What is our primary use case?
My main use case for CAST AI is to optimize cloud costs and to see if there are any improved performances, especially automating Kubernetes platforms. I don't use it on a daily basis, but this represents my major use case.
I used CAST AI as a prototype while experimenting with it. I used it for three different approaches: workload right-sizing, intelligent node auto-scaling, and spot instance optimization with respect to cloud costs. I analyzed resource consumption to avoid paying for compute resources that were not being used. With respect to Kubernetes automation, I configured auto-scaling policies so that the platform could automatically provision nodes and optimize workload placement, removing any unnecessary capacity that was being used.
Majorly, I was experimenting with CAST AI to optimize Kubernetes infrastructure and to rebalance the clusters being used on the cloud.
How has it helped my organization?
Regarding cost saving, I could optimize certain cloud utilization costs. That was my major use case for CAST AI—understanding how much cloud resources we were using and where I could cut down costs. With respect to time saving, I monitored certain resource utilization, adjusted certain node capacity, and managed the scaling aspect, which was easily tuned with CAST AI's auto-scaling features. Regarding performance issues, CAST AI helped me allocate resources more efficiently to respond to changing workload demands, which improved the infrastructure utilization and consistency between infrastructures during heavy traffic overload or traffic fluctuation.
I don't have an exact calculation on cost savings, but I could reduce approximately 25 to 30% of cloud cost reduction. I could save nearly 2,000 to 3,000 a month.
What is most valuable?
The best features are the automated node auto-scaling, where Kubernetes worker nodes are based on application demand and select cost-efficient instance types. I used it for some of my EC2 instances. I would also mention the spot instance automation, which features certain fallback mechanisms. It supports fallback to on-demand capacity and offers prediction, which reduces compute costs between workloads and tolerates interruptions. CAST AI also includes Kubernetes security, which helps reduce risk alongside infrastructure optimization. Additionally, it supports multi-cloud Kubernetes support, which is valuable since I use different cloud architectures based on different use cases, enabling consistency across different cloud networks.
I used CAST AI primarily to have automated Kubernetes and cloud cost optimization. I made CAST AI an infrastructure layer. I used CAST AI primarily on AWS EKS, which measured improvement through multiple EC2 infrastructure costs and node utilization, and how I could optimize certain costs.
CAST AI helped me scale more dynamic instances while maintaining excess capacity of these compute resources on the cloud. I also tried to experiment with optimization.
Regarding features, the continuous optimization capability is valuable instead of manually reviewing Kubernetes resource utilization. I can adjust the infrastructure every few weeks, and it continuously evaluates workloads. The combination of cost efficiency, automation, and scalability makes CAST AI valuable and more scalable.
What needs improvement?
CAST AI is a useful platform for automating Kubernetes infrastructure and reducing cloud costs. However, I see improvement needed in cost visibility and reporting. There is a dashboard, but it doesn't showcase predictive scaling. A predictive scaling feature could be added where I can see more transparency around automated infrastructure decisions, especially when nodes and workloads are being replaced. There is a predictive cost involved, and that should be readily seen by CAST AI's dashboard so I could make better infrastructure choices and auto-scale in a better way. I would position myself to focus on better cost reporting and smarter predictive scaling as an added feature which could be a selling point for CAST AI.
Additionally, there is the team saving concept where there could be visibility for different teams.
Regarding understanding CAST AI's use case, I attended AWS re:Invent, where they sent out a demo to use CAST AI and other resources. I downloaded the necessary features and undertook the course to understand most of CAST AI's features. Although there was a demo and educational materials, CAST AI's use case needs to be more user-friendly for new users to understand what CAST AI is, what it is truly useful for, and where it exactly stands. The engagement with new users was limited.
I could watch videos and have understanding about Kubernetes and where I could use CAST AI, but what about a person who would not know about Kubernetes or any scaling features? If a new organization wants to know about CAST AI and its use cases, they might face feasibility issues in understanding CAST AI and its applications. If there is a handbook, playbook, or basic guide showing where CAST AI can work well for them, that would help a lot for new users of CAST AI.
I have mentioned most of the improvements I identified.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used CAST AI as a launch product, which I was introduced to last year as part of the AWS re:Invent program where they reached out to me to use their services. That is how I have been using CAST AI.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are some stability issues with CAST AI, especially during fluctuating workloads, where I saw that it was predicting not precisely or accurately. However, I feel this occurs only on certain instances, but not majorly on similar instances.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As I mentioned earlier, I did face some scalability or stability issues, but CAST AI does handle a lot of auto-scaling needs, especially with Kubernetes, and that is why I would use CAST AI. There were many workloads on Kubernetes which had to be automated and auto-scaled based on the different infrastructures involved in different projects. CAST AI provided great instances for all of these use cases. My experience with changing workloads, scaling up or down of services was positive.
How are customer service and support?
I never faced any issues since I was using CAST AI as a playground or a black box. I didn't face many issues, and I believe CAST AI has a good customer support team that is always ready to troubleshoot and assist with auto-scaling.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before CAST AI, I used some other cloud-native tools. On AWS, there was Cost Explorer. On Kubernetes, there was Cluster Autoscaler. I used Prometheus and Grafana for monitoring CPU, memory, and cost utilization. These were the tools I used before CAST AI. CAST AI can combine all of these tools into a single platform and provide me with most of the answers for my use cases. I got to know about CAST AI because I attended the AWS re:Invent conference last year, when I started using CAST AI.
What was our ROI?
I already mentioned the cost savings of approximately 25 to 30% reduction in cloud infrastructure investment costs, which was a positive factor for me. Regarding fewer employees, I don't think CAST AI would replace employees at this time. That would be ambitious.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The setup cost is positive, especially considering the cost savings and infrastructure automation it provides. The connection is straightforward with the Kubernetes cluster. I didn't face many issues with configuring IAM permissions or the auto-scaling policies. It can take additional effort, especially in production environments where there are workload requirements and other necessary factors which would make the setup process less straightforward. A guide with recommended configurations or easier troubleshooting would be helpful during the setup process.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I used different tools as previously mentioned.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate CAST AI a seven.
There are major improvements that can be made. With respect to auto-scaling, most cloud-based services are capable of showing these features. Since we are moving towards agents and multi-agent orchestration, there are certain features most cloud services provide. The novelty and usability of CAST AI could be replaced. However, where they cannot be replaced is the reason I add seven.
Since I was experimenting with CAST AI as a tool for optimizing core features, I didn't share much of my data with CAST AI, or I made it masked. I didn't have much sensitive data to provide.
I would say CAST AI is accurate and reliable because I saw a major reduction in cost savings for cloud optimization and the compute costs I was facing. That was a reliable resource where I could optimize costs. It was accurate in understanding where it could auto-scale certain tasks where there was traffic fluctuation. I would say it is reliable.
I would advise learning more about CAST AI because it requires some pre-learning to use it. It doesn't come as a free tool or service where you would need no understanding about CAST AI and could just incorporate it.
That wouldn't be a good procedure to adopt CAST AI into an organization. Learn what its best use case is, or you would majorly lose money if you don't want to use CAST AI in your use case but are still using it. If you don't have many instances on cloud-based infrastructure or compute instances, or a major Kubernetes auto-scaling need, then using CAST AI for your use case would provide limited value. Think about what use case you are looking into and understand where CAST AI and its features can be incorporated, then make an investment. That is my advice.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)