Summer Replay - Optimizing Cloud Spend at Airbnb with Melanie Cebula

Screaming in the Cloud

Just because the AWS Cloud hangs above our heads, doesn’t mean your bill needs to be just as sky-high. In this Screaming in the Cloud Summer Replay, Corey is joined by Airbnb Staff Software Engineer Melanie Cebula. Her job is to ensure they keep their monthly cloud bill low, and that the cost isn’t just there for a temporary stay. Hear Melanie and Corey chat about the vital role engineers play in helping balance the company books, tricks to optimizing your organization’s cloud spending, how inexperience can have a dangerous effect on cost-cutting, and the growing pains facing today’s world of data infrastructure. We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane (just be sure you checkout on time to avoid any fees).

Show Highlights:

• (0:00) Intro to episode
• (0:27) Backblaze sponsor read
• (0:54) The role of a Staff Engineer
• (2:09) Working for a large company reliant on the cloud
• (3:59) Melanie’s Area of Expertise
• (5:58) Efficiently Managing AWS Bills
• (11:33) Optimizing cloud spend
• (14:50) The harmful hesitancy to turn things off
• (18:17) Inexperience and cost-saving measures
• (21:17) Firefly sponsor read
• (21:53) How to avoid snowballing cloud bills
• (23:40) Kubernetes and cloud billing
• (27:12) The perks of compounding microservices
• (29:19) Misconceptions about Kubernetes
• (31:10) Growing pains of data infrastructure
• (34:44) Where you can find Melanie

About Melanie Cebula

Melanie Cebula is an expert in Cloud Infrastructure, where she is recognized worldwide for explaining radically new ways of thinking about cloud efficiency and usability. She is an international keynote speaker, presenting complex technical topics to a broad range of audiences, both international and domestic. Melanie is a staff engineer at Airbnb, where she has experience building a scalable modern architecture on top of cloud-native technologies.

Besides her expertise in the online world, Melanie spends her time offline on the “sharp end” of rock climbing. An adventure athlete setting new personal records in challenging conditions, she appreciates all aspects of the journey, including the triumph of reaching ever higher destinations.

On and off the wall, Melanie focuses on building reliability into critical systems, and making informed decisions in difficult situations. In her personal time, Melanie hand whisks matcha tea, enjoys costuming and dancing at EDM festivals, and she is a triplet.

Links Referenced:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/melaniecebula
• Melanie Cebula’s website: https://melaniecebula.com/

Sponsors

• Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
• Firefly: https://www.firefly.ai/