT Infrastructure Audit:
When an IT Infrastructure Audit is Essential
IT Infrastructure Audit Checklist
Key Considerations when Vetting IT Infrastructure Auditors
How Often Should You Conduct IT Infrastructure Audits?

The business world feels like it’s on fast forward these days. New tech pops up all the time, and keeping your data safe is getting trickier by the minute. No wonder businesses need to make sure their IT infrastructure is in tip-top shape! An IT infrastructure audit is basically a checkup for your tech systems, making sure they’re ready for whatever comes next.

Key Objectives of an IT Infrastructure Audit

An IT infrastructure audit plays a crucial role in shaping an organization’s technical and business development plans. The technical plan outlines the requirements, goals, architecture, and resources for IT infrastructure development. An audit helps identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current system, define requirements for future development and improvement of IT infrastructure, and plan the necessary resources and budget to accomplish these tasks.

Core Objectives of an IT Infrastructure Audit:

Security Evaluation

An audit enables a comprehensive analysis of security levels, including the assessment of protective measures, data confidentiality, and prevention of potential threats. This is crucial for safeguarding information both within the organization and against external cyberattacks.

Resource Optimization

An audit helps uncover opportunities to optimize IT resources, enhance the performance and efficiency of IT systems, and streamline resource utilization within the organization

Compliance Assessment

An audit facilitates the evaluation of IT infrastructure’s adherence to standards, regulatory documents, and legislation governing information systems. This helps confirm the organization’s compliance with security, data privacy, and data integrity requirements.

Development Planning

The findings of an IT infrastructure audit serve as the foundation for developing an organization’s technical and business development plans. The audit aids in identifying IT system strengths and weaknesses, prioritizing development needs, and planning system changes and upgrades based on concrete results and recommendations.

Technical debt

Technical debt is the accumulation of legacy systems, software, and hardware that can negatively impact the performance, security, and scalability of the IT infrastructure. An IT infrastructure audit can also be used to assess and manage technical debt.

Loss and Disruption Prevention

An audit helps identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in IT infrastructure, enabling proactive measures to mitigate them. Conducting an audit contributes to preventing potential disruptions and issues, and allows for the development of backup, data recovery, and business continuity plans.

When an IT Infrastructure Audit is Essential

Alright, let’s talk about when you’d want to get that IT infrastructure audit done. These audits are crucial for organizations these days – they help make sure your tech is running smoothly and can handle whatever comes your way.

Here are some key times when you’d definitely want to get an audit going:

Implementing new systems and tech

Bringing in new software, hardware, or information systems? Get an audit done first. It’ll help you catch any potential issues or risks before you roll everything out, so you can make sure the new stuff integrates seamlessly and operates safely.

Your business is growing or changing

If your company is expanding, shifting gears, or just generally evolving, an audit can tell you if your IT infrastructure is ready to support those changes. It’ll help you identify any problem areas, optimize your processes, and make sure your tech can keep up with the new business demands.

Beefing up your security

With all the cyberthreats out there these days, evaluating your system security is huge. An audit will show you where your vulnerabilities lie so you can shore up your defenses and protect your critical data and resources.

Streamlining operations

Audits don’t just check for risks and problems – they can also uncover opportunities to optimize your processes and resources. Having that detailed look at how your tech is being used can help you cut costs, boost efficiency, and set the right performance metrics.

So in a nutshell, IT infrastructure audits are essential for organizations dealing with growth, changes, security concerns, or just a need to run a tighter, more cost-effective tech operation. They give you the insights you need to keep your systems performing at their best.

If you skip the audits, problems will just start piling up over time. Here’s what can happen:

Lack of info and unreliable data

No IT audits means limited intel on the current state of your systems. You could end up using outdated or just plain wrong data when making important decisions. That makes planning a real headache and can lead to some seriously misguided strategic calls.

Security risks and vulnerabilities

Without regular audits, your organization is wide open to cyberattacks, data breaches, and other security issues. If you’re not checking for weaknesses on the regular, you’ll have no idea where you’re vulnerable – and that’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Wasted resources

No audits means you could be over or underutilizing your resources, which kills productivity and wastes money on ineffective solutions. That’s a surefire way to lose your competitive edge.

Doing those IT audits lets you get out in front of problems, optimize your resources, lock down your security, and make sure your tech is running like a well-oiled machine. It helps you make smart decisions, minimize risks, and keep up with your current needs.

IT Infrastructure Audit Checklist

Alright, on top of that stuff about the challenges of selecting an IT auditor, we’ve also put together an IT infrastructure audit checklist for you. This is like a handy reference guide to make sure you’ve covered all your bases when getting that audit done.

The checklist hits on all the major areas an auditor is gonna want to dig into – things like your cloud infrastructure, virtual environment, data storage, and overall service architecture. We break down the key things that need to be evaluated in each of those domains.

Cloud IT Infrastructure Audit Download

It’s a comprehensive list, but easy to follow along with. Helps ensure the audit is thorough and you’re not missing any critical components of your IT setup. Just go through it step-by-step and you’ll have a clear roadmap for the auditor to follow.

Key Considerations when Vetting IT Infrastructure Auditors

Alright, let’s talk about the common issues and challenges that organizations face when selecting an IT infrastructure auditor:

Auditor Qualifications. One of the main problems is determining the true qualifications and professionalism of the auditor. Customers often have a hard time evaluating the auditor’s actual experience.

