Suggestions
Cristian Magherusan-Stanciu
Highlights
Here's my LLM prompting technique that increased 2-5x the amount of code I churn out per unit of time and saved me from countless hours of typing code myself ever since I first got my hands on ChatGPT early last year.
I start with something as simple as this:
Write me a <program doing task>
- followed by a
- painstakingly detailed
- list of requirements
I just write this in my favorite LLM (currently using Claude), and it usually gives me a few hundreds of lines code in a matter of seconds.
Most times the code either fails to compile, crashes or just doesn't do what I need when first running it, but I don't expect any of that.
The trick is not to give up, this is just the beinning.
I then start to iterate on that code with hundreds of simple one-liner instructions that adjust the code in small steps until it finally does what I want it to do.
I use this for the code, but also unit tests mocks and detailed test cases for the more tricky parts of the code.
As a solopreneur (my focus is helping companies with AWS cost optimization and I'm building tools that help me generate savings for my customers), the increase in productivity and time this saved me is invaluable.
I've been using AWS for well over a decade, including a few years worked at AWS as Specialist Solution Architect for Spot and Graviton, which gave me a lot of domain knowledge making it easy for me to give those detailed requirements.
Depending of the complexity of the task at hand, I usually build an initial version of a new tool within a few hours or days.
I keep iterating on these tools over multiple customer engagements, and over time some of them became quite sophisticated, for example I have one that can rightsize RDS databases, as well as ElastiCache and OpenSearch resources with automated conversion to Graviton, based on metrics.
Over the last year and a half I used this method to build more than a dozen tools that can help optimize a wide range of AWS resources across many services like EC2, RDS, Fargate, Lambda, S3, CloudWatch, EBS, ElastiCache, OpenSearch, etc.
These tools saved each of my customers thousands and thousands of dollars.
I recently started releasing these tools as a bundle for anyone out there doing AWS cost optimization at scale, drop me a DM if you're interested in that.
#development #productivity #LLM #aws #finops #tooling #automation
As mentioned in my previous post a few days ago, the main topic of the week was RDS optimization, including rightsizing and conversion to/from Aurora Serverless for over a dozen databases of one of my customers.
Initially I spent some time sharpening my saw doing a bunch of enhancements on my RDS Aurora cost visibility tool to get a better picture of the initial state and alternative configurations for each DB, then based on this data I started converting instances to more suitable instance types.
After a couple of manual changes I built a new tool that automates the process by creating a new read replica, with graceful failover once the replica is ready, followed by manual deletion once connections are drained (the deletion is not yet automated but will should already be easy to automate after I make sure it works reliably).
This new tool already saved me a lot of time, and drastically reduced the chance of human errors by manual fiddling in the console when rightsizing dozens of instances.
Using this we initially converted a bunch of them to Aurora Serverless so we could see their actual needs, then we either kept them as serverless or converted them again to other provisioned instance types based on their actual needs and traffic patterns.
This sometimes resulted in massive cost savings (the most impressive were halving a single r7g.4xlarge DB from $1612 to $806, and a whopping 78% cost reduction by converting a $201 r7g.large to only serverless instance that costs $43 monthly at 0.5 ACUs), again without doing any commitments yet.
For a couple of them that had higher CPU utilization the Aurora Serverless capacity shot way over what we expected so we ended up bringing them back to the same provisioned Aurora capacity or just slightly reduced provisioned capacity.
Looking into the high CPU utilization instances I tried to help developers identify expensive queries based on the Performance Insights console and proposed alternative queries that would perform better and we're looking into rolling those out over the next weeks.
I even started to build another tool that aims to automate parts of this query optimization process. I didn't get so far yet considering the complexity of the problem, but as usual I'll keep iterating on it as part of my work.
All in all over the 14 DBs we optimized so far (the customer had over 40 DBs and we're not done yet) this resulted in some $2750 monthly savings for the customer($33k annualized), on top of the ~$4k($48k annualized) we achieved a couple of weeks ago by selecting I/O optimized only where appropriate, besides the massive tooling improvements that will help me automate much of this kind of work going forward.
I'm very happy with this progress and looking forward to continue this work over the next weeks.
If you or anyone you know run RDS Aurora at scale and may be interested in such an exercise, drop me a DM and let's take it from there.
#aws #costoptimization #finops #rds #aurora #serverless
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.