This page describe the metrics and their respective calculations used by Cost Insights.

MetricDescription
Budget SizeBudget Size is the calculated value based on the previous month for non-fixed budgets or the value set by the user for fixed budgets.
Budget UtilizationBudget Utilization is the percentage of the budget that has been used.
Current CostCurrent Cost is the current accumulated value for all Budget entities belonging to assigned teams since the start of the month.
Forecasted CostForecasted Cost is the linear forecast of what the value of Current Cost will be at the end of the month.
Idle Cost Idle Cost is calculated as the total cost of cluster resources that are unused.
Idle CPU CostIdle CPU Cost is calculated as the cost of unutilized CPU on a node.
Recommended CPU (pod)

Recommended CPU is the recommended CPU requests value for a pod. Recommended CPU is calculated as follows:

Recommended CPU = (Average CPU usage + CPU Usage stddev) / % Target CPU Utilization
CODE

The Recommended CPU includes recommendations for the minimum, maximum, and standard deviation values for the CPU:

  • Minimum CPU Usage is the minimum amount of CPU used by the pod during the selected time range.
  • Maximum CPU Usage is the maximum amount of CPU used by the pod during the selected time range.
  • CPU Standard Deviation is the standard deviation of the CPU usage for that pod during the selected time range.
Recommended Memory (pod)

Recommended Memory is the recommended memory (RAM) requests value for that pod. Recommended Memory is calculated as follows:

Recommended Memory = (Average RAM usage + RAM Usage stddev) / % Target RAM Utilization
CODE
The Recommended Memory includes recommendations for the minimum, maximum, and standard deviation values for the memory:
  • Minimum Memory Usage is the minimum amount of RAM used by the pod during the selected time range. 
  • Maximum Memory Usage is the maximum amount of RAM used by the pod during the selected time range.
  • Memory Standard Deviation is the standard deviation of the RAM usage for that pod during the selected time range.
Total Cost

Total Cost is calculated as the sum of Idle Cost and Utilized Cost.

 The Total Cost for Teams is an aggregation of all the costs for the assigned entities.

Utilized CostUtilized Cost is calculated as the sum of CPU Cost, Memory Cost, and Storage Cost.

Total Costs Over Time

The Total Costs Over Time is a bar graph on the Details page showing the Idle Cost, CPU Utilized Cost, Memory Utilized Cost, and Storage Utilized Cost over the period selected in Cisco Cloud Observability.

The following Total Costs Over Time graph visualizes the Idle Cost, CPU Utilized Cost, Memory Utilized Cost, and Storage Utilized Cost for a cluster entity over the selected time frame.

Cluster Scores

For the Cluster entity type, Cost Insights also provides a Cluster Score that is calculated based on how many resources were used within the cluster. The efficiency score is the deviation of actually used resources from the expected resources baseline.

Score RangeDescription
0–30A score between 0 and 30 means that most of the resources in the cluster are idling and the cluster should be downscaled in order to save money. 
31–60A score between 31 and 60 means that the cluster configuration should be improved. 
61-100A score between 61 and 100 means that the available cluster resources are used in an efficient way.