Accuracy and Objectivity. Ensuring the auditor will provide an unbiased, objective assessment is crucial. Customers want to be confident the auditor will thoroughly evaluate all aspects of the IT infrastructure without any preconceptions or subjectivity. Finding a reliable, responsible auditor who can guarantee the accuracy and objectivity of their work is a tricky task.

Service Costs. The cost of the auditor’s services is another significant challenge. Customers need to strike the right balance between service quality and price. Comprehensive IT infrastructure audits can be quite expensive, putting them out of reach for some organizations. However, the lowest price isn’t always the best criteria, as rock-bottom costs may signal low-quality work.

Availability and Timelines. Auditor availability and their ability to complete the work on schedule is another problem. Auditors are often booked on other projects or have time constraints, making it hard to find one who can fit the customer’s schedule. Flexibility on timelines is important.

Trust Issues. Trusting the auditor is a core challenge. Customers need to be confident in the auditor’s reliability and their ability to provide an accurate assessment. Checking references, reviews, and credentials can help address this.

Selecting an IT infrastructure auditor is a complex, high-stakes process. Thoroughly researching the auditor’s background, experience, and reputation online can provide valuable insights. For example, at Gart Solutions, we publish client reviews and share details on our completed audit engagements.

How Often Should You Conduct IT Infrastructure Audits?

As a general rule, companies should conduct an IT infrastructure audit at least once a year. However, in some cases, more frequent audits might be necessary. For instance, companies handling sensitive data may require audits every six months or even quarterly.

The results of an IT infrastructure audit should lead to a series of action items, such as:

Addressing security vulnerabilities: The audit should identify any security weaknesses within the IT infrastructure, and steps should be taken to close those gaps.
Enhancing performance: The audit should pinpoint areas where IT infrastructure performance can be improved, and actions should be taken to implement those improvements.
Reducing costs: The audit should identify areas where IT infrastructure costs can be lowered, and actions should be taken to achieve those cost savings.
Developing a Business Continuity Plan (BCP): A BCP outlines how the company will continue operations in case of an IT outage. The audit should contribute to developing or updating an existing BCP.

A well-conducted IT infrastructure audit can significantly help businesses maintain a secure, performant, and cost-effective IT infrastructure.

The final report’s got the full scoop on any issues or weaknesses they found in the infrastructure. This gives the leadership team a clear, unbiased view of where things are at and what needs to be fixed. Armed with those audit results, they can put together an action plan to boost the efficiency of the tech, optimize the processes, and shore up any vulnerabilities in the system.

The key is using that audit as a roadmap to getting the IT infrastructure operating at peak performance. No more guesswork – just cold, hard data to drive the improvements.

Gart Solutions – Your Trusted DevOps & Cloud Services Provider.

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FAQ

What is an IT infrastructure audit?

An IT infrastructure audit is a comprehensive review of your company's IT systems and processes. It aims to identify areas for improvement, potential security risks, and ensure your infrastructure is aligned with your business goals.

How often should I schedule an IT infrastructure audit?

It's recommended to conduct IT audits at least annually. If your business is undergoing significant changes, experiencing security incidents, or implementing new technologies, more frequent audits might be necessary.

Are the signs mentioned in the article the only indicators for needing an audit?

The article highlights some common signs, but other factors can also necessitate an audit. These include: Mergers or acquisitions requiring IT system integration. Preparing for new compliance regulations. A lack of clear IT documentation.

Should I conduct the IT audit internally or hire an external IT professional?

Internal audits can be beneficial for initial assessments. However, external auditors offer a fresh perspective, specialized expertise, and can identify blind spots your internal team might miss.

