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Cost Explorer

Cost Explorer feature traces all expenses incurred from service accounts registered in Cloudforet. Cost data, having been cleaned, can be found in Dashboard or Cost analysis.

The amount used by period can be checked based on a Budget set by a user and Budget use notification can also be set up.

1 - Dashboard

In Cost dashboard, users can view cost data at a glance through a default dashboard or a custom dashboard with any combination of widgets.

Default Dashboard

Below is a dashboard that is currently provided by default:

Monthly cost statistics

This is a dashboard that charts costs that occurred in the cloud and that shows the status of budget use based on diverse group statistics.

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CDN and traffic cost

This is a dashboard that charts data transfers and the status of costs that occurred status of AWS Data-Transfer and AWS CloudFront.

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Creating a dashboard

(1) Click the [Create dashboard] icon button in the left menu list on the [Cost Explorer > Dashboard] page.

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(2) Enter the [Create dashboard] page and select a template to be applied to a new dashboard.

(2-1) You can select the default template provided by Cloudforet or clone an existing dashboard.

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(2-2) When duplicating an existing dashboard, you can choose whether to include filters applied to that dashboard as well.

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(3) Select exposure method. My dashboard is visible only to a user, and public is visible to all users with view permission on the [Cost Explorer > Dashboard] page.

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(4) Click the [Create] button.

Delete dashboard

(1) Select the dashboard you want to delete from the dashboard list on the left.

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(2) Click the [Settings] icon button next to the selected dashboard name, and then select [Delete] from the dropdown.

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(3) Click the [OK] button in the [Delete dashboard] modal dialog to delete the dashboard.

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Edit dashboard

If you click the [Edit] button on the right side of the dashboard page, you can enter the dashboard edit page and edit dashboard names or widgets.

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Editing the dashboard name

You can edit names of dashboards in the input form at the top.

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Adding widgets

There are two widgets you can add: default and custom widgets. Default widgets are widgets that can be created with widget templates provided by Cloudforet, and custom widgets are widgets based on queries and created on the [Cost Explorer > Cost analysis] page.

Adding a default widget

(1) Click the [Add widget] button on the right.

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(2) Select the [Basic] tab in the [Add new widget] modal dialog.

(2-1) Select a template from the [Widget template] list on the left.

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(2-2) Enter the [Name] of the widget. Depending on the widget type, you may need to select [Group statistics].

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(3) Click the [OK] button to finish adding the widget.

Adding a custom widget

(1) Click the [Add widget] button on the right.

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(2) Select the [Custom] tab in the [Add new widget] modal dialog.

(2-1) In the [Cost analysis query] list at the bottom left, click the [Add to custom widget] button of the query you want to apply to the custom widget.

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(2-2) When the added custom widget appears in the [Widget template] list at the top left, select it.

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(2-3) Enter a name for the widget.

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(2-4) Click the [OK] button to finish adding the widget.

Changing the order of widgets

You can change the order by dragging and dropping the [Reorder] icon button to the left of the widget name in the widget list.

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Editing a widget

(1) Click the [Edit] icon button in the upper right corner of the widget.

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(2) After editing the widget name or group statistics, click the [OK] button.

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Deleting a widget

(1) Click the [Delete] icon button in the upper right corner of the widget.

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(2) When the [Delete widget] modal dialog opens, click the [OK] button.

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Dashboard settings

Editing the dashboard name

(1) Click the [Edit] icon button next to the dashboard title.

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(2) After changing the name of the dashboard, click the [OK] button.

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Filtering settings

By setting the filter, you can view data on the dashboard by filtering it by the criteria you want.

(1) Click the [Filter] icon button at the top of the dashboard.

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(2) After selecting the desired filter, click the [OK] button.

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Setting up duration

You can select the duration menu from the [Duration] dropdown at the top right of the dashboard, or set the duration directly through the [Select duration] menu.

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If you set the duration directly, you can set the interval on a monthly basis for up to 12 months.

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If you check the [Fix date] option on the left of the [Duration] drop-down, the set date is maintained even when refreshed.

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Exchange rate settings

You can select the exchange rate from the [Exchange rate] dropdown at the top right of the dashboard. When selected, data in all charts and tables is converted to the corresponding exchange rate and displayed.

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Home dashboard settings

If you set a specific dashboard as your home dashboard, you will be taken directly to that dashboard page when you enter the [Cost Explorer > Dashboard] page. Information at home dashboard settings is stored in your browser and not shared with other users.

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Duplicating the dashboard

You can access the [Duplicate] menu by clicking the [More] icon button next to the dashboard title. cost-dashboard-duplicate-dashboard-01

You can set the following items in the dashboard duplication form.

