Introduction

This feature provides recommendations for scheduling automatic stop and start for virtual machines (VMs) based on consistently low usage. Recommendations are proposed only for on-demand VM’s.

Example: Assume there is a VM that shows as having very low usage from 00:00 hrs. UTC to 05:00 hrs UTC. as per the usage report. The system will provide a recommendation that the VM could be turned off for the times when it's not in use, which would help reduce the costs incurred by running that VM.

Scheduling a Recommendation

To configure a Schedule Recommendation, the following steps need to be followed:

1. Click on Schedule Recommendation, the page will display the list of resources which could potentially save costs if the provided schedule recommendation is applied.
2. The screen will also display the total potential monthly savings and the total number of resources impacted across cloud accounts, subscriptions, or projects. You can view recommendations by clicking the eye icon.
3. Clicking the eye icon leads to a page that displays a list of resources in the cloud account along with details for which the schedule recommendation can be applied.

Detailed descriptions of the content highlighted previously is mentioned in the table below:

4. Click on the specific resource for which the schedule recommendation has to be applied. This can be done by clicking the eye icon as shown in the images below.
5. Clicking this icon will show the detailed recommendation page. Hovering over the Recommendation tab will give the details of the recommendation suggested by CoreStack. In this case, the recommendation suggested by CoreStack stops the resource during the specific time.
6. The Overview tab displays a graphical representation of the resource utilization based on an hourly time difference.
7. Clicking on the Utilization Metrics tab will display the CPU utilization, Networking, and NetworkOut data. Also, there is an option available to view this data based on the duration highlighted.
8. The Utilization Definition tab provides a view of resource utilization levels of the metrics considered for the recommendation.
9. The Actions tab provides you with a list of actions which can be applied to the resource based on the recommendation given by CoreStack.

The options you can use include the following:

• Remediate Now: This option will allow the user to apply the recommendation immediately. Clicking this leads to the configuration page as shown in the images below. Enter the details in the highlighted section and click Apply. The recommendation will be applied immediately.
• Postpone: This option allows the user to postpone the action on the recommendation either by a couple of hours during the day or by a couple of days. Click Apply after the required information is updated.
• Reject: This option will allow the user to reject the recommendation provided by CoreStack for various reasons. There are a set of possible reasons listed from which the user can select the appropriate reason. If the appropriate reason is not listed, the user can enter their own reason in the provided text box and click on Apply. Once rejected, the resource is not considered for any further schedule recommendations. Rejected recommendations and resources are listed under Cost Optimizer > Activity log.

Schedule Recommendation Based on Maximum/Average Statistical Data

The system generates schedule recommendations for resources considering their maximum resource utilization value (High confidence recommendation), and also generates recommendations of resources considering average resource utilization value (Medium confidence recommendation).

The resources listed under both these categories are mutually exclusive.

Navigating the Schedule Recommendations Dashboard

Follow the below steps to access the Schedule Recommendations dashboard view and filter it as per your needs:

1. Click Cost > Cost Optimizer > Optimize Usage

2. Click Schedule Recommendations.

3. Click Actions to view the visibility page for the respective cloud service provider.

In the Statistical Method column, the confidence level of the recommendation appears:

• Maximum: Recommendation with high confidence against resource utilization metrics (Average CPU usage value between 1 hour, Maximum CPU usage value between 1 hour).
• Average: Recommendation with medium confidence against resource utilization metrics.

4. Click Filter.

5. In Schedule Finding, you can filter by hourly or weekly schedules.

6. In Statistical Method, you can filter by maximum or average recommendation methods.

7. In Potential Savings, you can set a saving amount range for which you want to filter.

8. Click Apply Filters to view select records based on schedule and statistical method.