IT Infrastructure

IT Infrastructure: The Key to Business Growth and Success

Fedir Kompaniiets

April 9, 2024

[lwptoc] With the development of digital technologies, a well-built IT infrastructure of a company plays an increasingly important role in achieving business goals and objectives. It is indispensable for managing, processing, storing and transferring information within the company. In this article, we will look at the types and models of IT infrastructure, the tasks it performs, its components and how to create it. What is IT Infrastructure? IT infrastructure is a combination of information resources and technologies, software and hardware, network components, data storage devices and services of an organization that ensure the operation and management of the company's IT environment. The main goal of IT infrastructure is to ensure the uninterrupted and secure operation of information services, processing, storage and transmission of information. Due to the development of technologies, it is used by companies from different industries: from development to agriculture. We can say that the IT infrastructure of a company is the basis for managing business processes, which directly affects the efficiency and competitiveness of the organization. What Tasks Does IT Infrastructure Solve? One of the main tasks that the IT infrastructure of an organization helps to solve is creating conditions for achieving goals and implementing the company's business strategy. This happens, among other things, by reducing costs for IT projects, simplifying scaling, and increasing the company's productivity. Organizing IT infrastructure within a company helps to increase productivity and reduce costs on IT projects. Also, the presence of a well-built IT infrastructure in the company implies: Convenient and secure storage and management of data; Support for network interaction and organization of collaboration between devices and users; Optimal distribution of computing resources; Protection of data from unauthorized access and leaks; Providing applications and services for managing business processes. Types and Models of IT Infrastructure Before starting to organize IT infrastructure within a company, it is necessary to choose a model for its operation. There are three types: traditional, cloud, and hybrid. Traditional model of IT infrastructure implies an on-premise approach, in which the company purchases its own hardware, places it on its own site, and maintains it by its own employees. It is also possible to place equipment with a provider or rent hardware with monthly payment. Cloud model provides for the placement of IT infrastructure components with a cloud provider. In this case, the provider maintains uninterrupted operation and provides technical support for the infrastructure, and the company manages it remotely through the control panel interface. Hybrid model combines traditional and cloud IT infrastructure. In this case, part of the infrastructure is located in the company or with a provider, and part is in cloud services. This allows you to evenly distribute the available capacity. How to Create an IT Infrastructure from Scratch When creating an infrastructure, it is important to consider the unique needs of the company, its goals, and budget. First of all, it is necessary to find out the company's technological needs. Different organizations may have different requirements for IT infrastructure. For example, for some it is important to be able to manage data, for others - to optimally distribute resources. The next step is to develop a comprehensive IT architecture, which includes hardware and software, as well as network infrastructure. After that, the company can purchase equipment and software, rent them from a provider, or choose a cloud service. Deployment of IT infrastructure, installation and configuration of hardware and software components can be performed by company employees or provider specialists. The final stage is testing and evaluating the IT infrastructure to ensure optimal performance, security, and functionality. After the infrastructure creation process is completed, the company must decide who will support and maintain the IT infrastructure. Many companies prefer to outsource this task to third-party specialists in order to focus on their core business. Gart Solutions company provides Managed IT service, which includes comprehensive infrastructure maintenance: IT infrastructure management; Monitoring; Timely elimination of incidents; IT infrastructure modernization; IT Infrastructure support; Cloud Infrastructure management; IT Infrastructure consulting Backup configuration, etc. This approach allows to ensure continuous operation of the company's IT infrastructure. Components of IT Infrastructure What are the main components of the IT infrastructure of an enterprise or company? As a rule, it includes hardware components that provide support for the physical infrastructure, software components that are responsible for functionality, and a network. Hardware components include servers, data centers, PCs, and other equipment; Software components are operating systems, CMS, CRM, databases, security software; The network consists of routers, switches, cables, and software for network operation. IT infrastructure software is needed to operate and manage hardware components. IT infrastructure software includes the software and applications that a business uses to function, provide services, and manage internal processes. It also includes additional platforms and services that help solve specialized tasks. For example, this can include CMS and CRM systems, web servers, and email clients. Conclusion IT infrastructure is the foundation on which the success of a company is built. The security and flexibility of an enterprise or company depends on what is included in its IT infrastructure. Therefore, when creating it, it is important to consider the current needs, goals, budget of the company and the development plan for the next few years. This determines which infrastructure model to choose and which components should be included. Since IT infrastructure affects the competitiveness and efficiency of a company, it is better to entrust its creation and support to specialists. Mistakes at the design and launch stage can lead to security, performance and interoperability issues in the future. Gart Solutions company provides a service for the maintenance and updating of IT infrastructure, which can significantly simplify the tasks of companies without a staff of IT specialists.

