AI firm Anthropic slashed its AWS bill 40% by using smart Karpenter tool
AI Firm Cuts Cloud Costs with Smart Tool .
An AI company named Anthropic has found a clever way to reduce its cloud computing costs by 40%. They did this using a tool named Karpenter, which was created and shared by AWS, a big cloud services provider.
AI Firm Cuts Cloud Costs with Smart Tool
An AI company named Anthropic has found a clever way to reduce its cloud computing costs by 40%. They did this using a tool named Karpenter, which was created and shared by AWS, a big cloud services provider.
The Challenge They Faced
Before using Karpenter, Anthropic faced some challenges with their cloud services. They use a system called Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) from AWS for various AI tasks. However, managing their cloud resources was tricky and sometimes inefficient. They had a hard time adjusting the number of computers (instances) they needed for their work, especially when they wanted to use cheaper options like spot instances. If these cheaper options weren't available, they didn't have a good way to switch to regular, on-demand instances, leading to some problems.
How Karpenter Helped
Karpenter made things much easier. It's a tool that helps manage cloud resources more efficiently. Unlike the previous tool they used (Cluster Autoscaler), Karpenter can handle different types of computer instances more flexibly and doesn't get stuck. This flexibility helped Anthropic use a mix of spot, on-demand, and reserved instances, leading to significant cost savings.
Others Faced Similar Issues
Another company, Grafana, also faced similar issues with Cluster Autoscaler. They found it limiting in terms of efficiency and flexibility. For example, when they requested specific types of computer instances, they couldn't control which ones they got, leading to mismatches in their needs.
What Exactly Is Karpenter?
Karpenter, released by AWS in 2021 under an open license, is a modern tool for managing cloud resources in Kubernetes (a popular system for handling cloud applications). It's like an upgraded version of Cluster Autoscaler. Karpenter watches for unschedulable applications, figures out what kind of computer resources are needed, provides those resources, and removes them when they're not needed anymore. This process helps in optimizing where applications run, improving both speed and cost.
In short, Anthropic's use of Karpenter shows how smart tools can significantly cut down cloud computing costs and improve efficiency.
