Licensing for Microsoft SQL Server

Opportunity Name:

Microsoft SQL Server Licensing Optimization

AWS Resource Type:

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Instances

Opportunity Summary:

Optimize Microsoft SQL Server licensing costs for EC2 instances by utilizing AWS Compute Optimizer recommendations.

Opportunity Description:

Running Microsoft SQL Server on EC2 instances can lead to significant costs. This finder leverages AWS Compute Optimizer to identify these instances. In cases where Compute Optimizer is not activated, a recommendation is provided to enable it. Additionally, if an instance lacks the necessary CloudWatch Application Insights connection, a recommendation is offered to enable it.

Criteria for identifying the opportunity:

• Resource Exists
• The resource is an EC2 instance
• Compute Optimizer is enabled
• The instance has CloudWatch Application Insights connected
• Compute Optimizer identifies the instance as running SQL Server
• Compute Optimizer provides a licensing optimization recommendation
• The EC2 instance is not identified as very low or low risk by Compute Optimizer.
• The target instance size is not smaller than "medium."

Potential savings (range in % on annual basis):

• For AWS-hosted instances, the savings are estimated as a standard percentage reduction based on the best AWS Compute Optimizer recommendation.
• For BYOL (Bring Your Own License) instances, the savings are estimated using the nominal reduction reported by Compute Optimizer. This estimated monthly savings is then multiplied by 12 to provide an annual estimate.

What happens when the Fixer is executed?

This Finder does not have an automated Fixer. It surfaces the licensing optimization recommendations from Compute Optimizer for the user to review and implement manually.

Risks

There is very low risk because the user has to manually review and accept Compute Optimizer's recommendations before taking any action.

Is it possible to rollback once CloudFix implements the fixer?

Not applicable since this is a Finder-only with no automated Fixer.

Can CloudFix implement the fix automatically once I accept the recommendation?

No, the user has to implement Compute Optimizer's recommendations manually.

Does this fix require downtime?

No downtime is required for the Finder. The downtime required for implementing optimizations depends on the user's specific environment.

Additional Resources:

• AWS Compute Optimizer
• AWS CW Application Insights Documentation