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  • Dashboard name
  • Whether to duplicate the filter: If you enable this option, data including the filter settings on the dashboard will be duplicated.
  • Dashboard exposure method: Choose between public and my dashboard.

Downloading a dashboard as a PDF

You can download a dashboard as a PDF file by clicking the [Download] icon button at the top right of the dashboard.

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2 - Cost analysis

Cost analysis provides detailed analyses of cost data received from cloud providers.

By grouping or filtering data based on diverse conditions, you can view the desired cost data at a glance.

Verifying cost analysis

Selecting detailed criteria

Detailed criteria are criteria set for how data will be displayed. The form of the provided chart or table varies depending on the detailed criteria.

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  • Accumulated data: A pie chart is provided, and the table shows the total data for the selected period.
  • Daily data or monthly data: A column chart is provided, and the table shows the selected period by day or month. If you activate the [Accumulated] toggle button in the daily data and monthly data charts, you can see the accumulated cost data to date. cost-analysis-granularity-02

Setting up duration

Period menus that you can choose may appear differently depending on the detailed criteria. Select a menu from the [Duration] dropdown, or set it directly through the [Select duration] menu.

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Accumulated data and monthly data can be customized on a monthly basis, and the period can be set up to the length of 12 months. Daily data can be customized per day as a unit, and the period can be set up to 1 month maximum.

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Exchange rate settings

When you select the exchange rate you want to apply from the [Exchange rate] dropdown, the exchange rate is applied to the cost data in charts and tables.

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Group statistics settings

Data is grouped based on values that a user selects ​​in group statistics.

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You can select more than one result from group statistics. In the chart, only one selected result of group statistics is displayed, and in the table, you can see all the results from group statistics that you select.

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In addition to the groups shown by default, it is also possible to add other groups to categorize your cost in the way you want.

(1) Click the [settings] icon and then click the [ + Add More ] button. cost-analysis-groupby-03

(2) Search for the sepecific groups and add them. cost-analysis-groupby-04

(3) By selecting the added groups, you can analyze your cost in better ways. cost-analysis-groupby-05

Filter settings

One or more filters can be selected as with the group statistics, and the value that is set by the user is filtered by the "and" condition.

(1) Click the [Add filter] icon button.

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(2) When the [Filter settings] modal dialog opens, select the desired filter and click the [OK] button.

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Cost analysis query

To eliminate the hassle of having to reset detailed criteria and period every time you enter the [Cost Explorer > Cost analysis] page, we provide a feature of saving frequently used settings as a query.

Saving a query

(1) Set detailed criteria, group statistics, filters, etc.

(2) Click the [Save As] button in the upper right corner.

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(3) After entering the query name in the [Save Query] modal, click the [OK] button.

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Loading a query

On the [Cost Analysis] page, click the [Query List] icon button in the upper left corner, and then select one of the saved query lists to call the corresponding query.

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Editing a query name

You can edit the name of a saved query by clicking the [Edit] button after calling the query on the [Cost Analysis] page or by clicking the [Edit] button in the saved query list.

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Deleting a query

A saved query can be deleted by calling the query on the [Cost Analysis] page and clicking the [Delete] button or by clicking the [Delete] button in the saved query list.

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3 - Budget

Budget is a service that helps manage your budget by setting standards on costs incurred by each project.

Creating a budget

(1) Click the [Create budget] button at the top right of the [Cost Explorer > Budget] page.

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(2) Enter basic information

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(2-1) Enter the name of the budget.

(2-2) Select the project to be the target of budget management in the target item.

(2-3) Select the cost incurring criteria. If you select all as the cost type, all cost data related to the corresponding project will be imported. On the other hand, if you select account or region, only costs incurred by specific resources are imported.

(3) Enter the budget plan

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(3-1) Set a period for managing the budget.

(3-2) Choose how you want to manage your budget.

(3-3) Set the budget amount. If you selected Set total budget, enter the total budget amount. If you selected Set monthly budget, enter the monthly budget amount.

Check the set budget and usage status

The budget page provides a summary of your budget data and an overview of your budget for each project at a glance. You can use filters at the top to specify a period or apply an exchange rate, and you can search for a specific project or name using an advanced search.

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Budget detail page

On the budget detail page, you can view specific data for the created budget.

Budget summary

Under [Budget summary], you can check the monthly budget and cost trends through charts and tables.

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Set budget usage notifications

In [Budget usage notification settings], you can adjust the settings to receive a notification when the budget has been used up over a certain threshold. When the budget amount used goes over a certain percentage or the actual amount exceeds a certain amount, you can receive a notification through the notifications channel registered in advance.

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