DevOps

Cloud Scalability: Horizontal vs. Vertical Scaling of IT Infrastructures

Fedir Kompaniiets

February 29, 2024

To maintain smooth operation, you need to scale your resources. This article delves into the two main scaling strategies - horizontal scaling (spreading out) and vertical scaling (gearing up) - Horizontal vs. Vertical Scaling. [lwptoc] Even if a company pauses its processes, does not grow or develop, the amount of data will still accumulate, and information systems will become more complex. Computing requests require storing large amounts of data in the server's memory and allocating significant resources. When corporate servers can no longer handle the load, a company has two options: purchase additional capacity for existing equipment or buy another server to offload some of the load. In this article, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches to building IT infrastructure. Cloud Scalability What is scaling? It is the ability to increase project performance in minimal time by adding resources. Therefore, one of the priority tasks of IT specialists is to ensure the scalability of the infrastructure, i.e., the ability to quickly and without unnecessary expenses expand the volume and performance of the IT solution. Usually, scaling does not involve rewriting the code, but either adding servers or increasing the resources of the existing one. According to this type, vertical and horizontal scaling are distinguished. Vertical Scaling or Scale Up Infrastructure Vertical scaling involves adding more RAM, disks, etc., to an existing server. This approach is used when the performance limit of infrastructure elements is exhausted. Advantages of vertical scaling: If a company lacks the resources of its existing equipment, its components can be replaced with more powerful ones. Increasing the performance of each component within a single node increases the performance of the IT infrastructure as a whole. However, vertical scaling also has disadvantages. The most obvious one is the limitation in increasing performance. When a company reaches its limits, it will need to purchase a more powerful system and then migrate its IT infrastructure to it. Such a transfer requires time and money and increases the risks of downtime during the system transfer. The second disadvantage of vertical scaling is that if a virtual machine fails, the software will stop working. The company will need time to restore its functionality. Therefore, with vertical scaling, expensive hardware is often chosen that will work without downtime. When to Scale Up Infrastructure While scaling out offers advantages in many scenarios, scaling up infrastructure remains relevant in specific situations. Here are some key factors to consider when deciding when to scale up: Limited growth If your application experiences predictable and limited growth, scaling up can be a simpler and more efficient solution. Upgrading existing hardware with increased processing power, memory, and storage can often handle the anticipated growth without the complexities of managing a distributed system. Single server bottleneck Scaling up can be effective if you experience a performance bottleneck confined to a single server or resource type. For example, if your application primarily suffers from CPU limitations, adding more cores to the existing server might be sufficient to address the bottleneck. Simplicity and familiarity If your team possesses expertise and experience in managing a single server environment, scaling up might be a more familiar and manageable approach compared to the complexities of setting up and managing a distributed system with multiple nodes. Limited resources In scenarios with limited financial or physical resources, scaling up may be the more feasible option compared to the initial investment required for additional hardware and the ongoing costs associated with managing a distributed system. Latency-sensitive applications Applications with real-time processing requirements and low latency needs, such as high-frequency trading platforms or online gaming servers, can benefit from the reduced communication overhead associated with a single server architecture. Scaling up with high-performance hardware can ensure minimal latency and responsiveness. Stateless applications For stateless applications that don't require storing data on individual servers, scaling up can be a viable option. These applications can typically be easily migrated to a more powerful server without significant configuration changes. Scaling up ( or verticalscaling) provides a sufficient and manageable solution for your specific needs and infrastructure constraints. Example Situations of When to Scale Up: E-commerce platform experiencing increased traffic during holiday seasons Consider an e-commerce platform that experiences a surge in traffic during holiday seasons or special sales events. As more users flock to the website to make purchases, the existing infrastructure may struggle to handle the sudden influx of requests, leading to slow response times and potential downtime. To address this issue, the e-commerce platform can opt to scale up its resources by upgrading its servers or adding more powerful processing units. By bolstering its infrastructure, the platform can better accommodate the heightened traffic load, ensuring that users can seamlessly browse, add items to their carts, and complete transactions without experiencing delays or disruptions. Database management system for a growing social media platform Imagine a social media platform that is rapidly gaining users and generating vast amounts of user-generated content, such as posts, comments, and media uploads. As the platform's database accumulates more data, the performance of the database management system (DBMS) may start to degrade, leading to slower query execution times and reduced responsiveness. In response to this growth, the social media platform can choose to scale up its database infrastructure by deploying more powerful servers with higher processing capabilities and additional storage capacity. By upgrading its DBMS hardware, the platform can efficiently handle the increasing volume of user data, ensuring that users can swiftly retrieve and interact with content on the platform without experiencing delays or downtime. Financial institution processing a growing number of transactions Consider a financial institution, such as a bank or credit card company, that processes a large volume of transactions daily. As the institution's customer base expands and the number of transactions continues to grow, the existing processing infrastructure may struggle to keep up with the increasing workload, leading to delays in transaction processing and potential system failures. To maintain smooth and efficient operations, the financial institution can opt to scale up its transaction processing systems by investing in more robust hardware solutions. By upgrading its servers, networking equipment, and database systems, the institution can enhance its processing capabilities, ensuring that transactions are processed quickly and accurately, and that customers have uninterrupted access to banking services. Horizontal Scaling or Scale-Out Horizontal scaling involves adding new nodes to the IT infrastructure. Instead of increasing the capacity of individual components of a node, the company adds new servers. With each additional node, the load is redistributed between all nodes. Advantages of horizontal scaling: This type of scaling allows you to use inexpensive equipment that provides enough power for workloads. There is no need to migrate the infrastructure. If necessary, virtual machines can be migrated to another infrastructure without stopping operation. The company can organize work without downtime due to the fact that software instances operate on several nodes of the IT infrastructure. If one of them fails, the load will be distributed between the remaining nodes, and the program will continue to