Fulfilling the Requirement: Usage Costs and Forecasting for EC2 Instances in AWS

Correct Answer: C.

The AWS Documentation mentions the following.

AWS provides a free reporting tool called Cost Explorer that enables you to analyze the cost and usage of your EC2 instances and the usage of your Reserved Instances.

Cost Explorer is a free tool that you can use to view charts of your usage and costs.

You can view data up to the last 13 months and forecast how much you are likely to spend for the next three months.

You can use Cost Explorer to see patterns in how much you spend on AWS resources over time, identify areas that need further inquiry, and see trends that you can use to understand your costs.

You also can specify time ranges for the data and view time data by day or by month.

Option A is incorrect because this is a recommendations-based tool in AWS.

Option B is incorrect because this will give the listing of the EC2 resources and the associated costs.

Option D is incorrect because this is a configuration-based tool.

For more information on usage reports, please refer to the below URL-

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/usage-reports.html

The best option to fulfill the requirement of knowing the usage costs for the current set of EC2 instances and get a clear forecast of future usage and costs is to use the Cost Explorer (option C).

Cost Explorer is a tool within the AWS Management Console that provides cost and usage information. It enables customers to visualize, understand, and manage their AWS costs and usage over time. It provides an interactive interface that helps to identify trends, identify cost drivers, and optimize resource utilization.

Cost Explorer can be used to view the historical data for up to the last 13 months, and it can also be used to create custom reports and set up alerts to notify you of any cost overruns. It allows you to view and analyze your costs by service, tag, account, region, and usage type. You can also view your costs in daily, monthly, or yearly granularity.

To use Cost Explorer, you need to have the appropriate permissions to access the service. You can grant access to Cost Explorer by using the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) service. After granting access, you can access the Cost Explorer from the AWS Management Console.

Once you have access to Cost Explorer, you can view the usage costs for the current set of EC2 instances by selecting the EC2 service from the navigation pane. You can then view the cost and usage data for your EC2 instances and create custom reports to forecast future usage and costs.

In conclusion, the Cost Explorer is the best option to fulfill the requirement of knowing the usage costs for the current set of EC2 instances and get a clear forecast of the future usage and costs.