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Triage AWS RDS DB CPU Utilization LOW_CPU_UTILIZATION

  1. Configure AWS RDS DB CPU Utilization
  2. Use Case for AWS RDS DB CPU Utilization
  3. Triage Guides by Violation Type
    1. Triage AWS RDS DB CPU Utilization HIGH_CPU_UTILIZATION
    2. Triage AWS RDS DB CPU Utilization LOW_CPU_UTILIZATION

Triage Guide for LOW_CPU_UTILIZATION

0) Understand​

Low CPU utilization on an RDS DB instance indicates that the instance might be over-provisioned for its workload. This presents an opportunity for cost savings without impacting performance.

1) Validate​

  • Data Source: AWS CloudWatch
  • Manual Retrieval: Execute a CloudWatch GetMetricStatistics API call for the CPUUtilization metric of the specified RDS DB instance.
  • Frequency: This policy runs reactively based on historical CPU utilization data over the past 30 days.

2) Triage​

  • Impact: Over-provisioned instances lead to unnecessary costs.
  • Worsening Over Time: No, but continued over-provisioning results in ongoing higher costs.
  • Possible Downtime: Reducing instance size might require a maintenance window.

3) Act​

  • Consider downsizing the instance to a smaller size or consolidating workloads onto fewer instances.
  • Explore opportunities to leverage reserved instances or savings plans for cost optimization.

4) Reflect​

  • If this alert was not useful, review the thresholds and adjust them if needed.
  • Ensure the conditions under which the database runs, and the application load expectations are well documented.