IO Optimized Instructions

Execute commands via the AWS MCP server when connected (sandboxed, audit-logged). Fall back to the AWS CLI or shell otherwise.

When This Applies

User mentions: I/O-Optimized, aurora-iopt1, “should I switch storage type”, “is I/O-Optimized worth it”, “how much would I/O-Optimized save”, or storage-configuration cost comparison.

Tasks

1. Acquire Target Parameters

Three modes: live single-cluster (cluster id, region, optional --days; default 14, min viable 7); live fleet (region, optional --days); offline (instance type, num instances, storage GiB, monthly I/O in millions).

Constraints for parameter acquisition:

• You MUST ask for all required parameters upfront in a single prompt
• You MUST NOT guess a cluster identifier — ask the user explicitly
• You MUST confirm the captured parameters before running the analyzer
• You SHOULD default to live mode when AWS credentials are available

2. Run the Analyzer

Constraints:

• You MUST use the script rather than hand-computing; the script fetches live CloudWatch I/O data and Pricing API rates, applies extrapolation, and handles data-quality flags
• You MUST pass --region matching the cluster’s region
• You SHOULD prefer --format json when post-processing and --format table for direct user display

Add --days 30 to change the lookback window (default 14).

3. Handle Skipped Clusters

The analyzer returns skipped: true for clusters with no DB instances (a cluster whose last writer/reader was deleted, paused, or mid-migration) — no compute to price.

Constraints:

• You MUST surface skipped clusters to the user with the script’s reason string
• You MUST NOT include skipped clusters in fleet dollar totals (the script already excludes them)
• You MUST NOT attempt to force a comparison on a skipped cluster

4. Interpret Data Quality

The script tags results by lookback-window coverage: insufficient (<3d, no switch), short (3–7d, tentative), adequate (7–14d, reliable), good (14+d, high-confidence). Full table and reasoning in pricing-tables.md.

Constraints:

• You MUST surface the data_quality tag when presenting a recommendation
• You MUST NOT give a confident switch recommendation when the tag is short or insufficient because weekly patterns (weekday vs weekend) can shift the result
• When the tag is short or insufficient, You MUST explicitly mention the 30-day switch cooldown as an additional reason to wait — switching Standard → I/O-Optimized is limited to once every 30 days, so acting on thin data is a 30-day commitment in that direction (reverting to Standard is allowed at any time)
• You MUST NOT describe a Standard → I/O-Optimized switch as freely reversible when the data_quality is short — that direction carries a 30-day commitment, making it a meaningful one-way door on thin data (the reverse, I/O-Optimized → Standard, can be done at any time)
• You SHOULD offer to rerun with a longer window once more data is available

5. Present Results

Every assessment MUST include: (1) side-by-side monthly cost table (Standard vs I/O-Optimized) with compute, storage, I/O line items; (2) I/O cost as a percentage of Standard total — the deciding factor; (3) recommendation: standard or io_optimized; (4) one-sentence reason tied to the 25% threshold and the dollar delta; (5) fleet runs: per-cluster table plus total “optimal mix” savings; (6) skipped clusters: explanation.

Constraints:

• You MUST cite the 25% breakeven rule in your reasoning so the user understands it
• You MUST show the dollar delta, not just the percentage
• Storage-type switch is online (no downtime) for most instance classes; clusters using NVMe/Optimized Reads instances (r6gd, r6id, r8gd) require a restart with brief unavailability — check instance classes before advising on impact. Switching Standard → I/O-Optimized is limited to once every 30 days; switching back to Standard can be done at any time.
• You MUST warn the user about the 30-day cooldown on the Standard → I/O-Optimized direction and confirm instance class before executing. If NVMe instances are present, warn about restart.
• After user confirms, execute aws rds modify-db-cluster --storage-type aurora-iopt1 via MCP tools. Alternatively, provide the full CLI command for the user to run.

Troubleshooting

See pricing-tables.md §Troubleshooting for the full list (cluster-not-found, zero I/O data, pricing-fetch failures, skipped/no-instances, near-25%-threshold cases).

Deep-Dive References

• pricing-tables.md — pricing-constant & data-quality detail tables, monthly cost formulas, skipped: true handling. Use for inline computation when you can’t run the script.
• worked-examples.md — three worked examples (offline with the $1.038/hr db.r6g.2xlarge math, insufficient-data, empty-cluster).
• pricing.md — breakeven math derivation, switch mechanics, commitment-pricing interaction
• data-collection.md — CloudWatch metrics, extrapolation methodology, short-window handling

25% breakeven rule (the single most important fact)

Aurora I/O-Optimized trades a 30% compute premium for zero I/O charges and a ~125% higher storage rate ($0.225 vs $0.10 per GiB-month). It wins when I/O cost ≥ 25% of the Standard total (compute + Standard storage + Standard I/O). Tiers: < 20% → stay Standard (confident); 20–25% → stay Standard (marginal, monitor); 25–30% → borderline, re-check monthly (could flip with growth); > 30% → switch to I/O-Optimized (confident).

Run python3 scripts/io_optimized_analyzer.py ... if shell is available; otherwise compute inline using pricing-tables.md (constants + formulas) and worked-examples.md.

One-directional cooldown (canonical guidance is in the verbatim Task 4 and Task 5 MUST/MUST-NOT constraints above): the 30-day cooldown applies to the Standard → I/O-Optimized direction only; reverting to Standard is allowed at any time. Lookback-window detail is in pricing-tables.md.