I.

Machine Specifications

Desktop Technical Specification

Figure 1. DELL INSPIRON 3020

Figure 2. 8GB Single DDR4 3200Mhz

DEVICE PRICE CPU MEMORY HDD SDD

Dell Inspiron 3020 ₱ 53,490.00 Intel I5-13400 8GB 3200Mhz DDR4 1TB 256GB
Kingston RAM ₱ 2,499.00 - 8GB 3200Mhz DDR4 - -
Built device ₱ 55,989.00 Intel I5-13400 16GB 3200Mhz DDR4 1TB 256GB

Links:

- Dell INSPIRON 3020 Core i5-13400 | 8GB RAM | 1TB HDD+256GB SSD | UHD GRAPHICS 730
SHARED | Dell SE2422H Monitor | WIN11 HOME | VillMan Computers
- Kingston Fury Beast 8gb 1x8 3200mhz Ddr4 Memory Black – EasyPC
Cloud Machine Specification

SERVICE CPU MEMORY HDD SDD

AWS a1.2xlarge EC2 instance 8 vCPUs 16GB - -
AWS EBS volumes - - 1TB 256GB
Cloud Machine 8 vCPUs 16GB 1TB 256GB

For the desktop, a pre-built computer was suggested with an additional RAM to partake on the
specification criteria. This was chosen because the convenience it gives.

For the cloud machine, an EC2 instance with a 2 volume EBS having 256GB, acting as the SSD, and 1TB,
acting as the HDD. This was chosen because of the flexibility, scalability and the convenience of pay-as-
you-go model of pricing.

The difference between the two is that the desktop is using a 10-core processor while the EC2 instance is
using an 8 vCPUs. This can be an advantage towards the desktop version. Beside that difference,
everything else is quite the same considering that there are 2 volumes of EBS acting as the SSD and HDD
though it is both as fast as an SSD.

II. Cost Estimation and Calculation

Desktop Machine
Capital Expenditure
Purchase Cost ₱ 55,989.00
Operating Expenditure
Running Time Monthly Yearly 3 Years
24 Hours (24/7) ₱ 1,183.41 ₱ 14,200.92 ₱ 42,602.76
9 Hours (8AM - 5PM) ₱ 443.78 ₱ 5,325.35 ₱ 15,976.04
Total Cost(CapEx + OpEx)
Running Time Monthly Yearly 3 Years
24 Hours (24/7) ₱ 57,172.41 ₱ 70,189.92 ₱ 98,591.76
9 Hours (8AM - 5PM) ₱ 56,432.78 ₱ 61,314.35 ₱ 71,965.04

Cloud Machine
24 Hours (24/7)
Cost Upfront Monthly Yearly 3-Years
(1) On-Demand Instances; ₱ - ₱ 9,320.00 ₱ 111,850.56 ₱ 335,551.68
(2) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ - ₱ 8,734.88 ₱ 104,818.56 ₱ -
of 1 year and no upfront
payments;

(3) Standard Reserved

₱ 42,678.72 ₱ 4,822.72 ₱ 57,872.64 ₱ -
Instance a Reservation term
of 1 year and partial upfront
payments;

(4) Standard Reserved

Instance a Reservation term
₱ 83,640.48 ₱ 1,266.16 ₱ 15,193.92 ₱ -
of 1 year and all upfront
payments;
(2) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ - ₱ 6,335.28 ₱ 76,023.36 ₱ 228,070.08
of 3 years and no upfront
payments;
(3) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ 84,474.32 ₱ 3,612.56 ₱ 43,350.72 ₱ 130,052.16
of 3 years and partial
upfront payments;
(4) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ 165,564.00 ₱ 1,266.16 ₱ 15,193.92 ₱ 45,581.76
of 3 years and all upfront
payments.
9 Hours (8AM - 5PM)
Cost Upfront Monthly Yearly 3-Years
(1) On-Demand Instances; ₱ - ₱ 4,082.14 ₱ 48,985.68 ₱ 146,957.04
(2) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ - ₱ 2,578.26 ₱ 30,939.15 ₱ 92,817.45
of 1 year and no upfront
payments;
(3) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ 42,678.72 ₱ 2,455.49 ₱ 29,465.86 ₱ -
of 1 year and partial upfront
payments;
(4) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ 83,640.48 ₱ 2,406.10 ₱ 28,873.15 ₱ -
of 1 year and all upfront
payments;
(2) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ - ₱ 1,749.89 ₱ 20,998.66 ₱ 62,995.97
of 3 years and no upfront
payments;
(3) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ 84,474.32 ₱ 1,620.06 ₱ 19,440.69 ₱ 58,322.07
of 3 years and partial
upfront payments;
(4) Standard Reserved
Instance a Reservation term
₱ 195,564.00 ₱ 1,266.16 ₱ 15,193.92 ₱ 45,581.76
of 3 years and all upfront
payments.
III. Evaluation, Findings, Analysis, Conclusions and Recommendation

The physical machine is a pre-built computer with an extra RAM to cater for the requirements of the
college. While the cloud machine uses a a1.2xlarge ECS instance with 2 volume of EBS. Using an online
calculator, the price for the operating expenses for the physical machine was computed in both the 9
hours and 24 hours a day interval for daily running time. For the cloud machine, the AWS price calculator
with an algorithm based approach on excel was used to automatically generate the price.

The physical machine’s cost is ₱ 55,989.00 (upfront cost), this includes the RAM stick already,
considering it’s operating expense of ₱ 443.78 for 9-hours daily in a month or ₱ 1,183.41 for 24-hours
daily in a month. A 3 year expense on using the physical machine is ₱ 71,965.04 (9-hours daily) and ₱
98,591.76 (24-hours daily).

The cloud machine’s cost ranges from ₱ 0.00 to ₱ 165,564.00 for a 3-years reservation period. It get’s
quite costly considering that there are still monthly expenses and the cost for the EBS storage on top of
that which is also a recurring expense. As a basis, the on demand service’s 24-hours daily machine for
cloud costs ₱ 335,551.68 and ₱ 146,957.04 if it’s 9-hours daily. Thus using a reserved instance is cheaper.

Given that these are the data that the tables present, I think that buying a physical machine is better
than opting for a cloud machine, because it is cheaper. Given that manpower is not a consideration for
this it’s safe to assume that configuring the administration and maintenance are done for free it is a better
option all together. Though in the even of including other expenses such as rental cost, manpower,
software license, cooling and the likes, it may be much expensive than the cloud counterpart since the
perks of the cloud counterpart is that it eliminates most of these.