Resource utilization

Q: How deeply does Amazon Web Services in Action, Third Edition: An in-depth guide to AWS cover resource utilization?

Explains thresholds, a Redis host-versus-process measurement trap, and the metric-to-alarm-to-policy path; it does not derive queuing theory.

As explained in Amazon Web Services in Action, Third Edition: An in-depth guide to AWS

CPU utilization is the proportion of processor capacity consumed by a system or workload over a measurement interval.

CPU utilization is the percentage of processor capacity a workload uses during a measurement interval. In AWS, CloudWatch collects CPUUtilization and other metrics so you can monitor capacity and respond to changing load. section 11.5 section 17.2.2

High utilization can mean long waits, not just a busy processor. Wait time can rise sharply around 80–90% utilization because work arrives unevenly. Leave capacity for bursts rather than treating 100% as an operating target. section 11.5.1

Check what a percentage measures before acting on it. An ElastiCache host can show low overall CPU utilization while a single-threaded Redis process saturates one core. Monitor EngineCPUUtilization for that process; also watch swap usage, which can hurt an in-memory cache’s performance. section 11.5.1

To scale an EC2 application with CPU utilization:

Choose a CloudWatch metric and scope it to the instances in an Auto Scaling group. An alarm can evaluate a statistic over specified periods against a threshold. section 17.2.2
Connect the alarm to a scaling policy that changes the group’s desired instance count, or use target tracking to specify a CPU target without defining scaling steps and thresholds yourself. section 17.2.2 section 17.3.1

Scaling a WordPress site

A WordPress deployment places Apache web servers behind a load balancer, with shared data in RDS and EFS. Its Auto Scaling group uses target tracking with ASGAverageCPUUtilization set to 70. As CPU load changes, the policy adjusts the number of EC2 instances. The load balancer distributes requests across them. section 17.3.1 section 17.3

Listing 17.6 Creating a scalable, HA WordPress setup, part 3

ScalingPolicy:
  Type: 'AWS::AutoScaling::ScalingPolicy'                     #1
  Properties:
    AutoScalingGroupName: !Ref AutoScalingGroup               #2
    PolicyType: TargetTrackingScaling                         #3
    TargetTrackingConfiguration:                              #4
      PredefinedMetricSpecification:                          #5
        PredefinedMetricType: ASGAverageCPUUtilization        #6
      TargetValue: 70                                         #7
    EstimatedInstanceWarmup: 60                               #8

See the CloudFormation scaling policy’s predefined average-CPU metric, target value of 70, and instance warmup setting. section 17.3.1

How Amazon Web Services in Action, Third Edition: An in-depth guide to AWS covers it

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Also explained in

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Acing the Certified Kubernetes Administrator Exam, Second EditionResource utilization is the amount of CPU or memory currently consumed by a node or workload.
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Microsoft Azure in ActionCPU utilization, or CPU usage, is the proportion of a virtual machine's processor capacity consumed during a measurement interval.
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Machine Learning Platform EngineeringResource utilization is a measurement of the computational resources consumed by a running application, such as CPU, memory, or capacity.
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Apache Kafka in ActionCPU utilization is the proportion of processor capacity occupied by executing work over a measurement interval.
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Kubernetes in Action, Second EditionInfrastructure utilization is the proportion of available computing resources that are actively used by workloads.

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Related concepts

monitoringmeasured by · Monitoring is the ongoing observation and measurement of a system’s behavior, state, or operational signals to assess its condition and detect changes or problems.
performancekind of · Performance is the measurable effectiveness or operational behavior of a system under specified conditions, assessed through relevant qualities such as task results, speed, responsiveness, throughput, or resource use.
resource allocationcontrasts with · Resource allocation is the assignment of limited resources among competing activities, workloads, or components according to requirements, priorities, and constraints.
kubectl topmeasured by · kubectl top is a kubectl command that displays current CPU and memory usage for Kubernetes nodes or pods.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Amazon Web Services in Action, Third Edition: An in-depth guide to AWS. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.