AWS Terminology
Region
A geographic area where AWS clusters data centers. Each region is a separate geographic area, such as US East (N. Virginia) or Europe (Ireland). AWS regions are completely independent of each other, allowing you to deploy resources closer to your end users for lower latency and to meet data residency requirements.
Service
A specific offering within the AWS ecosystem that provides functionality for building cloud applications. Examples include Amazon EC2 (compute), Amazon S3 (storage), Amazon RDS (databases), AWS Lambda (serverless computing), and many others. Each service has its own pricing model and optimization opportunities.
Resources
Individual components within an AWS service that you create and manage. Examples include EC2 instances, S3 buckets, RDS database instances, Lambda functions, and IAM users. Resources are the basic building blocks of your AWS infrastructure and the primary targets for cost optimization in Stable.
ARN
Amazon Resource Name (ARN) is a standardized way to uniquely identify resources across all of AWS. ARNs follow a specific format that includes the service, region, account ID, and resource-specific details. Stable uses ARNs to precisely identify resources when providing optimization recommendations.
Account Information
Account ID
The unique 12-digit number assigned to your AWS account. Stable uses this identifier to associate resources and recommendations with specific accounts within your organization.
Account Name
The human-readable name assigned to an AWS account. Account names make it easier to identify which part of your organization owns particular resources when reviewing recommendations across a multi-account structure.
Stable Terminology
Difficulty
A classification system used by Stable to indicate how complex it would be to implement a particular cost optimization recommendation:
Easy: Simple changes that can be implemented quickly with minimal risk or expertise
Medium: More complex changes that might require testing or specific AWS knowledge
Advanced: Significant architectural changes or optimizations that require careful planning and specialized expertise
Commitment: Cost optimization recommendations that involve long-term financial commitments to AWS services. This category includes recommendations for Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, and other commitment-based pricing models that require upfront decisions about future resource usage.
Annualized Cost
AWS spending over a 12-month period estimation, calculated based on your usage patterns from the last 3 months. This metric provides a forward-looking estimate of your annual AWS expenditure to help with budget planning and cost forecasting. The annualized cost calculation excludes taxes and AWS Marketplace purchases, focusing solely on core AWS service consumption.
Potential Savings
The total estimated cost reduction possible if all optimization recommendations are implemented across your AWS environment. This figure represents the maximum potential savings identified by Stable.
Annualized Savings
The projected cost savings over a 12-month period for a specific recommendation or set of recommendations. This metric helps you understand the long-term financial impact of implementing Stable's suggestions.
Realized Savings
Actual cost reductions achieved after implementing Stable's recommendations. This metric tracks real financial benefits rather than just potential savings, helping demonstrate ROI from using Stable.
Affected
Resources that are currently impacted by one or more cost optimization recommendations. These are active opportunities where implementing changes could reduce your AWS spend.
Resolved
Resources for which optimization recommendations have been successfully implemented. These represent completed cost-saving actions that are now benefiting your AWS bill.
Outdated
Resources for which previous recommendations are no longer relevant. This could be due to resources being modified or deleted, or because changing conditions have made the recommendation no longer applicable or beneficial.
Ignored
Resources that users have deliberately marked to exclude from optimization recommendations. This status indicates a conscious decision to maintain current configuration despite potential cost savings.
Selection Criteria
The specific parameters and conditions Stable uses to identify resources that qualify for particular optimization recommendations. These criteria ensure that recommendations are relevant and appropriate for each resource's usage patterns and requirements.
Reserved Instances & Savings Plans
Term
The commitment period for Reserved Instances or Savings Plans:
1 Year No Upfront: A 12-month commitment with no initial payment
3 Year No Upfront: A 36-month commitment with no initial payment
1 Year Partial Upfront: A 12-month commitment with a partial payment made upfront for greater discount
3 Year Partial Upfront: A 36-month commitment with a partial payment made upfront for greater discount
1 Year All Upfront: A 12-month commitment with the entire cost paid upfront for maximum discount
3 Year All Upfront: A 36-month commitment with the entire cost paid upfront for maximum discount