work. With horizontal scaling, you can refuse to purchase expensive equipment and reduce hardware costs by 20 times. When to scale out infrastructure There are several key factors to consider when deciding when to scale out infrastructure: Horizontal growth If your application or service anticipates sustained growth in data, users, or workload over time, scaling out offers a more scalable and cost-effective approach than repeated scaling up. Adding new nodes allows you to incrementally increase capacity as needed, rather than investing in significantly larger hardware upgrades each time. Performance bottlenecks If you experience performance bottlenecks due to resource limitations (CPU, memory, storage) spread across multiple servers, scaling out can help distribute the workload and alleviate the bottleneck. This is particularly beneficial for stateful applications where data needs to be stored on individual servers. Distributed processing When dealing with large datasets or complex tasks that require parallel processing, scaling out allows you to distribute the workload across multiple nodes, significantly reducing processing time and improving efficiency. This is often used in big data processing and scientific computing. Fault tolerance and redundancy Scaling out can enhance fault tolerance and redundancy. If one server fails, the remaining nodes can handle the workload, minimizing downtime and ensuring service continuity. This is crucial for mission-critical applications where downtime can have significant consequences. Microservices architecture If your application employs a microservices architecture, where each service is independent and modular, scaling out individual microservices allows you to scale specific functionalities based on their specific needs. This offers greater flexibility and efficiency compared to scaling the entire application as a single unit. Cost-effectiveness While scaling out may require an initial investment in additional servers, in the long run, it can be more cost-effective than repeatedly scaling up. Additionally, cloud-based solutions often offer pay-as-you-go models which allow you to scale resources dynamically and only pay for what you use. In summary, scaling out infrastructure is a good choice when you anticipate sustained growth, encounter performance bottlenecks due to resource limitations, require distributed processing for large tasks, prioritize fault tolerance and redundancy, utilize a microservices architecture, or seek cost-effective long-term scalability. Remember to carefully assess your specific needs and application characteristics to determine the optimal approach for your infrastructure. Example Situations of When to Scale Out Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) application facing increased demand Consider a cloud-based SaaS application that provides project management tools to businesses of all sizes. As the application gains popularity and attracts more users, the demand for its services may skyrocket, putting strain on the existing infrastructure and causing performance degradation. To meet the growing demand and maintain optimal performance, the SaaS provider can scale out its infrastructure by leveraging cloud computing resources such as auto-scaling groups and load balancers. By dynamically adding more virtual servers or container instances based on demand, the provider can ensure that users have access to the application's features and functionalities without experiencing slowdowns or service disruptions. Content delivery network (CDN) handling a surge in internet traffic Imagine a content delivery network (CDN) that delivers multimedia content, such as videos, images, and web pages, to users around the world. During peak traffic periods, such as major events or viral content trends, the CDN may experience a significant increase in incoming requests, leading to congestion and delays in content delivery. To cope with the surge in internet traffic, the CDN can scale out its infrastructure by deploying additional edge servers or caching nodes in strategic locations. By expanding its network footprint and distributing content closer to end users, the CDN can reduce latency and improve the speed and reliability of content delivery, ensuring a seamless browsing experience for users worldwide. E-commerce shopping cart An e-commerce platform utilizes microservices architecture, where each service is independent and responsible for specific tasks like managing shopping carts. Scaling out individual microservices allows for handling increased user traffic and order volume without impacting other functionalities of the platform. This approach provides better flexibility and scalability compared to scaling up the entire system as a single unit. These examples demonstrate situations where scaling out by adding more nodes horizontally is better suited to handle situations with unpredictable workloads, distributed processing needs, and independent service scaling within a larger system. Choosing the Right Approach The decision between horizontal and vertical scaling should be based on specific system requirements, constraints, and objectives. Some considerations include: Workload characteristics: Consider the nature of your workload. Horizontal scaling is well-suited for distributed and stateless workloads, while vertical scaling may be preferable for single-threaded or stateful workloads. Cost and budget: Evaluate your budget and resource availability. Horizontal scaling can be cost-effective, especially when using commodity hardware, while vertical scaling may require a more significant upfront investment in high-performance hardware. Performance and maintenance: Assess the performance gains and management complexity associated with each approach. Consider how well each option aligns with your operational capabilities and objectives. Future growth: Think about your system's long-term scalability needs. If you anticipate significant growth, horizontal scaling may provide greater flexibility. Here are some additional tips for choosing the right scaling approach: Start with a small-scale deployment and monitor performance: This will help you understand your workload's requirements and identify any potential bottlenecks. Use a combination of horizontal and vertical scaling: This can provide the best balance of performance, cost, and flexibility. Consider using a cloud-based platform: Cloud providers offer a variety of scalable and cost-effective solutions that can be tailored to your specific needs. By carefully considering all of these factors, you can choose the best scaling approach for your company's needs. How Gart Can Help You with Cloud Scalability Ultimately, the determining factors are your cloud needs and cost structure. Without the ability to predict the true aspects of these components, each business can fall into the trap of choosing the wrong scaling strategy for them. Therefore, cost assessment should be a priority. Additionally, optimizing cloud costs remains a complex task regardless of which scaling system you choose. Here are some ways Gart can help you with cloud scalability: Assess your cloud needs and cost structure: We can help you understand your current cloud usage and identify areas where you can optimize your costs. Develop a cloud scaling strategy: We can help you choose the right scaling approach for your specific needs and budget. Implement your cloud scaling strategy: We can help you implement your chosen scaling strategy and provide ongoing support to ensure that it meets your needs. Optimize your cloud costs: We can help you identify and implement cost-saving measures to reduce your cloud bill. Gart has a team of experienced cloud experts who can help you with all aspects of cloud scalability. We have a proven track record of helping businesses optimize their cloud costs and improve their cloud performance. Contact Gart today to learn more about how we can help you with cloud scalability. We look forward to hearing from you!

