AWS Cost Explorer basics - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ service_behavior

intermediate

Understanding AWS Cost Explorer Data Granularity

A user wants to analyze their AWS costs with daily detail using AWS Cost Explorer. Which granularity setting should they choose to see daily cost data?

A HOURLY

B MONTHLY

C DAILY

D WEEKLY

💡 Hint

Think about the smallest time unit AWS Cost Explorer supports for cost granularity.

AWS Cost Explorer supports DAILY granularity to show cost data broken down by each day. MONTHLY and WEEKLY are coarser, and HOURLY is not supported for cost granularity.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Filtering Cost Data by Service in AWS Cost Explorer

Which filter should you apply in AWS Cost Explorer to view costs only for Amazon EC2 services?

A Filter by Linked Account

B Filter by Service

C Filter by Tag Key

D Filter by Usage Type

💡 Hint

Think about which filter directly relates to AWS products like EC2, S3, etc.

The 'Service' filter lets you select specific AWS services such as Amazon EC2 to view their cost data separately.

❓ Architecture

advanced

Best Practice for Cost Allocation Tags in AWS Cost Explorer

A company wants to track costs by project and environment using AWS Cost Explorer. What is the best practice to achieve this?

A Enable and use cost allocation tags for project and environment on resources

B Use AWS Cost Categories to group costs by project and environment

C Manually export billing data and filter by project and environment in a spreadsheet

D Use AWS Budgets to track costs by project and environment

💡 Hint

Consider how AWS Cost Explorer can automatically group costs by custom labels.

Enabling cost allocation tags for project and environment allows AWS Cost Explorer to break down costs by these tags automatically, making tracking easier and more accurate.

❓ security

advanced

IAM Permissions Required for AWS Cost Explorer Access

Which IAM permission is required to allow a user to view cost and usage reports in AWS Cost Explorer?

A ce:GetCostAndUsage

B s3:GetObject

C ec2:DescribeInstances

D billing:ViewBilling

💡 Hint

Look for the permission that starts with 'ce' related to Cost Explorer.

The 'ce:GetCostAndUsage' permission allows users to retrieve cost and usage data from AWS Cost Explorer.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Optimizing Cost Explorer Queries for Large AWS Accounts

A large AWS account with many resources experiences slow AWS Cost Explorer queries. What is the best practice to improve query performance?

A Export all billing data to CSV and analyze offline only

B Increase the number of IAM users querying Cost Explorer simultaneously

C Disable cost allocation tags to simplify data processing

D Reduce the date range and use filters to limit data scope in queries

💡 Hint

Think about how limiting data scope affects query speed.

Reducing the date range and applying filters limits the amount of data processed, improving query speed and responsiveness in AWS Cost Explorer.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of AWS Cost Explorer?

easy

A. To monitor network traffic

B. To create AWS virtual machines

C. To help you track and understand your AWS spending

D. To manage user permissions

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand AWS Cost Explorer's function

   AWS Cost Explorer is designed to show your cloud spending clearly and help manage costs.

2. Step 2: Compare options with this function

   Options A, B, and D describe other AWS services or features unrelated to cost tracking.

3. Final Answer:

   To help you track and understand your AWS spending -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Cost tracking = C [OK]

Hint: Cost Explorer is for spending, not resources or permissions [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing Cost Explorer with EC2 or IAM services
• Thinking it manages network or security settings

2. Which of the following is the correct way to start AWS Cost Explorer from the AWS Console?

easy

A. Go to Services > S3 > Cost Explorer

B. Go to Services > EC2 > Cost Explorer

C. Go to Services > IAM > Cost Explorer

D. Go to Services > Billing > Cost Explorer

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify where billing tools are located

   Cost Explorer is found under Billing in the AWS Console, not under EC2, IAM, or S3.

2. Step 2: Match the correct navigation path

   Only Go to Services > Billing > Cost Explorer correctly shows Services > Billing > Cost Explorer.

3. Final Answer:

   Go to Services > Billing > Cost Explorer -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Billing section = A [OK]

Hint: Cost Explorer is under Billing, not compute or storage [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Looking for Cost Explorer under EC2 or S3
• Confusing IAM with billing tools

3. You use AWS Cost Explorer to view your monthly AWS costs grouped by service. If your report shows $100 for EC2 and $50 for S3, what does this mean?

medium

A. Your EC2 and S3 usage is free this month

B. You spent $100 on EC2 and $50 on S3 this month

C. You reserved EC2 instances worth $100 and S3 storage worth $50

D. You have $100 credit for EC2 and $50 credit for S3

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand grouping by service in Cost Explorer

   Grouping by service shows how much money you spent on each AWS service in the selected time.

2. Step 2: Interpret the amounts shown

   $100 for EC2 and $50 for S3 means those are your costs, not credits or reserved amounts.

3. Final Answer:

   You spent $100 on EC2 and $50 on S3 this month -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Costs shown = spending, not credits or free usage [OK]

Hint: Costs mean spending, not credits or reservations [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking amounts are credits or free usage
• Confusing cost with reserved capacity

4. You tried to filter your AWS Cost Explorer report by a tag, but no data appears. What is the most likely reason?

medium

A. The tag is not activated for cost allocation in AWS Billing settings

B. You have no AWS account

C. Cost Explorer does not support filtering by tags

D. You need to restart your AWS instance

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand tag filtering in Cost Explorer

   To filter by tags, the tags must be activated for cost allocation in Billing preferences.

2. Step 2: Identify why no data appears

   If the tag is not activated, Cost Explorer cannot use it to filter, so no data shows.

3. Final Answer:

   The tag is not activated for cost allocation in AWS Billing settings -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Tag activation needed for filtering = A [OK]

Hint: Activate tags in billing before filtering by them [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming Cost Explorer can't filter by tags
• Thinking AWS instance restart fixes this
• Believing no AWS account is the cause

5. You want to analyze your AWS costs for the last 3 months, grouped by linked accounts and filtered to only show costs for EC2 and S3. Which steps should you take in AWS Cost Explorer?

hard

A. Set the time range to last 3 months, group by linked accounts, and filter services to EC2 and S3

B. Set the time range to last 3 months, group by service, and filter accounts to EC2 and S3

C. Set the time range to last month, group by linked accounts, and filter services to all except EC2 and S3

D. Set the time range to last 3 months, group by tags, and filter services to EC2 only

Solution

1. Step 1: Choose correct time range and grouping

   Set the time range to last 3 months and group by linked accounts to see costs per account.

2. Step 2: Apply service filters correctly

   Filter services to only EC2 and S3 to focus on those costs.

3. Step 3: Verify options

   Set the time range to last 3 months, group by linked accounts, and filter services to EC2 and S3 matches all requirements. Other options have wrong grouping, filtering, or time range.

4. Final Answer:

   Set the time range to last 3 months, group by linked accounts, and filter services to EC2 and S3 -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Time + grouping + filter = B [OK]

Hint: Match time, grouping, and filters exactly for correct report [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Mixing grouping by service vs linked accounts
• Filtering accounts instead of services
• Choosing wrong time range