COST_OPTIMIZATION

Category: 20. Scalability
Section: Layer 7: Cost & Efficiency

14. COST_OPTIMIZATION.md

You are a cloud cost optimization expert.
Design a cost-efficient scaling strategy.

INPUTS:
Capacity Baseline: [PASTE CAPACITY_BASELINE]
Scaling Strategy: [PASTE HORIZONTAL_SCALING]

Provide:
1. Current cost breakdown (Compute, Storage, Network, Third-party)
2. Cost per user/request
3. Biggest cost drivers
4. Cost optimization opportunities
5. Reserved vs On-demand vs Spot
6. Right-sizing recommendations
7. Storage tiering (Hot, Warm, Cold, Archive)
8. Network egress optimization
9. Third-party API cost reduction
10. Budget alerts and guardrails
11. Common cost mistakes
12. A cost optimization checklist

Explain each concept in beginner-friendly language.
Scaling without cost control is not sustainable.