0 Easy Ways to Optimize AWS Costs and Save Over 80% of Your Budget

Cloud

20 Easy Ways to Optimize Expenses on AWS and Save Over 80% of Your Budget

Fedir Kompaniiets

December 13, 2023

In my experience optimizing cloud costs, especially on AWS, I often find that many quick wins are in the "easy to implement - good savings potential" quadrant. [lwptoc] That's why I've decided to share some straightforward methods for optimizing expenses on AWS that will help you save over 80% of your budget. Choose reserved instances Potential Savings: Up to 72% Choosing reserved instances involves committing to a subscription, even partially, and offers a discount for long-term rentals of one to three years. While planning for a year is often deemed long-term for many companies, especially in Ukraine, reserving resources for 1-3 years carries risks but comes with the reward of a maximum discount of up to 72%. You can check all the current pricing details on the official website - Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances Purchase Saving Plans (Instead of On-Demand) Potential Savings: Up to 72% There are three types of saving plans: Compute Savings Plan, EC2 Instance Savings Plan, SageMaker Savings Plan. AWS Compute Savings Plan is an Amazon Web Services option that allows users to receive discounts on computational resources in exchange for committing to using a specific volume of resources over a defined period (usually one or three years). This plan offers flexibility in utilizing various computing services, such as EC2, Fargate, and Lambda, at reduced prices. AWS EC2 Instance Savings Plan is a program from Amazon Web Services that offers discounted rates exclusively for the use of EC2 instances. This plan is specifically tailored for the utilization of EC2 instances, providing discounts for a specific instance family, regardless of the region. AWS SageMaker Savings Plan allows users to get discounts on SageMaker usage in exchange for committing to using a specific volume of computational resources over a defined period (usually one or three years). The discount is available for one and three years with the option of full, partial upfront payment, or no upfront payment. EC2 can help save up to 72%, but it applies exclusively to EC2 instances. Utilize Various Storage Classes for S3 (Including Intelligent Tier) Potential Savings: 40% to 95% AWS offers numerous options for storing data at different access levels. For instance, S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically stores objects at three access levels: one tier optimized for frequent access, 40% cheaper tier optimized for infrequent access, and 68% cheaper tier optimized for rarely accessed data (e.g., archives). S3 Intelligent-Tiering has the same price per 1 GB as S3 Standard — $0.023 USD. However, the key advantage of Intelligent Tiering is its ability to automatically move objects that haven't been accessed for a specific period to lower access tiers. Every 30, 90, and 180 days, Intelligent Tiering automatically shifts an object to the next access tier, potentially saving companies from 40% to 95%. This means that for certain objects (e.g., archives), it may be appropriate to pay only $0.0125 USD per 1 GB or $0.004 per 1 GB compared to the standard price of $0.023 USD. Information regarding the pricing of Amazon S3 AWS Compute Optimizer Potential Savings: quite significant The AWS Compute Optimizer dashboard is a tool that lets users assess and prioritize optimization opportunities for their AWS resources. The dashboard provides detailed information about potential cost savings and performance improvements, as the recommendations are based on an analysis of resource specifications and usage metrics. The dashboard covers various types of resources, such as EC2 instances, Auto Scaling groups, Lambda functions, Amazon ECS services on Fargate, and Amazon EBS volumes. For example, AWS Compute Optimizer reproduces information about underutilized or overutilized resources allocated for ECS Fargate services or Lambda functions. Regularly keeping an eye on this dashboard can help you make informed decisions to optimize costs and enhance performance. Use Fargate in EKS for underutilized EC2 nodes If your EKS nodes aren't fully used most of the time, it makes sense to consider using Fargate profiles. With AWS Fargate, you pay for a specific amount of memory/CPU resources needed for your POD, rather than paying for an entire EC2 virtual machine. For example, let's say you have an application deployed in a Kubernetes cluster managed by Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service). The application experiences variable traffic, with peak loads during specific hours of the day or week (like a marketplace or an online store), and you want to optimize infrastructure costs. To address this, you need to create a Fargate Profile that defines which PODs should run on Fargate. Configure Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) to automatically scale the number of POD replicas based on their resource usage (such as CPU or memory usage). Manage Workload Across Different Regions Potential Savings: significant in most cases When handling workload across multiple regions, it's crucial to consider various aspects such as cost allocation tags, budgets, notifications, and data remediation. Cost Allocation Tags: Classify and track expenses based on different labels like program, environment, team, or project. AWS Budgets: Define spending thresholds and receive notifications when expenses exceed set limits. Create budgets specifically for your workload or allocate budgets to specific services or cost allocation tags. Notifications: Set up alerts when expenses approach or surpass predefined thresholds. Timely notifications help take actions to optimize costs and prevent overspending. Remediation: Implement mechanisms to rectify expenses based on your workload requirements. This may involve automated actions or manual interventions to address cost-related issues. Regional Variances: Consider regional differences in pricing and data transfer costs when designing workload architectures. Reserved Instances and Savings Plans: Utilize reserved instances or savings plans to achieve cost savings. AWS Cost Explorer: Use this tool for visualizing and analyzing your expenses. Cost Explorer provides insights into your usage and spending trends, enabling you to identify areas of high costs and potential opportunities for cost savings. Transition to Graviton (ARM) Potential Savings: Up to 30% Graviton utilizes Amazon's server-grade ARM processors developed in-house. The new processors and instances prove beneficial for various applications, including high-performance computing, batch processing, electronic design automation (EDA) automation, multimedia encoding, scientific modeling, distributed analytics, and machine learning inference on processor-based systems. The processor family is based on ARM architecture, likely functioning as a system on a chip (SoC). This translates to lower power consumption costs while still offering satisfactory performance for the majority of clients. Key advantages of AWS Graviton include cost reduction, low latency, improved scalability, enhanced availability, and security. Spot Instances Instead of On-Demand Potential Savings: Up to 30% Utilizing spot instances is essentially a resource exchange. When Amazon has surplus resources lying idle, you can set the maximum price you're willing to pay for them. The catch is that if there are no available resources, your requested capacity won't be granted. However, there's a risk that if demand suddenly surges and the spot price exceeds your set maximum price, your spot instance will be terminated. Spot instances operate like an auction, so the price is not fixed. We specify the maximum we're willing to pay, and AWS determines who gets the computational power. If we are willing to pay $0.1 per hour and the market price is $0.05, we will pay exactly $0.05. Use Interface Endpoints or Gateway Endpoints to save on traffic costs (S3, SQS, DynamoDB, etc.) Potential Savings: Depends on the workload Interface Endpoints operate based on AWS PrivateLink, allowing access to AWS services through a private network connection without going through the internet. By using Interface Endpoints, you can save on data transfer costs associated with traffic. Utilizing Interface Endpoints or Gateway Endpoints can indeed help save on traffic costs when accessing services like Amazon S3, Amazon SQS, and Amazon DynamoDB from your Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). Key points: Amazon S3: With an Interface Endpoint for S3, you can privately access S3 buckets without incurring data transfer costs between your VPC and S3. Amazon SQS: Interface Endpoints for SQS enable secure interaction with SQS queues within your VPC, avoiding data transfer costs for communication with SQS. Amazon DynamoDB: Using an Interface Endpoint for DynamoDB, you can access DynamoDB tables in your VPC without incurring data transfer costs. Additionally, Interface Endpoints allow private access to AWS services using private IP addresses within your VPC, eliminating the need for internet gateway traffic. This helps eliminate data transfer costs for accessing services like S3, SQS, and DynamoDB from your VPC. Optimize Image Sizes for Faster Loading Potential Savings: Depends on the workload Optimizing image sizes can help you save in various ways. Reduce ECR Costs: By storing smaller instances, you can cut down expenses on Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR). Minimize EBS Volumes on EKS Nodes: Keeping smaller volumes on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) nodes helps in cost reduction. Accelerate Container Launch Times: Faster container launch times ultimately lead to quicker task execution. Optimization Methods: Use the Right Image: Employ the most efficient image for your task; for instance, Alpine may be sufficient in certain scenarios. Remove Unnecessary Data: Trim excess data and packages from the image. Multi-Stage Image Builds: Utilize multi-stage image builds by employing multiple FROM instructions. Use .dockerignore: Prevent the addition of unnecessary files by employing a .dockerignore file. Reduce Instruction Count: Minimize the number of instructions, as each instruction adds extra weight to the hash. Group instructions using the && operator. Layer Consolidation: Move frequently changing layers to the end of the Dockerfile. These optimization methods can contribute to faster image loading, reduced storage costs, and improved overall performance in containerized environments. Use Load Balancers to Save on IP Address Costs Potential Savings: depends on the workload Starting from February 2024, Amazon begins billing for each public IPv4 address. Employing a load balancer can help save on IP address costs by using a shared IP address, multiplexing traffic between ports, load balancing algorithms, and handling SSL/TLS. By consolidating multiple services and instances under a single IP address, you can achieve cost savings while effectively managing incoming traffic. Optimize Database Services for Higher Performance (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) Potential Savings: depends on the workload AWS provides default settings for databases that are suitable for average workloads. If a significant portion of your monthly bill is related to AWS RDS, it's worth paying attention to parameter settings related to databases. Some of the most effective settings may include: Use Database-Optimized Instances: For example, instances in the R5 or X1 class are optimized for working with databases. Choose Storage Type: General Purpose SSD (gp2) is typically cheaper than Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1/io2). AWS RDS Auto Scaling: Automatically increase or decrease storage size based on demand. If you can optimize the database workload, it may allow you to use smaller instance sizes without compromising performance. Regularly Update Instances for Better Performance and Lower Costs Potential Savings: Minor As Amazon deploys new servers in their data processing centers to provide resources for running more instances for customers, these new servers come with the latest equipment, typically better than previous generations. Usually, the latest two to three generations are available. Make sure you update regularly to effectively utilize these resources. Take Memory Optimize instances, for example, and compare the price change based on the relevance of one instance over another. Regular updates can ensure that you are using resources efficiently. InstanceGenerationDescriptionOn-Demand Price (USD/hour)m6g.large6thInstances based on ARM processors offer improved performance and energy efficiency.$0.077m5.large5thGeneral-purpose instances with a balanced combination of CPU and memory, designed to support high-speed network access.$0.096m4.large4thA good balance between CPU, memory, and network resources.$0.1m3.large3rdOne of the previous generations, less efficient than m5 and m4.Not avilable Use RDS Proxy to reduce the load on RDS Potential for savings: Low RDS Proxy is used to relieve the load on servers and RDS databases by reusing existing connections instead of creating new ones. Additionally, RDS Proxy improves failover during the switch of a standby read replica node to the master. Imagine you have a web application that uses Amazon RDS to manage the database. This application experiences variable traffic intensity, and during peak periods, such as advertising campaigns or special events, it undergoes high database load due to a large number of simultaneous requests. During peak loads, the RDS database may encounter performance and availability issues due to the high number of concurrent connections and queries. This can lead to delays in responses or even service unavailability. RDS Proxy manages connection pools to the database, significantly reducing the number of direct connections to the database itself. By efficiently managing connections, RDS Proxy provides higher availability and stability, especially during peak periods. Using RDS Proxy reduces the load on RDS, and consequently, the costs are reduced too. Define the storage policy in CloudWatch Potential for savings: depends on the workload, could be significant. The storage policy in Amazon CloudWatch determines how long data should be retained in CloudWatch Logs before it is automatically deleted. Setting the right storage policy is crucial for efficient data management and cost optimization. While the "Never" option is available, it is generally not recommended for most use cases due to potential costs and data management issues. Typically, best practice involves defining a specific retention period based on your organization's requirements, compliance policies, and needs. Avoid using an undefined data retention period unless there is a specific reason. By doing this, you are already saving on costs. Configure AWS Config to monitor only the events you need Potential for savings: depends on the workload AWS Config allows you to track and record changes to AWS resources, helping you maintain compliance, security, and governance. AWS Config provides compliance reports based on rules you define. You can access these reports on the AWS Config dashboard to see the status of tracked resources. You can set up Amazon SNS notifications to receive alerts when AWS Config detects non-compliance with your defined rules. This can help you take immediate action to address the issue. By configuring AWS Config with specific rules and resources you need to monitor, you can efficiently manage your AWS environment, maintain compliance requirements, and avoid paying for rules you don't need. Use lifecycle policies for S3 and ECR Potential for savings: depends on the workload S3 allows you to configure automatic deletion of individual objects or groups of objects based on specified conditions and schedules. You can set up lifecycle policies for objects in each specific bucket. By creating data migration policies using S3 Lifecycle, you can define the lifecycle of your object and reduce storage costs. These object migration policies can be identified by storage periods. You can specify a policy for the entire S3 bucket or for specific prefixes. The cost of data migration during the lifecycle is determined by the cost of transfers. By configuring a lifecycle policy for ECR, you can avoid unnecessary expenses on storing Docker images that you no longer need. Switch to using GP3 storage type for EBS Potential for savings: 20% By default, AWS creates gp2 EBS volumes, but it's almost always preferable to choose gp3 — the latest generation of EBS volumes, which provides more IOPS by default and is cheaper. For example, in the US-east-1 region, the price for a gp2 volume is $0.10 per gigabyte-month of provisioned storage, while for gp3, it's $0.08/GB per month. If you have 5 TB of EBS volume on your account, you can save $100 per month by simply switching from gp2 to gp3. Switch the format of public IP addresses from IPv4 to IPv6 Potential for savings: depending on the workload Starting from February 1, 2024, AWS will begin charging for each public IPv4 address at a rate of $0.005 per IP address per hour. For example, taking 100 public IP addresses on EC2 x $0.005 per public IP address per month x 730 hours = $365.00 per month. While this figure might not seem huge (without tying it to the company's capabilities), it can add up to significant network costs. Thus, the optimal time to transition to IPv6 was a couple of years ago or now. Here are some resources about this recent update that will guide you on how to use IPv6 with widely-used services — AWS Public IPv4 Address Charge. Collaborate with AWS professionals and partners for expertise and discounts Potential for savings: ~5% of the contract amount through discounts. AWS Partner Network (APN) Discounts: Companies that are members of the AWS Partner Network (APN) can access special discounts, which they can pass on to their clients. Partners reaching a certain level in the APN program often have access to better pricing offers. Custom Pricing Agreements: Some AWS partners may have the opportunity to negotiate special pricing agreements with AWS, enabling them to offer unique discounts to their clients. This can be particularly relevant for companies involved in consulting or system integration. Reseller Discounts: As resellers of AWS services, partners can purchase services at wholesale prices and sell them to clients with a markup, still offering a discount from standard AWS prices. They may also provide bundled offerings that include AWS services and their own additional services. Credit Programs: AWS frequently offers credit programs or vouchers that partners can pass on to their clients. These could be promo codes or discounts for a specific period. Seek assistance from AWS professionals and partners. Often, this is more cost-effective than purchasing and configuring everything independently. Given the intricacies of cloud space optimization, expertise in this matter can save you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. More valuable tips for optimizing costs and improving efficiency in AWS environments: Scheduled TurnOff/TurnOn for NonProd environments: If the Development team is in the same timezone, significant savings can be achieved by, for example, scaling the AutoScaling group of instances/clusters/RDS to zero during the night and weekends when services are not actively used. Move static content to an S3 Bucket & CloudFront: To prevent service charges for static content, consider utilizing Amazon S3 for storing static files and CloudFront for content delivery. Use API Gateway/Lambda/Lambda Edge where possible: In such setups, you only pay for the actual usage of the service. This is especially noticeable in NonProd environments where resources are often underutilized. If your CI/CD agents are on EC2, migrate to CodeBuild: AWS CodeBuild can be a more cost-effective and scalable solution for your continuous integration and delivery needs. CloudWatch covers the needs of 99% of projects for Monitoring and Logging: Avoid using third-party solutions if AWS CloudWatch meets your requirements. It provides comprehensive monitoring and logging capabilities for most projects. Feel free to reach out to me or other specialists for an audit, a comprehensive optimization package, or just advice.

Key Objectives of an IT Infrastructure Audit

Core Objectives of an IT Infrastructure Audit:

Security Evaluation

Resource Optimization

Compliance Assessment

Development Planning

Technical debt

Loss and Disruption Prevention

When an IT Infrastructure Audit is Essential

Implementing new systems and tech

Your business is growing or changing

Beefing up your security

Streamlining operations

Lack of info and unreliable data

Security risks and vulnerabilities

Wasted resources

IT Infrastructure Audit Checklist

Key Considerations when Vetting IT Infrastructure Auditors

How Often Should You Conduct IT Infrastructure Audits?

FAQ

What is an IT infrastructure audit?

How often should I schedule an IT infrastructure audit?

Are the signs mentioned in the article the only indicators for needing an audit?

Should I conduct the IT audit internally or hire an external IT professional?

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